Whether it is the lack of protective armor for troops in the field or, now, wounded troops paying for food, complaints from soldiers have shed an unflattering light on how the military bureaucracy takes care of its troops. And they have prompted accusations that the Pentagon is fighting the Iraq war on the cheap, no matter what the cost to soldiers. The meal charge policy "is an example of a much larger problem relating to the overall cost of the war. It is all an indication of extreme costs they are trying to make up on the backs of these men and women," said Steve Robinson, a retired Army Ranger and the executive director of the National Gulf War Resource Center. "If the war is costing too much, the one place you don't skimp is on soldier and veteran programs. The administration has no problem deficit-spending on the needs of conducting war, and we see no reason not to apply the same methodology to veterans' benefits and soldier care."
Sorry Steve, you forgot that the tax cuts for millionaires are even more important -- out of control war or no...
[...] Soldiers in medical hold are considered outpatients, but they usually live on hospital grounds -- some are put up in nearby hotels if housing on the grounds is full -- and have little choice but to buy food at the Walter Reed chow hall. Even as outpatients, soldiers in medical hold often have serious injuries. Some have been blown up by roadside bombs or crumpled in Humvee wrecks. They have serious head wounds and amputations. Others are struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder after being flown out of Iraq with shellshock. Some soldiers in medical hold are waiting to get processed out of the Army because their wounds are so serious that they will never return to duty. But processing at Walter Reed can take over a year, much to the frustration of the soldiers who would prefer to get outpatient treatment near their homes and families. Soldiers in medical hold also complain they are still expected to line up for daily formations and buy new uniforms even as they struggle with debilitating physical and mental trauma from their service in Iraq. They say being charged for food while they're recovering is one more indignity.
Hey you Republican fucking assholes in charge, "supporting our troops" doesn't mean patting the President on the back and telling him what a great war he's fighting. It isn't appropriating another $80 billion for Halliburton either. It's making sure that they have the weapons, ammo, vehicles and protection they need to stay safe. And after you've exhausted those options and some still get wounded (and they will, since this isn't a video game, George), you better make goddamn sure they when they're learning how to hold a fork with their prosthetic hand, they don't also need to practice counting fucking coins! Speaking of coins -- Hey, Rumsfeld! Pull out that auto-pen of yours and sign some allowances so that soldiers stuck at WRAMH can call their families too! Oh, and when a soldier needs a new uniform with only one arm? He shouldn't be paying for that either!
Tell me again about how you care more about the soldiers than me or anyone else who opposes this fiasco of a War?
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