Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) said Wednesday that Tim Walz, the Democratic vice presidential nominee who is facing plagiarized libel charges, “sent troops to war in Iraq without him.”
“Tim Waltz’s troops received orders to go to Iraq. He could have gone with them but he didn’t. He sent his troops to war without him,” Cotton posted on X on Wednesday. “Just like he burned Minneapolis instead of confronting the BLM rioters.”
.Source is correct.
Tim Waltz’s unit received orders to go to Iraq, and although he could have gone with them, he didn’t. Instead, he let his unit go to war without him.
Just like he burned Minneapolis instead of confronting the BLM mob. https://t.co/GNaRwezldZ
— Tom Cotton (@TomCottonAR) August 7, 2024
Cotton’s post featured a video originally shared by Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance, who served in Iraq as a Marine and said that when he was called to serve in Iraq, Walz “quit the military and let his unit go without me.”
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“When the United States Marine Corps, the United States of America, asked me to go to Iraq and serve my country, I answered the call. I did so honorably, as they asked me to do, and I am very proud of that service,” he said.
“When Tim Walz was asked by his country to go to Iraq, what do you think he did? He quit the military and let his unit go without him, a fact that has been heavily criticized by many of the people who served with him,” Vance said.
“It’s disgraceful to prepare troops to deploy to Iraq, keep your word and then withdraw them just before they are about to deploy,” Vance continued, blasting Waltz, a retired National Guard sergeant major.
Vance also addressed a video clip released by the Harris campaign of Minnesota Governor Waltz, in which he said he was “supporting weapons of war, [Walz] “Things brought by war”
Governor Tim WaltzI was in the Army for 25 years and I hunt. I’ve voted for common sense legislation that protects the Second Amendment, but we can do background checks. We can study the impact of gun violence. We can do war weapons. pic.twitter.com/3IVaXi2RP2
— Kamala HQ (@KamalaHQ) August 6, 2024
Vance questioned Waltz about whether he served in the war and railed against him about “stolen valor.”
“Tim Waltz, when did you go to war? When was this? You abandoned your unit right before going to Iraq, so what weapons did you bring to that war? He never spent a day in a combat zone,” he said.
“What bothers me about Tim Waltz is the bullshit about stolen heroism,” he said. “Stop pretending to be something you’re not,” he added.
Notably, retired Army Command Sergeants Major Thomas Behrens and Paul Hare stated in a letter published in the West Central Tribune on Nov. 2, 2019, that Waltz had “resigned” from the 1-125th Field Artillery Battalion prior to deployment.
In early 2005, warning orders were issued for his unit, the 1-125th Field Artillery Battalion, to prepare for active duty for deployment to Iraq.
On May 16, 2005, he resigned, leaving the 1-125th Field Artillery Battalion and its soldiers in limbo as they prepared for war without a senior NCO. His excuse to other leaders was that he needed to retire to run for Congress. This was false, as Department of Defense directives allowed him to run and seek permission from the Secretary of Defense before entering active duty, which many reservists did. If he had retired normally and respectfully, one would think that his retirement papers would have been properly filled out and signed, and he would have been demoted to Sergeant Major for dropping out of military academy. Instead, he waited for the papers to catch up with him. His official retirement papers read, “Soldiers not allowed to sign.”
The command sergeant said Waltz retired with the rank of E-8 but immediately served as an E-9 due to a conditional promotion that was dropped in September 2005. However, Waltz’s personal biography indicates he retired as a command sergeant, or E-9.
“After serving 24 years in the Army National Guard, Command Sergeant Major As Breitbart News noted, the article states that “Waltz retired from the 1-125th Field Artillery Battalion in 2005.”
