You Can’t Support The Troops If You Openly Exploit Them.
While the Bush White House continues the mantra of “staying the course”, the American public has grown increasingly tired of Bush’s war for oil, and have called for the war to come to an end. A few weeks ago Representative Murtha produced headlines when he told the American public the truth: That our very presence in Iraq is what is fueling the insurgency.
With an overwhelming chorus from the American people demanding some sort of exit strategy from Iraq, Bush made a speech on Wednesday saying that we must continue to “stay the course” until there is “progress on the ground”.
Which leads one to wonder, is this administration even remotely capable of producing progress in Iraq, when the last three years have proven to be an utter failure, growing worse by the day?
Despite all the failures in the Iraq war, no one in this administration has been fired for its mishandling. Rumsfeld continues to call the shots, producing the shoddy results. One would think that if this administration even remotely supported own men and women fighting in Iraq, Bush would at least have the gumption to show Rumsfeld the door.
Instead, the administration ordered the Veterans Administration to review the status of Iraqi War vets, claiming there was massive fraud in the number of vets returning home claiming to be suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Despite that the Pentagon knows that one in four Iraq War vets return home with some combination of mental or physical illness, the VA was to review 72,000 current cases for VA disability benefits, and review them for fraud.
But this isn’t the first time the Bush administration has played the lip service of “supporting the troops” while actively screwing them. Just last year the administration cut $1.5 billion in funds to military family housing and medical facilities. But that was followed by a cut of monthly imminent-danger pay for our troops from $225 to $150. Back at home, while their loved ones were being shot at, the Bush administration cut the family-separation allowance from $250 to $100 a month. Then, the Bush administration refused to give National Guard and Reserve members access to the Pentagon’s health-insurance system. As a result the GAO found that one in five Guard members don’t even have any health insurance.
It doesn’t end there. The Bush administration continued to “support the troops” by cutting access to health care for 164,000 veterans. While this administration try to wage war on the cheap, in order to keep public funds flowing to Dick Cheney’s Halliburton, the Bush administration plans to cut $910 million from the Department of Veterans Affairs in fiscal year 2006. The cuts to the VA, which have been consistent under this administration, has been so bad that veterans are having to wait six months for medical appointments, while those in need of receiving disability compensation must wait anywhere from six months to two years.
And it doesn’t end there. According to the Army Times, the Bush administration tried to cap the raises for E-1s, E-2s and O-1s at a measly 2 percent, more than half the average raise of 4.1%. Meanwhile, the 2005 VA health care budget was called “the lowest appropriation…made by any Administration in nearly a decade,” by the Paralyzed Veterans of America. Then, this administration, who has been so apt at wasting federal tax dollars, called the 2004 defense budget laid out by Congress as “wasteful and unnecessary.” Why? Because it included a proposal to double the $6,000 gratuity paid to families of troops who die on active duty. While Americans are dying more and more in Iraq, the Bush administration has decided that the value of a soldier’s life is not even worth that of one year’s wage working at McDonald’s.
So, if we are to “stay the course” in Iraq, then shouldn’t we actually be supporting the troops instead of actively screwing them?
With an overwhelming chorus from the American people demanding some sort of exit strategy from Iraq, Bush made a speech on Wednesday saying that we must continue to “stay the course” until there is “progress on the ground”.
Which leads one to wonder, is this administration even remotely capable of producing progress in Iraq, when the last three years have proven to be an utter failure, growing worse by the day?
Despite all the failures in the Iraq war, no one in this administration has been fired for its mishandling. Rumsfeld continues to call the shots, producing the shoddy results. One would think that if this administration even remotely supported own men and women fighting in Iraq, Bush would at least have the gumption to show Rumsfeld the door.
Instead, the administration ordered the Veterans Administration to review the status of Iraqi War vets, claiming there was massive fraud in the number of vets returning home claiming to be suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Despite that the Pentagon knows that one in four Iraq War vets return home with some combination of mental or physical illness, the VA was to review 72,000 current cases for VA disability benefits, and review them for fraud.
