Coming Home
Unfortunately, too many Iraq War Veterans are now returning home as amputees. Figures are sketchy (just the way the White House likes it) but some reports say there is over 500 veterans who are amputees. I'm sure the figure is much higher considering a report from one doctor in Germany. He said that he was performing an average of one to two genital amputations every day at an evac hospital.Construction is expected to begin this spring on a new amputee center in Washington, DC and another opened this month San Antonio, Texas. Both centers have been described as "state of the art" or "high tech" and will cost over $60 million. And both appear to be "hurry up" projects, the center at Walter Reed breaking ground before a contract had even been awarded.
This seems almost comical considering that in a report to the House of Representatives Committee on Veterans Affairs, over 30% of VA Centers in the United States need more staff to deal with the volume of new veterans needing critical services. Services are being rationed, waiting lists are being utilized, and in some cases Veterans are waiting over six months to have their claims processed. This same report stated the following:
In addition to this report, the Government Accountability Office recently reported (GAO-06-1119T) that the Administration failed to fund $300 million in resources which the Administration previously touted for veterans’ mental health services in 2005 and 2006. (Link)
In 2005, there was a $2.6 billion shortfall in the Veterans Administration budget. And of all the veterans using VA inpatient services, 85% of them have incomes of $15,000 or less. Divorce, homelessness, alcoholism and suicide are all on the rise among U.S. veterans. So, what did Bush say about them in last week's SOTU address?
Nothing.
Perhaps they forgot to post it on the teleprompter. Maybe the speechwriter misplaced his notes and didn't put it in the final draft. Or maybe, this Administration didn't want to broach the subject, just like Bush ignored the victims of Katrina. It has been said that the Decisionmaker has a real problem dealing with death and hardship. The kid who never really faced up to the death of his sister, the airman who dodged service in Vietnam by going AWOL, the governor who made fun of a woman awaiting execution, the President who ignored those drowning in New Orleans, is now ignoring our returning war heroes.
Maybe he can give Rummy some medals or go ride his bike. Or maybe he can take another vacation in Crawford to clear some brush - that is if that awful Cindy Sheehan is around to keep reminding him about her son. Anything to take his mind off all that unpleasantness.
America's Best and Bravest. Out of sight, out of mind for the Commander in Chief.
posted by InternetJunkie @ 3:57 PM
3 Comments:
This is a powerful post IJ !
I too have read that there are approx 500 amputees thus far. I've no idea on how many have lost vision. And then you mention genital amputations--presumably an inevitable result of IED explosions underneath Humvees.
After WWII combat veterans' service was not just acknoledged with parades but with comprehensive healthcare, financial, education and housing assistnace assistance too, under the GI bill.
That effort covered something like 5 million servicemen and women. Not only were they owed such rewards, the expenditure benefited the country as a whole.
Today how many have served in Iraq? With rotations I doubt much more than 500,000. If the economy is as "strong" as Bush insists why is their no equvialent program for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans?
Maybe because in Bush's world, heroes come back whole or in a casket--anyone else lacking a limb or their vision or mentally affected is a failure and he can't abide that. Amputations are a nuance of warfare.Bush hates nuance.
Personally I've not much sympathy for soldiers who still believe what Bush told them. In that regard I don;t feel I owe those ignorant soldiers a goddam thing. But that doesn't mean they shouldn't be treated with respect and provided the best of practical assistance when they return. And is the COmmander in chief who owes them that above all.
But he clearly doesn't give a fuck.
I saw something in the news about an amputee center for wounded vets in Texas. It was built with private donations. It's a shame that our own government, the administration that sent them to war, can't step up enough to take care of the soldiers after they've lost limbs in Iraq.
5th - That's not the worst of it. Tim Robbins, at the peace rally this weekend, told of a new recruit that was sent to Iraq with two weeks of training - instead of the normal twelve weeks! This is how desperate the military is to get these guys over there.
We abandoned the veterans from Vietnam and the first Gulf war but what the Bush Administration is doing to the newest veterans is criminal. Hopefully the Dems in office now will address the problems within the VA.
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