Memorial Day 2007

Three thousand, four hundred fifty four dead US soldiers in the Iraq occupation, and counting...

This president has lied to us from the beginning, and he continues to lie to us about the Iraq occupation. When he asks for the opinion of his generals, they tell it like it is and they get fired for it. But the truth will out, as seen here, in this letter from a former ground commander in Iraq.


General Eaton's Letter to President Bush on Veto May 1, 2007

President George W. Bush
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, DC 20500

Dear Mr. President,

Today, in your veto message regarding the bipartisan legislation just passed on Operation Iraqi Freedom, you asserted that you so decided because you listen to your commanders on the ground.

Respectfully, as your former commander on the ground, your administration did not listen to our best advice. In fact, a number of my fellow Generals were forced out of their jobs, because they did not tell you what you wanted to hear -- most notably General Eric Shinseki, whose foresight regarding troop levels was advice you rejected, at our troops' peril.

The legislation you vetoed today represented a course of action that is long overdue. This war can no longer be won by the military alone. We must bring to bear the entire array of national power - military, diplomatic and economic. The situation demands a surge in diplomacy, and pressure on the Iraqi government to fix its internal affairs. Further, the Army and Marine Corps are on the verge of breaking - or have been broken already - by the length and intensity of this war. This tempo is not sustainable - and you have failed to grow the ground forces to meet national security needs. We must begin the process of bringing troops home, and repairing and growing our military, if we are ever to have a combat-ready force for the long war on terror ahead of us.

The bill you rejected today sets benchmarks for success that the Iraqis would have to meet, and puts us on a course to redeploy our troops. It stresses the need for sending troops into battle only when they are rested, trained and equipped. In my view, and in the view of many others in the military that I know, that is the best course of action for our security.

As someone who served this nation for decades, I have the utmost respect for the office you hold. However, as a man of conscience, I could not sit idly by as you told the American people today that your veto was based on the recommendations of military men. Your administration ignored the advice of our military's finest minds before, and I see no evidence that you are listening to them now.

I urge you to reconsider your position, and work with Congress to pass a bill that achieves the goals laid out above.

Respectfully,
Major General Paul D. Eaton, USA, Retired

Major General Paul Eaton is a retired United States Army General and former Office of Security Transition Commanding General. He was in charge of training the Iraqi military from 2003 to 2004. Eaton was commissioned upon graduation from the U.S. Military Academy in 1972. He is fluent in French, receiving a Master of Arts from Middlebury College in French Grammar and Civilization.

Eaton's awards and decorations include the Distinguished Service Medal, Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit (with 3 Oak Leaf Clusters), Meritorious Service Medal (with 2 Oak Leaf Clusters), Army Commendation Medal (with 2 Oak Leaf Clusters), Army Achievement Medal, Expert Infantryman Badge, Parachutist Badge, Ranger Tab, and the Joint Chiefs of Staff Identification Badge.

Also: Year Four: Simply the Worst

current-events

Being in Iraq can shrink your brain

Ah, this is not good news. This newsflash from Military.com tells us of a government-funded study 's just released report stating that veterans of the first Gulf war are suffering from shrunken brains.

Veterans Exhibit Brain Differences

Week of May 14, 2007

Veterans of the first Gulf War who developed numerous health complaints have areas of the brain that are measurably smaller than those of healthier vets, according to a new study. The results of the U.S. government-funded study provide some of the first hard evidence that veterans from the 1990 to 1991 conflict are suffering from a real neurological illness, researchers say. The findings are preliminary and do not confirm that wartime exposures changed the veterans' brains, only that differences exist.

Notice the disclaimer: "the findings are preliminary"... like it's only been 16 freaking years.

current-events

You go with the veteran's health care system you got

Personally, I was shocked, shocked, I tell you, when I heard about Defense Secretary Gates' firing of Walter Reed Medical Center director Major General George Weightman. It is conceivable that the selection of Robert Gates as SecDef is the single solitary reasonable thing that Bush has ever done. God knows, Rummy would not (and didn't) fire the man responsible for such shoddy treatment of our "troops."