But this isn’t the first time the Bush administration has played the lip service of “supporting the troops” while actively screwing them. Just last year the administration cut $1.5 billion in funds to military family housing and medical facilities. But that was followed by a cut of monthly imminent-danger pay for our troops from $225 to $150. Back at home, while their loved ones were being shot at, the Bush administration cut the family-separation allowance from $250 to $100 a month. Then, the Bush administration refused to give National Guard and Reserve members access to the Pentagon’s health-insurance system. As a result the GAO found that one in five Guard members don’t even have any health insurance.
It doesn’t end there. The Bush administration continued to “support the troops” by cutting access to health care for 164,000 veterans. While this administration try to wage war on the cheap, in order to keep public funds flowing to Dick Cheney’s Halliburton, the Bush administration plans to cut $910 million from the Department of Veterans Affairs in fiscal year 2006. The cuts to the VA, which have been consistent under this administration, has been so bad that veterans are having to wait six months for medical appointments, while those in need of receiving disability compensation must wait anywhere from six months to two years.
And it doesn’t end there. According to the Army Times, the Bush administration tried to cap the raises for E-1s, E-2s and O-1s at a measly 2 percent, more than half the average raise of 4.1%. Meanwhile, the 2005 VA health care budget was called “the lowest appropriation…made by any Administration in nearly a decade,” by the Paralyzed Veterans of America. Then, this administration, who has been so apt at wasting federal tax dollars, called the 2004 defense budget laid out by Congress as “wasteful and unnecessary.” Why? Because it included a proposal to double the $6,000 gratuity paid to families of troops who die on active duty. While Americans are dying more and more in Iraq, the Bush administration has decided that the value of a soldier’s life is not even worth that of one year’s wage working at McDonald’s.
So, if we are to “stay the course” in Iraq, then shouldn’t we actually be supporting the troops instead of actively screwing them?
posted by Alva Goldbook at 6:31 AM
2 Comments:
Miami,
Lieberman would be right to say that Saddam had some low level skeleton of a biological/chemical PROGRAMS on the shelf. Now, let's go back to March, 2003. Suppose the Squatter in the White House told Congress, that we must remove "the ticking time bomb" in Iraq because he has a weapons system that is continually degrading, and becoming less of a threat by the day, but still, his government had those programs on the SHELF, that someday he HOPES he can put into action. How many Congressmen would have voted to send 150,000 of our men and women to the desert to DIE, because Saddam's weapon capabilities were becoming LESS AND LESS of a threat by the day?
Lieberman, is a Zionist Jew, period. He wishes for the Hebrews to control all of the Middle East, period. Furthermore, Lieberman also wants to CENSOR music, videogames, and movies, because...well, he doesn't like it, and feels he should make those decisions FOR YOU.
Lieberman thinks that the best way to keep jobs here at home, instead of multinational corporations shipping 30,000 jobs to India (as GM just did) is not to FIX OUR TRADE POLICIES, but to give companies like GM another TAX CUT.
And most of all Lieberman is buddy-buddy with Pat Robertson. Furthermore, Lieberman has very close ties to Tipper Gore, and her PMRC (Parents Music Resource Council), whose primary goal is to censor the music you and I buy. That same PMRC is closely connected to a police fraternity association for the LAPD, which advises the PMRC. One of the things they advise the PMRC of, is that the Jewish Star of David is a SATANIC SYMBOL.
Lieberman is a nutcase, plain and simple.
hmm,
What is hurting the morale of our soldiers? People like Cindy Sheehan who are fighting to BRING THEM HOME, or the Bush administration sending them over to Iraq to fight and die for a lie? I suppose not bothering to give our soldiers body armor is great for their morale? Perhaps cutting their combat pay makes them ever more proud to be fighting in dying for a lie?
The Dec. 15th election is just another "milestone" that means nothing. The Reich-wing will yap quite a lot about it, but quite frankly, they're the only ones who give a damn about it, one way or the other. Meanwhile, instead of one soldier dying a day, we're seeing 10 soldiers die per day. Talk about "progress".
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