A real way to Support the Troops

Senator Jim Webb (D-VA) deserves our thanks for what he is trying to do for our troops who are serving in Iraq and Afghanistan - getting a modern-day G.I. Bill passed that will give our troops a free education. After all, whether you agree with the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan or not, I would hope we would all agree that it's the very least we can do for those serving in combat and putting their lives on the line.

As Webb and Senator Chuck Hagel (R-NE) recently wrote in an Op-Ed piece in the New York Times:

In terms of providing true opportunity, the World War II G.I. Bill was one of the most important pieces of legislation in our history. It paid college tuition and fees, bought textbooks and provided a monthly stipend for eight million of the 16 million who served. Many of our colleagues in the Senate who before the war could never have dreamed of college found themselves at some of the nation’s finest educational institutions.

[...]

Veterans today have only the Montgomery G.I. Bill, which requires a service member to
pay $100 a month for the first year of his or her enlistment in order to receive a flat payment for college that averages $800 a month. This was a reasonable enlistment
incentive for peacetime service, but it is an insufficient reward for wartime service today.

It is hardly enough to allow a veteran to attend many community colleges.
It would cover only about 13 percent of the cost of attending Columbia, 42 percent at the University of Hawaii, 14 percent at Washington and Lee, 26 percent at U.C.L.A. and 11 percent at Harvard Law School.

College costs have skyrocketed, and a full G.I. Bill for those who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan would be expensive. But Congress has recently appropriated $19 billion next year for federal education grants purely on the basis of financial need. A G.I. Bill for those who have given so much to our country, often including repeated combat tours, should be viewed as an obligation.

Absolutely, 100 percent right, without equivocation. Yes, it probably will be expensive, but what money could be better spent? We are spending between $12-16 billion a month in Iraq, and for what?

Hagel and Webb are absolutely right - the G.I. Bill is one of the most important pieces of legislation in American history, educating over eight million people who served in World War II. This new G.I. Bill would have a dramatic impact on America's educational and technological competitiveness in the global economy.

However, McCain and Bush are against it, and their reasons are patently absurd, even for them. Both think it's "too expensive," which I find just stunning - really I don't even have the words to express how patently absurd I find that line of reasoning. McCain's logic? It will make leaving the military "too attractive," causing a personnel drain on the military. Incredible. Webb and his cosponsors are working with the various branches of the military to make sure the bill doesn't harm the military - they merely want to help vets get the benefits they deserve.

I certainly hope voters remember who is for and who is against this bill in November - I'm sure that members of the military won't forget.

What I really admire about Webb, as he discussed on Meet the Press yesterday (above), is that he really is trying to keep the politics out of it, and this bill has lots of bipartisan support. It really is good to see that members of Congress can actually come together on some things and get meaningful legislation passed. Here's hoping the votes are there to override Bush's expected veto. My attitude is this - let Bush veto it. If he (along with Senator McCain) wants to go on the record against giving our troops what they deserve, it will be there for all voters to see.

I urge you to please contact your Senators and House Representative and let them know you are paying attention to this bill, and that it must be passed. Call the Congressional Switchboard at (202) 225-3121 to be connected to any member of Congress (and an operator can find out who yours is, if you don't know), or click Here to find out your legislators' contact information.

As if we need another reason...

...to be thankful for the service of our troops in Iraq. I certainly don't agree why we are there (and I never will), but I'm forever grateful and full of admiration for the job our soldiers are doing in Iraq, and Afghanistan.

Pat Tillman's death: Dial "M" for murder?

It's no surprise that the government covered up the circumstances surrounding Pat Tillman's death. What's now being revealed is just how ugly the circumstances were surrounding his death, and even the possibility of his murder at the hands of other U.S. soldiers.

This is one of the most disturbing stories to come from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and certainly one of the saddest.

From AP:

Army medical examiners were suspicious about the close proximity of the three bullet holes in Pat Tillman’s forehead and tried without success to get authorities to investigate whether the former NFL player’s death amounted to a crime, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press.

“The medical evidence did not match up with the, with the scenario as described,” a doctor who examined Tillman’s body after he was killed on the battlefield in Afghanistan in 2004 told investigators.

The doctors - whose names were blacked out - said that the bullet holes were so close together that it appeared the Army Ranger was cut down by an M-16 fired from a mere 10 yards or so away.

Read more Here.

