Wounded Iraq veteran running for Congress on anti-war platform

[Ron Burgundy]

AFP - A US Army helicopter pilot who lost both her legs in Iraq is leading a platoon of Democratic veterans who are taking their opposition to the war to the campaign trail for November 7 elections.

A political novice, Tammy Duckworth, 38, was hand-picked to challenge a previously solidly Republican Congressional seat in the wealthy suburbs of Chicago while she was still learning to walk on her prosthetic legs.

It's a new tactic for a party long seen as weak on national security and one which is resonating with an electorate that is frustrated with the way the current administration has handled the war in Iraq.

Democrats have enlisted 61 veterans to run for Congress -- five of whom have served in Iraq -- and scores more to help out with the campaign.

"In times like these, they're such compelling voices," said Stacie Paxton of the Democratic National Committee.

Democrats need to pick up 15 seats to gain control of the 435-member House of Representatives and polls have shown Duckworth to be neck and neck with her rival, state senator Peter Roskam, in the race for a House seat.

It is one of the most competitive -- and expensive -- races in the country.

And Duckworth never fails to touch upon the issue that voters have repeatedly said will be at the top of their mind when heading to the ballot box.

"Our invasion of Iraq was a mistake," Tammy Duckworth told an overflow crowd shortly after she was wheeled on stage for a recent debate with Roskam.

"We need to begin an immediate drawdown tied to the training of Iraqi security forces," she said.

Born in Thailand to an ex-Marine turned diplomat and a Thai mother, Duckworth still has a trace of an accent from spending much of her youth in Southeast Asia.

She joined the military while in graduate school and signed up to be a helicopter pilot because it is one of the few positions where women are able to serve in combat.

Duckworth was working on a doctorate in political science when she was deployed to Iraq and said she would be proud to return if she were able.

She was co-piloting a Black Hawk helicopter north of Baghdad on November 12, 2004 when the cockpit was struck by a rocket-propelled grenade.

Duckworth managed to help land the helicopter before passing out from blood loss. She woke up 10 days later to the news that she had lost both her legs and her right arm was shattered.

"While I don't agree with the war in Iraq, I was honored to serve and even with my injury I don't regret my service," Duckworth said.

A self-proclaimed "girly-girl" who likes to show off her prosthetic legs retrofitted to wear heels, Duckworth uses her military background to project strength and to defend positions that have traditionally undermined Democrats, like gun control.

She told voters "there will never be a voice stronger than mine on national security" but vowed to protect civil liberties in the fight against terrorism and attacked the Bush administration's failure to finish the job in Afghanistan and "crush Osama bin Laden."

"We need to be world leaders in diplomacy," she said. "When we practiced cowboy diplomacy and invaded Iraq we alienated our allies and aided our enemies."

Milgore Thann, 75, was one of several Republicans in the audience swayed by Duckworth's passion.

"I think she's qualified to do anything she wants to do," Thann said. "She has a great presence."

Duckworth has also garnered the endorsement of the Chicago Tribune.

"Tammy Duckworth would shake up the comfy, entrenched politicians in Washington," the Tribune's editorial board wrote.