Bush: Turning His Back on Soldiers at Home and Abroad

[Omaha Steve]

(edited for copyright purposes, proud patriot moderator Democratic Underground)

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/gerald-mcentee/bush-turning-his-back-on_b_40836.html

Bush: Turning His Back on Soldiers at Home and Abroad

It's no secret that President Bush has long turned his back on the soldiers fighting his war of choice in Iraq. Many of our soldiers are still buying their own body armor, even after a secret Pentagon study showed that many of the marines killed in Iraq by upper-body wounds might have survived had they worn more extensive armor.
This is unconscionable.

As a result of this and other acts of callous disregard for life, more than 3,000 troops have died. The fallen heroes include National Guard Sgt. John Ogburn III of Fruitland, Idaho, Marine Private First Class Brent Vroman of Oshkosh, Wis., Army Reserve Capt. Paul J. Cassidy of Laingsburg, Mich., and National Guard Sgt. Bill Normandy of Augusta, Ga. - all proud public employees and AFSCME members.

Bush has also turned his back on many of the more than 23,000 soldiers who have been wounded in Iraq - particularly those who need care in state-run veterans' homes. These nursing homes provide services that our vets rely on, at a cost that's shared by the state and federal governments.

Sadly, the Bush administration proposed cutting a chunk of the federal funding for those veterans who are receiving assisted-living services in the homes. The proposal would have left up to 80 percent of the vets with nowhere to go.

[fooj]

1. This is beyond criminal.

I can hardly bear this shame any longer. When will that war criminal be held accountable for his crimes?

[JohnnyLib2]

2. It's a deadly shell game, IMO.

Billions into Bush's war; corners cut everywhere else. The fallout for wounded veterans and their families is probably already beyond calculation with a steady stream coming in. Then there is the morale of the entire medical military corps and all the others who see this travesty firsthand.
We will see the effects for decades, just like with Viet Nam.

:banghead:

[State the Obvious]

3. These should be OUR talking points...

Mr. President:

If you support the troops (as much as you say you do) why are our wounded soldiers living in rat-infested buildings?

If you support the troops, as much as YOU say you do, why are you cutting Veteran's benefits?

If you support the troops, as much as YOU say you do, why not find out what happened to the missing 10 billion dollars?

If you support the troops, as much as YOU say you do, why are our troops still without proper equipment?



We want to hear YOUR answers to these questions, Mr. President, BEFORE you try to shift the blame onto someone else.

For once be a man, and accept responsibility for YOUR mistakes.

[brer cat]

9. I think your questions would be excellent

in ltte. If duers would send ltte to their local papers, it would help educate those who get their news primarily from corporate media. Even the most died-in-the-wool republicons would be appalled if they knew how callously * admin is treating our troops and vets.


Welcome to DU! :hi:

[louis-t]

10. Those aren't talking points, they're legitimate questions.

That won't ever be answered.

[partylessinOhio]

4. Wounded soldiers, neglected at Walter Reed-reported on NBC nightly news

on February 17. It was a very brutal and sad report. Another dirty little secret unknown by most not touched by this BushWar. Follow the link below and watch the video.

Forced to battle the system at Walter Reed
Wounded soldiers face neglect, frustration at Army’s top medical facility

By Dana Priest and Anne Hull
Updated: 5:43 a.m. ET Feb 18, 2007

WASHINGTON - Behind the door of Army Spec. Jeremy Duncan's room, part of the wall is torn and hangs in the air, weighted down with black mold. When the wounded combat engineer stands in his shower and looks up, he can see the bathtub on the floor above through a rotted hole. The entire building, constructed between the world wars, often smells like greasy carry-out. Signs of neglect are everywhere: mouse droppings, belly-up cockroaches, stained carpets, cheap mattresses.

This is the world of Building 18, not the kind of place where Duncan expected to recover when he was evacuated to Walter Reed Army Medical Center from Iraq last February with a broken neck and a shredded left ear, nearly dead from blood loss. But the old lodge, just outside the gates of the hospital and five miles up the road from the White House, has housed hundreds of maimed soldiers recuperating from injuries suffered in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The common perception of Walter Reed is of a surgical hospital that shines as the crown jewel of military medicine. But 5 1/2 years of sustained combat have transformed the venerable 113-acre institution into something else entirely -- a holding ground for physically and psychologically damaged outpatients. Almost 700 of them -- the majority soldiers, with some Marines -- have been released from hospital beds but still need treatment or are awaiting bureaucratic decisions before being discharged or returned to active duty.
...
On the worst days, soldiers say they feel like they are living a chapter of "Catch-22." The wounded manage other wounded. Soldiers dealing with psychological disorders of their own have been put in charge of others at risk of suicide.

Disengaged clerks, unqualified platoon sergeants and overworked case managers fumble with simple needs: feeding soldiers' families who are close to poverty, replacing a uniform ripped off by medics in the desert sand or helping a brain-damaged soldier remember his next appointment.

"We've done our duty. We fought the war. We came home wounded. Fine. But whoever the people are back here who are supposed to give us the easy transition should be doing it," said Marine Sgt. Ryan Groves, 26, an amputee who lived at Walter Reed for 16 months. "We don't know what to do. The people who are supposed to know don't have the answers. It's a nonstop process of stalling." ...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17160574/

Army SSG. John Daniel Shannon with his 6-year-old son Drake Shannon, at right. Shannon was a sniper for Ghost Recon Platoon/2nd Infantry Div. in Iraq when he was injured. He lost his shooting eye and has been treated at Walter Reed.