A Congressional hearing is planned next week to determine just how high up in the government and the military the cover up went. I still don't believe anything will come from this story, because if the barbarians get too close to the gate, Bush will just claim Executive Privilege, and really, who can blame him? As long as it continues to work and keep him out of trouble, he'll continue to do so.

The only way stories like the Tillman death will have any consequence for this government and this administration is if the Democrats develop a backbone, and soon. I'm not holding my breath, but my Congressional representatives will be hearing from me, often and soon.

Treating our wounded like yesterday's paper

Our soldiers are fighting for us in the name of our government and all of us, but what is our government and military doing for the mentally and physically wounded soldiers once they come home?

A few reporters from The Washington Post wanted to find out some answers. Last Sunday's paper WaPo ran a story called Soldiers Face Neglect, Frustration At Army's Top Medical Facility, written by Dana Priest and Anne Hull, with additional reporting by Julie Tate. This story rips the scab off of the belief put forth by the Bush Administration that it's doing everything it can for our wounded returning home from battle. In short, the piece describes in intimate detail how appalling the conditions are for recovering soldiers at Walter Reed Military hospital in Washington, D.C.

The story details the sad, decrepit, pathetic way our military is treating (or in many cases, barely treating) our returning heroes from battle in Iraq and Afghanistan. The two reporters spent unauthorized, covert time at Walter Reed, interviewing many soldiers. Some soldiers would not give their names out of fear of retribution because they are still on active duty. But, a number did talk with Priest and Hull.

I'll be the first to confess that I didn't know a whole lot about Walter Reed before reading the piece. I knew of it, and from what little I did know, I thought it was an enormous, spit-shined hospital that housed thousands of mentally and physically wounded soldiers, getting the best care that taxpayer money can buy. We wouldn't give our soldiers any less, right? After all, that's what I've heard President Bush say on TV on more than a few occasions.

Goes to show you what I know about Walter Reed and our returning soldiers. However, I don't think I was alone in my ignorance.

It bears repeating that I'm thankful that we have a press that can really have an impact on injustices such as these, when it elects to do it.

The photos that accompany the article are powerful and a jolt - I've included a few of them here. When I read and see things like this, I really do take time and reflect how lucky I am, and also how grateful I am for the sacrifices that the men and women are making for all of us, regardless of how I feel about the War in Iraq.

On soldier who did go on record in the piece is Staff Sgt. John Daniel Shannon (above), who spent several weeks at Walter Reed, beginning in November 2004, after his eye and skull were decimated by an AK-47. For several years, Shannon had to deal with the enormous, frustrating bureaucracy that defines Walter Reed. 43, came in on one of those buses in November 2004 and spent several weeks on the fifth floor of Walter Reed's hospital. His eye and skull were shattered by an AK-47 round. The WaPo piece describes in detail how his experience began at Walter Reed shortly after arriving:

His odyssey in the Other Walter Reed has lasted more than two years, but it began when someone handed him a map of the grounds and told him to find his room across post.

A reconnaissance and land-navigation expert, Shannon was so disoriented that he couldn't even find north. Holding the map, he stumbled around outside the hospital, sliding against walls and trying to keep himself upright, he said. He asked anyone he found for directions.

Shannon had led the 2nd Infantry Division's Ghost Recon Platoon until he was felled in a gun battle in Ramadi. He liked the solitary work of a sniper; "Lone Wolf" was his call name. But he did not expect to be left alone by the Army after such serious surgery and a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder. He had appointments during his first two weeks as an outpatient, then nothing.

"I thought, 'Shouldn't they contact me?' " he said. "I didn't understand the paperwork. I'd start calling phone numbers, asking if I had appointments. I finally ran across someone who said: 'I'm your case manager. Where have you been?'

"Well, I've been here! Jeez Louise, people, I'm your hospital patient!"

It's inexcusable that our returning soldiers are treated like this. INEXCUSABLE. Put another way, can you imagine a patient in a private hospital being treated this way? There would be lawsuits, charges filed and almost certainly lots of press. But, many men and women who are returning to Iraq are simply swept under the rug, ignored and forgotten; sometimes lost in a mountain of paperwork and governmental b.s.

When I hear about the ineptitude of our military and government on this scale, I wonder how we ever won the World War II or hell, even the Cold War. What makes this whole story even more of an outrage is the massive fraud and misallocation of funds in the reconstruction of Iraq, all paid for by American taxpayers.

