Boston Globe
By Brian MacQuarrie

Brian VanRiper, a Pembroke native and a former Marine who fought in Iraq, is a staunch supporter of the war on terrorism and believes in a strong American military.

But he also is an ardent opponent of President Bush's planned troop increase in Iraq and has barnstormed the country this week to persuade targeted Republican senators to support a resolution against the escalation.

"I think it's too little, too late," VanRiper, 25, said of the scheduled increase of 21,500 troops in Baghdad and Anbar Province. "That ship has sailed as far as what could have and should have been done in Iraq."

VanRiper, who graduated from Silver Lake Regional High School in Kingston in 2000, is one of six veterans of the Iraq war who appear in a nationwide television ad that argues against escalation. The ad, which began appearing Wednesday on CNN and will run until early next week, is the product of VoteVets.org, a fledgling group of Iraq veterans who plan to be vocal and aggressive as they take aim at administration policies on Iraq.

The ad also is appearing in New Hampshire, where Senator John Sununu, a Republican, is being criticized by VoteVets for not backing a resolution opposing the escalation .

If the president "really cares about the troops, he'll stop sending them over there for, quite frankly, what's turned into a fruitless mission," said VanRiper, a lance corporal who served in Babylon Province for about three months in 2003.

Some veterans believe VoteVets is misguided in its mission. Officials at Vets for Freedom, a staunch supporter of US policy in Iraq, dismissed VoteVets as "liberal activists" who have a partisan Democratic Party agenda.

"All veterans have certainly earned their right to speak, but you have to look at a group like this," said Wade Zirkle , a former Marine who is executive director of Vets for Freedom. "It's not pure in its intentions."

Zirkle, who was wounded by a car bomb in Fallujah in 2004, said more US troops have been needed in Iraq "for a long time."

Jon Soltz, co founder of VoteVets, is a former Army captain who served in Iraq from May to September 2003. He emphasizes that "supporting the troops" does not necessarily mean supporting the Bush strategy.

"We're a pro military organization, but [opposing] sending 20,000 more troops is not liberal," said Soltz, who considers the additional force "just stupid at this point." If US senators "don't vote no for escalation, they're voting against the troops," he added.

Soltz met with Senator John F. Kerry recently, and the two found common ground in their positions, said Vincent Morris, spokesman for Kerry.

"When these guys who have actually been in battle talk about the problems and the lack of progress they're seeing, I think it carries a lot of weight," Morris said.

VoteVets took Soltz, VanRiper, and a handful of other veterans across the country in a whirlwind tour that began Monday in Minnesota, Indiana, and Ohio, and wrapped up on Tuesday in Manchester, N.H.; Portland, Maine; and Philadelphia. During the tour, the veterans sought to put pressure on Republicans such as Sununu, who have publicly opposed an increase in troops but have yet to support a resolution against the escalation.

Sununu made clear that he has yet to accept the VoteVets position, adding in a statement that "interest groups have every right to lobby for their position, but no group or individual should claim to speak for all the patriotic Americans."

Yesterday, VoteVets officials said they support an agreement among key senators Tuesday on a compromise resolution that opposes a troop increase, calls for Iraqis to meet benchmarks on issues such as the distribution of oil revenue, and insists that insurgents be prosecuted regardless of religious sect.

Joseph Turcotte, a former Marine from Derry, N.H., who fought in the invasion of Iraq, recently joined VoteVets and on Wednesday declared himself ready to work for the campaign. Turcotte, 27, said he does not believe that a resolution against the escalation will damage the confidence of troops in the field.

"I think what Bush has done has already undermined the morale of the troops," Turcotte said. "The troop surge, it feels to me, is like pouring gasoline to put a fire out."