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Every morning my neighbor Phil climbs aboard his (otherwise empty) gas guzzling SUV, and then slowly navigates the behemoth out of his driveway like the captain of the Queen Mary leaving dry dock. As the (made in Mexico) Chevy Suburban, with the yellow “Support our Troops” magnetic ribbons (each made in China) cruises past my house (and blocks out the sun), Phil always pops in his CD of Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the USA”. At that moment, something always stirs in me, but I remember I’m low on bathroom tissue so I head on into the office before I take care of it.
Now, it doesn’t really bother me that Phil is the only occupant of a vehicle with roughly the interior space of San Diego, but what does bother me is the phony sentiment on that magnetic yellow ribbon. See, I know Phil - and if you asked him what “support our troops” means he’ll tell you “…well, it means like we should always support our troops…like when they’re overseas and you know…need support.” Now, Phil is a good guy. He keeps his yard nice, and he’s always lending a helping hand to his neighbors. Though, he’s had my “sawzall” for two months now and I haven’t seen my ladder in about three years. Phil just has this simplistic view of the world, and when you challenge it he gets all confused and he seeks the comfort of the nearest televised football game.
Phil is not unlike a lot of Americans that don’t recognize the distinction between supporting the men and women in the armed forces, and supporting the policies of an administration that has placed them (for no good reason - it turns out) in harms way. When Phil bought his Chinese made magnetic yellow ribbons in Wal-Mart, I’m sure he never really made any connection that the purchase of those ribbons was going to directly benefit the troops. Which is good - because it doesn’t. I’m sure that Phil was probably more interested in showing that he was “patriotic”. Because, if he really wanted to “support the troops” - there are ways.
One way would be to support the USO. As you may know (and for obvious reasons) the Department of Defense does not encourage the general public to send unsolicited mail and packages to their people in uniform. But the USO has been providing our troops with support for decades. They accept monetary donations, and even the few dollars you waste on those silly yellow ribbons would be welcome. The folks at the USO note that “More than 12,000 members in the USO international corps of volunteers provide an estimated 450,000 hours of service annually, a worldwide personal contribution of over $3 million.” I’ll bet Wal-Mart has made $3 million on Chinese made yellow ribbons alone.
Another useful thing you could do to support your troops would be to buy them body armor – because their government still hasn’t done it for them. Some servicemen and women are being encouraged by their commanders in the field to buy (with their own money) special military equipment (including flak jackets with armor plating), to help them survive the dangers of Iraq and Afghanistan. There are actually some Americans that think criticizing the President puts soldiers at greater risk than lack of armor. I wonder what the servicemen and servicewomen would say.
The best way you can support the troops, it seems, is to get the current president and the Republican Party out of power. The 2004 round of budget cuts proposed by the Bush Administration's included cuts for veteran health care funding. Proposed cuts included: denying at least 360,000 veterans access to health care; a cut of $250 in annual premiums; increased pharmacy co-payments; a 30 percent increased in primary care co-payments; and increased waiting time for a first medical appointment. The cuts would also stop burial benefits for some veterans and delay cost-of-living adjustment for disabled vets.
This is the same administration that sent our troops into battle without the proper armor for their vehicles. The same one that (because of its own hubris) miscalculated how many troops were needed to keep the peace and how protracted the insurgency would be; thus putting more military lives in danger. The lack of armored vehicles, field radios, night vision goggles and even ammunition (particularly for the National Guard and reserve units) has lead to many deaths and dismemberments. With the guard and reserve now making up more than 40% of the fighting force, the number of troops in danger is appalling. About half the deaths and injuries suffered by U.S. forces are a result of roadside bombs, and many could have been prevented with proper armor.
But the Pentagon war planners didn’t worry about armor because it was going to be a cake walk. Let's remember the words of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, who said it wouldn’t take any more effort than Afghanistan. On another occasion he went on to say the war “…could last 6 days, 6 weeks, I doubt 6 months.” Thank you Mr. Credibility.
You can display all the flags and yellow ribbons you want, but those symbols will never give a disabled soldier his legs back. If you really want to support the troops you need to support the candidates that have their interests at heart. I don’t know if my neighbor Phil even voted last November, but I think I know who he supported. Sadly, it was not our troops.
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