The story offered more details of Shannon's frustration:

Shannon, who wears an eye patch and a visible skull implant, said he had to prove he had served in Iraq when he tried to get a free uniform to replace the bloody one left behind on a medic's stretcher. When he finally tracked down the supply clerk, he discovered the problem: His name was mistakenly left off the "GWOT list" -- the list of "Global War on Terrorism" patients with priority funding from the Defense Department.

He brought his Purple Heart to the clerk to prove he was in Iraq.

He had to bring his Purple Heart!

Of course, our president, his administration and the Pentagon haven't forgotten about our returning heroes, have they? Of course not. Sunday's story gave readers a presidential flashback from late last year, when President Bush last visited Walter Reed:

"We owe them all we can give them," Bush said during his last visit, a few days before Christmas. "Not only for when they're in harm's way, but when they come home to help them adjust if they have wounds, or help them adjust after their time in service."

Keep up the good work, Mr. President.

Army Spec. Jeremy Duncan (above) came to Walter Reed last February after suffering a broken neck and the loss of his left ear. He nearly died in the field from blood loss. Duncan is housed in Building 18, located just outside the gates of the hospital's grounds and a mere five miles from the White House. This is how the WaPo article described his living conditions:

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.

Words fail me when I read stuff like that. The maimed soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan deserve worlds better than this, yet it takes undercover reporting by Washington Post reporters to raise awareness of these conditions.

The article goes on to describe a litany of other frustrations that recuperating soldiers must endure. To wit:

• The typical soldier is required to file 22 documents with eight different commands - most of them off-post - to enter and exit the medical processing world, according to government investigators.

• 75% of the troops polled by Walter Reed last March said their experience was "stressful."

• Suicide attempts and unintentional overdoses from prescription drugs and alcohol, which is sold on post, are part of life at Walter Reed.

• Family members who speak only Spanish have had to rely on Salvadoran housekeepers, a Cuban bus driver, the Panamanian bartender and a Mexican floor cleaner for help. Walter Reed maintains a list of bilingual staffers, but they are rarely called on, according to soldiers and families and Walter Reed staff members. "If they can have Spanish-speaking recruits to convince my son to go into the Army, why can't they have Spanish-speaking translators when he's injured?" a Spanish-speaking relative of a wounded soldier asks. "It's so confusing, so disorienting."

• Soldiers, wives, mothers, social workers and the heads of volunteer organizations have all complained to officials about what one called "The Handbook No One Gets" that would explain life as an outpatient. Most soldiers polled in the March survey said they got their information from friends. Only 12 percent said any Army literature had been helpful.

• And most outrageously of all: lost paperwork for new uniforms has forced some soldiers to attend their own Purple Heart ceremonies and the official birthday party for the Army in gym clothes, only to be chewed out by superiors.

If you aren't outraged by reading about soldiers who can't even get a new uniform to wear to a ceremony where they are awarded a Purple Heart, then you should check your own heart. These men and women can only be described as our nation's heroes, and they deserve worlds more respect than this.

Soldiers' frustrations are perhaps best summed up by Spec. George Romero, 25, who returned from Iraq with what the article describes as "a psychological disorder."

"I've been close to mortars. I've held my own pretty good," he said. "But here...I think it has affected my ability to get over it...dealing with potential threats every day.

"I hate it," continued Romero, who stays in his room all day. "There are cockroaches. The elevator doesn't work. The garage door doesn't work. Sometimes there's no heat, no water...I told my platoon sergeant I want to leave. I told the town hall meeting. I talked to the doctors and medical staff. They just said you kind of got to get used to the outside world...My platoon sergeant said, 'Suck it up!'"

You know who truly needs to Suck it up? Our government, the president and Congress. Find your Senators' addresses Here and your U.S. Representative Here. Write them and express to them your outrage over the conditions at Walter Reed.

They are all going to hear from me this weekend.

I'm sure the story will have its critics, who will come out and say that the reporters are only reporting on isolated incidents at Walter Reed, blah blah blah. There shouldn't be ANY incidents like the ones described above, period.

A quick footnote to the story - this is how journalism and a free press are supposed to function - oversight of the government, and holding our government and its various agencies responsible for its actions. I don't always agree with the things WaPo reports on or the positions the paper takes on in its editorial pages, but I also give credit where credit is due, and the paper has performed a valuable public service by running this piece. I hope to see many more stories exposing what the government is or isn't doing for our returning heroes. Any that I find, I'll bring to you.