[qwlauren35]

20. Decent reconstructive surgery, actually...

I read the story. Made me want to puke.

If it wasn't such an invasion of privacy, I wish there were a lot more pictures of these maimed men and women.

Death is seen too often as glorious. Being a paraplegic or a quadraplegic just plain SUCKS. Being a paraplegic or quadraplegic without even a GED is a lot worse than a death sentence. I don't think there's anyone who really wants to spend the rest of their life in a chair or on a bed flipping TV channels with their tongue and waiting to die.

Every time we go to war, we create a group of US Citizens who may never be able to work productively again in their entire lives.

If we don't start counting the number of American soldiers who are physically incapacitated, in addition to the ones killed, a lot of people are never going to get the point...

And that doesn't even scratch the surface of the number of Iraqi's whose lives we have ruined.

[The Wizard]

5. It's all about priorities

If Paris Hilton didn't get tax relief she'd only have one limo and three homes.

“Military men are just dumb stupid animals to be used as pawns in foreign policy.” - Henry Kissinger, quoted in “Kiss the Boys Goodbye: How the United States Betrayed Its Own POW’s in Vietnam”
Henry K makes frequent White House visits to counsel George III.

Vietnam was a chemical war for oil, permanently contaminating large regions and countries downriver with Agent Orange, and environmentally the most devastating war in world history. But since 1991, the U.S. has staged four nuclear wars using depleted uranium weaponry, which, like Agent Orange, meets the U.S. government definition of Weapons of Mass Destruction. Vast regions in the Middle East and Central Asia have been permanently contaminated with radiation.

[Kajsa]

6. I couldn't agree with you more.

It's disgraceful how our troops and veterans
are being treated.
They lay their lives on the line and they get
little or no help when they return home.
Georgie does not support them.

I have a question, though. Please don't flame away
because I'm really asking, not trying to start a heated
debate.

Aren't the cuts in funding proposed with the nonbinding
resolution going to hurt our troops as well?

This has never been fully explained to me.
Will this also deprive them of much needed body armor
and other supplies?

Again, I'm really asking- I don't know the answer.

[A Simple Game]

18. That's a good question.

I don't know the answer, but if it means a choice of cutting necessities for the troops or cutting Hali burton's profit, I know what choice * will make.

Your question is probably why Murtha put forth his proposal to not allow troops to be deployed without the proper equipment and training.

[ArmchairMeme]

7. Bush Stance Morally Wrong

In my opinion for Bush to claim to support (from before the beginning) troops has been a total fabrication a LIE! Now he starts to talk about balancing the budget on the backs of the wounded soldiers by cutting funding for them. WRONG! He would balance his budget better if he would eliminate the tax relief for the wealthy. He certainly would get a LOT more revenue per person. A poor business decision as well.

[VP505]

8. I can't find

words to express how angry and sick of those two draft dodging assholes occupying the White House and their supporters I am. They shame all Americans, but worse they spit in the face of Veterans who did what neither of them had the balls or integrity to do. :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead:

[Marrak]

11. They have earned this...

<>

[emald]

12. this is some sick shit

to jail with this cabal and it's proponents. It is well beyond time for these evil stupid people to be done with. IMPEACH NOW

[curiousdemo]

13. Hmmmm.....

Didn't he turn his back on the vietnam war with his father help. Sound like groundhog day to me...What a :+ :+ :+ :+

[av8rdave]

14. Do you suppose there's a magnetic yellow "Support the Troops" ribbon on the pResidential limo?

[Name removed]

15. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Cha]

17. When you're right,

you're right.

[Cha]

16. And just what the fuck is their

reasoning on this? You'd think they want to do ALL they could for the cannon fodder!

[liberal hypnotist]

19. The awful truth.

Members of the military are expendable. They serve to facilitate the mission of big oil and big oil has never been much of a humanitarian organization.

Every veteran that served in battle deserves a safe, clean and comfortable place to live. Plus, they should expect quality health care, retraining and good food and clothes. If we can lose 8 Billion Dollars in Iraq and have no investigation, we can afford to provide dignity to our vets.

[Susan Morgan]

21. Bush turns back on Darfur too!

What about his "not on my watch" promise. It's time for us to stop waiting to act and instead act as individuals against the genocide in Darfur.

Did you know that your 401K, pension fund, or perhaps a college savings account, may be helping to fund the genocide? Divestment from Sudan by cities, states and universities is an important action to help end the crisis in Darfur. So is divestment by individuals from companies like Fidelity Investments.

Even as the violence in Darfur has escalated, Fidelity has increased its investments in PetroChina and Sinopec, two of the largest oil companies feeding money to the government of Sudan. It is clear that Sudan's oil revenue provides arms and funding for the genocide, not economic development for the people of Sudan.

Visit www.FidelityOutOfSudan.com to learn more and sign the petition to keep American investments firms from investing our money in companies that fund the genocide.

[classysassy]

22. Bring back the draft

end of surge,end of war.Rich white boys will never be placed in harms way.