Of course, it took a "liberal" newspaper to bring the abysmal condition of our military's health system to the greater public's attention and start a serious attempt to do something about it. In other words, the liberal press kicked the administration's ass.

As a veteran who has been banged around in the VA system for the last several years, the appalling wait times, aftercare, and domicillary conditions rampant throughout the VA system aren't news to me, nor to the countless veterans that I have run into at various VA facilities in the last six years. Everybody who has ever been anywhere near a VA facility has a tale of woe. And I am not confusing the issue of Walter Reed Hospital with the Veteran's Administration, two separate entities.

The issue at hand, piss-poor aftercare, long wait-times for appointments, a visciously adversarial position on the part of even low-level beaurocrats who make life and death decisions on veterans' eligibility for disability benifits, etc, is prelevant across the board.

Increasing the misery is the fact that the veterans Admiistration is consistantly underfunded even in the face of ever higher mounting casualty numbers in the Middle East. While some sources have claimed that VA funding was increased by 77% under Bush, when you unpack that statement the numbers tell a different story. In the last six years, the VA's budget has increased due to funding for "benefits," survivors' benefits, construction, and disabilities insurance. Actual medical care funding only increased by 18%. The record is clear that while overall veterans assistance has increased in the last six years, the fact of the matter is that even these increases fail woefully to meet demand, and the administration's lying about the number of casualties doesn't help matters much.

From Bob Woodruff's recent ABC special on his experience with The System:

WOODRUFF: According to the Department of Defense, there have been about 23,000 nonfatal battlefield casualties, but that doesn’t tell the full story.

[…]

PAUL SULLIVAN, VETERANS ADVOCATE: These are the big numbers, Bob. 200,000 have already gone into VA for medical care.

WOODRUFF: The official number is that there are only about 23,000 soldiers and Marines who have been injured in this war.

SULLIVAN: What you have are two sets of books. The Department of Defense saying there are 23,000 wounded from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but the Department of Veterans Affairs is actually treating 205,000 veterans from these two wars.

[...]

WOODRUFF: You think Americans fully understand how many injured there are in this war?

NICHOLSON: I think it — I think it cuts both ways. I think Americans are always very surprised to know the number of amputations, for example, which is fewer than 600 in total. They’re probably also surprised to know that 200,000 come to the VA for some kind of medical treatment. That’s probably more than they think.

WOODRUFF: You have mental disorders — 73,000; diseases of nervous system — 61,000; symtpoms, signs of ill-defined conditions — 7,000; diseases of musculoskeletal system — 87,000. These are numbers beyond the 23,000.

NICHOLSON: A lot of them come in for dental problems, others come in for a lot of the normal things that people have. We’re providing their healthcare. Some I suppose are because of their service over there. But they weren’t evacuated for that.

WOODRUFF: But they got some kind of injury, some kind of problem because of the war.

NICHOLSON: That’s possible, yes.

Where did Bush find this asshole? The White House tells us:

Mr. Nicholson earned a master's degree from Columbia University in New York, and a law degree from the University of Denver. He practiced law in Denver, specializing in real estate, municipal finance and zoning law. In 1978 he founded Nicholson Enterprises, Inc., a developer of planned residential communities, and in 1987 he bought Renaissance Homes, which became an award-winning builder of quality custom homes.

In January 1986, Mr. Nicholson was elected committeeman from Colorado for the Republican National Committee (RNC). In 1993 he was elected vice-chairman of the RNC, and in January 1997, he was elected chairman of the RNC, where he served for four years, through the elections of 2000

Oh, I see - he sold houses and votes. Well, gee, that qualifies him to run the largest health care system in the world, doesn't it?

Anyway, Bush's latest budget calls for cutting funding of the VA for the next two years, even as war casualties mount. Shameless.