Top photo: AP/Lauren Frayer
Other photos: Michel de Cille, The Washington Post

Another embassy attacked

When is our government going to get it right? Another U.S. embassy has been attacked - this one in Athens, Greece (above, the embassy shortly after the rocket attack).

Okay, that may be a little unfair, actually. We should wait to see what all of the facts are before making snap judgments about embassy security, but even a passive follower of the news knows that there are U.S. embassies around the world that are quite vulnerable to any psycho who feels like blowing up something American (or Americans, for that matter).

However, this does raise some questions about what our government has been doing to beef up security at our embassies around the world.

Following the 1998 embassy attacks in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam, President Clinton was slammed for not doing enough to beef up security at our foreign embassies following a study that determined over $1 billion would be needed to either build new embassies where existing ones were completely inadequate and unprotectable, or beef up security at vulnerable embassies. I'd love to know what our government has done since then.

I've read that some embassies are better protected, but how much digging do you think it would take to discover that the Bush administration has skimped on spending the money to protect U.S. citizens who work at our embassies around the world? After all, we've got tax cuts we have to keep in place! (And even more, if Republicans had their way - deficits be damned. Bush has already stated that he had more tax cuts planned, but the Democratic takeover in Congress foiled those plans.)

It's yet another reason that I align myself with the liberal way of thinking with most economic matters. I'll elaborate.

No one likes to pay more taxes - most of all, me. But, there are some things that need to be taken care of in this country, and I realize that is why we pay taxes in the first place.

Homeland Security

The fact that we haven't been significantly attacked again is as much a product of luck as what the Bush administration has done, despite Bush and Cheney reminding us every chance they get that we haven't been attacked again on their watch. (But, we WERE attacked on their watch, weren't we?) Yes, billions have been spent in the wake of 9-11, but in the right areas? Investigative reporters still routinely pass through airport security with items that have been banned on flights, and some of these items are dangerous.

Yet, the TSA, an agency created in the wake of 9-11, sure is vigilant about limited the number of carry-ons and making travelers' lives miserable. Worse yet, many of these TSA employees aren't making squat per year, and any traveler knows the quality and demeanor of TSA employees performing inspections at airports.

I won't even get started on the scum that harassed and bullied Vandra at Dallas/Ft. Worth International Airport, when we were on our way to Mexico for our wedding. It's a good thing we were on our way to get married, or I probably would have lost control with the incompetent rube who took great pleasure in making Vandra cry when she tried to carry on her wedding dress in addition to another carry-on bag.

And the TSA was awfully strict about allowing passengers carrying liquid onto flights because of a threat in Great Britain. Passengers weren't even allowed to carry on trial-sized bottles of mouthwash! Mouthwash! The worst part about that is some people were getting on with liquids, and others weren't.

And homeland security is just one example. Protecting our embassies is another, and there are dozens and dozens of other examples: We have millions of people in this country without health care, millions of people are in poverty, and we are fighting two wars, yet all the Republicans want is to cut, cut, cut taxes, while deficits are driven up and up, bankrupting our future.

President Bush could have gone to the American people and asked them to sacrifice virtually anything in the wake of 9-11, and he would have had a captive and favorable audience.

The bottom line is this - Americans have not been asked to sacrifice ANYTHING for the War on Terror. Not in taxes, not in laws (save personal privacy & personal freedom and the right for the gov't to do anything to you if they call you a terrorist), not in anything. The only people who are sacrificing anything in this War on Terror in Iraq and Afghanistan are the soldiers fighting and giving their lives in both of these countries - they are the real heroes.

It's amazing to look back on our nation's World War II years - the rationing, the sacrifice, the total mobilization of our economy and society. We will never see that again. In one of my classes last semester, WW II came up in one of my lectures, and I referred to the rationing, etc. that our government put in place during the war, and I got open-mouthed stares and gasps. Our society and young people today (save our soldiers and their families) know nothing of sacrifice, and I'm including myself and my generation.

Many (nay, most) Americans are the luckiest people on the planet.

Where was I again? Oh yea, the embassies. We need to beef them up, and our government needs to spend the money to do it.

First, the waste needs to be cleaned up in this government to save taxpayers billions. And there's loads and loads of waste in the tens of billions.

