NY-26: The Questions Remain About War Kids Relief
by Matt at Aug 14th, 2008
Via New York’s 26th Congressional District Blog, I found this editorial which offers a very poor response to the Buffalo News editorial that raised questions about Jon Powers’ nonprofit organization, War Kids Relief.
The editorial defending Powers, written by filmmaker Michael Tucker contains a lot of Jon Powers usual talking points about the charity, and some new spin, as noted by Jeff at the 26th District Blog:
While the candidate has admitted the charity accomplished little, not much has been said as to why or what was actually tried. Tucker’s editorial offers the latest spin on the story saying, “When Jon went to Baghdad in 2005, getting around as a civilian wasn’t easy and the city was tense. It was impossible to move without your own security detail or a military escort, but Jon managed to secure meetings with key officials and commanders who were keen to see his program succeed.”
Unfortunetly [sic] for Powers the editorial serves as only more evidence that the charity was unable to accomplish anything beyond talk and fundraising, leaving open questions of where that money actually went and why a veteran of the War who had fundraising help from powerful officials like Senator John Kerry could not account for the security difficulties. Tucker says in the editorial, “In my estimation, the major reason federal funds were not secured was because it was impossible for the military to provide security in Iraq for humanitarian efforts after 2006.”
The questions about War Kids Relief remain… and things should get interesting with today’s press conference with the GOP chairmen of Erie, Niagara and Orleans counties at 4pm.