Next, this Congress needs to do what it needs to do in order to make us safer.

Get going, Congress. And the only way they will get going is if we hold our representatives in Congress accountable.

Pat Tillman - unwitting PR flack for the misguided War in Iraq

From the Tillman family through TruthDig.com

The disgusting PR effort to win an election by this administration knows no bounds. It's been revealed that the verdict of Saddam Hussein was timed to happen right before the election (surprise!), but that Hussein doesn't know WHY he was found guilty, because the full verdict isn't ready yet - it won't be ready until Thursday. I don't know whether to get angry at that news, laugh at it, or ignore it. One thing's for sure - I'll never ignore stuff like this.

But, I've got some more evidence of some mind-blowingly wretched, gutter PR tactics by our federal government to keep enthusiasm going in the War on Terror.

Over the weekend, I read a pretty powerful essay on TruthDig by Kevin Tillman (above, right) brother of Pat Tillman (above, left), the latter by now a household name for having given up a multi-million dollar NFL contract from the Arizona Cardinals to serve his country. Pat, an Army Ranger, was killed in Afghanistan on April 22, 2004. When Tillman died, there were numerous reports in the media that he was killed while leading his troops and giving orders under fire.

However, on May 28, 2004, the Pentagon told Tillman's family that he was killed by friendly fire. Critics allege that the Tillman family wasn't told right away about the cause of Pat's death because the military wanted to maintain a good image of the armed forces. Considering the track record of this administration, I find it extremely difficult to believe a good story wasn't cooked up to keep public opinion going the right way for the War on Terror; at the time, things in Iraq were worsening, but since this administration ties the war in Iraq & Afghanistan together, Tillman suited their purposes, for a time.

Anyway, Pat's brother Kevin, also an Army Ranger, had this to say on TruthDig (Get the whole story Here.), and it's pretty poignant. It reads, in part:

Somehow the more soldiers that die, the more legitimate the illegal invasion becomes.

Somehow American leadership, whose only credit is lying to its people and illegally invading a nation, has been allowed to steal the courage, virtue and honor of its soldiers on the ground.
Somehow those afraid to fight an illegal invasion decades ago are allowed to send soldiers to die for an illegal invasion they started.

Somehow faking character, virtue and strength is tolerated.

Somehow profiting from tragedy and horror is tolerated.

Somehow the death of tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of people is tolerated.

Somehow subversion of the Bill of Rights and The Constitution is tolerated.

Somehow suspension of Habeas Corpus is supposed to keep this country safe.

Somehow torture is tolerated.

Somehow lying is tolerated.

Somehow reason is being discarded for faith, dogma, and nonsense.

Somehow American leadership managed to create a more dangerous world.

Somehow a narrative is more important than reality.

Somehow America has become a country that projects everything that it is not and condemns everything that it is.

Somehow the most reasonable, trusted and respected country in the world has become one of the most irrational, belligerent, feared, and distrusted countries in the world.

Somehow being politically informed, diligent, and skeptical has been replaced by apathy through active ignorance.

Somehow the same incompetent, narcissistic, virtueless, vacuous, malicious criminals are still in charge of this country.

Somehow this is tolerated.

Somehow nobody is accountable for this.

In a democracy, the policy of the leaders is the policy of the people. So don’t be shocked when our grandkids bury much of this generation as traitors to the nation, to the world and to humanity. Most likely, they will come to know that “somehow” was nurtured by fear, insecurity and indifference, leaving the country vulnerable to unchecked, unchallenged parasites.

Luckily this country is still a democracy. People still have a voice. People still can take action. It can start after Pat’s birthday.

###

Pat's birthday was yesterday. Kevin Tillman's essay is a moving one, and a pretty stinging indictment of this administration and how it's conducting the War on Terror in Iraq (& Afghanistan).

I wonder if Kevin will get Swiftboated like every other prominent critic of President Bush? I suspect not, but really, nothing would surprise me any longer. Considering this administration's handy work of slander, libel, slash and burn against its opponents, anything is possible.

There are sooo many examples of the American people being lied to by this administration - the Hussein trial is simply the latest case, joining the death of Pat Tillman, Jessica Lynch, WMDs, and on and on.

The B.S. & P.R. could all prove to be for naught if you get out and vote - vote for change, give the Democrats a chance. Could they possibly do any worse than the Republicans at this point?