Drudge: Sick, wounded U.S. troops held in squalor

[RamboLiberal]

http://www.drudgereport.com/flash3.htm

Hundreds of sick and wounded U.S. soldiers including many who served in the Iraq war are languishing in hot cement barracks here while they wait -- sometimes for months -- to see doctors.

The National Guard and Army Reserve soldiers' living conditions are so substandard, and the medical care so poor, that many of them believe the Army is trying push them out with reduced benefits for their ailments. One document shown to UPI states that no more doctor appointments are available from Oct. 14 through Nov. 11 -- Veterans Day.

"I have loved the Army. I have served the Army faithfully and I have done everything the Army has asked me to do," said Sgt. 1st Class Willie Buckels, a truck master with the 296th Transportation Company. Buckels served in the Army Reserves for 27 years, including Operation Iraqi Freedom and the first Gulf War. "Now my whole idea about the U.S. Army has changed. I am treated like a third-class citizen."

Since getting back from Iraq in May, Buckels, 52, has been trying to get doctors to find out why he has intense pain in the side of his abdomen since doubling over in pain there.

<snip>

One month after President Bush greeted soldiers at Fort Stewart -- home of the famed Third Infantry Division -- as heroes on their return from Iraq, approximately 600 sick or injured members of the Army Reserves and National Guard are warehoused in rows of spare, steamy and dark cement barracks in a sandy field, waiting for doctors to treat their wounds or illnesses.

[leetrisck]

1. This is just Ft. Stewart - how many

more are out there at other bases. This is disgusting and all thanks to the "Slimy Shrub" that said Help is on the Way. Sure it is. What a disgrace.

[RamboLiberal]

2. Note this story broke on Friday

But I seriously doubt this one will go away. If nothing else we need to make sure it doesn't. We need to go after Congress, news outlets, veteran organizations, talk radio, and every one we know.

[realFedUp]

3. Some photojournalist needs to document all this stuff

for the criminal courts.

[DUreader]

5. You must have missed the shoot to kill policy re: journalists

[DUreader]

4. We Need A March on Fucking Fort Stewart!! Do You Support The Troops?

This is a War Crime!

[RamboLiberal]

7. Agreed - what the F is that 87 Billion buying needs to be asked

AWOL is touting the new hospitals in Iraq and we can't even freaking take care of our vets. And if you read Stars and Stripes there is a big honkin' rift growing between the regular military and the Reserve/National Guard who feel they are getting the worst of the shaft. Not to say the regular troops aren't getting it as well. The Dem candidates need to be all over this story!

[saigon68]

21. Halluburton (2LL's) getting big part of $$$$

I'll bet the champagne is flowing tonight at corporate headquarters.

[JohnOneillsMemory]

22. Let Wes. Clark SCREAM about this. Imagine him supporting the troops.

The Wesley Clark campaign should be all over this. Part of taking the flag back from the petro-nazis.

[dbt]

6. Damn! From the headline, I thought Drudge meant Iraq!!!

These people deserve to be housed in the finest medical facilities this country has to offer and to be made comfortable FAR beyond their expectations.

Is this shit TRUE????

:grr:
dbt

[RamboLiberal]

8. This must be going to break in major news

But I wonder where. Note it is a UPI reporter - isn't that controlled by the Moonies? I copied and saved story in case it disappears.

[dbt]

9. I believe UPI = Moon

What angle are you seeing on that, rmp?

:think:
dbt

[Barrett808]

11. True, but although Moon is a close Bush family friend, UPI has been...

...increasingly critical of him.

[RamboLiberal]

12. Just that Moon is pro Bush

and surprised one of his reporters would break the story. Be kinda like Faux breaking it or Dicky Mellon Scaife's paper. Also wonder how the rest of the major media feel about UPI.

I have no reason to disbelieve this story and want to see it break out in the major media and become a scandal for Bushie and Rummy and the "flag-waving support the troops" Repugs.

We here at DU certainly know how badly the troops have been treated and continue to be treated thanks to the Repugs and their support only for their crony buddies in Halliburton and KB&R. They love to wrap themselves in the flag but not support with the $$$$'s they'd rather give to their contributors. It's about time the sheeple, the troops and the families who vote for these cretins wake up to that. They don't give a damn for average GI, they're only cannon-fodder for the PNAC and Halliburton ambitions.

Well, at least it's gonna break where all the Freepers get their news. Course they will blame it all on Clinton's penis. :grr:

[chasqui]

23. Yes it is

The only safe place in the US Army for Reserves and/or National Guard are the posts that are run by those components. Such posts are Fort McCoy, Camp Ripley, etc. At those posts lodgings are very comfortable, and the soldier is supported quite well.
However, when a reserve component unit goes to an active duty post, one can never tell what will happen. This is really a question of the amount of integration the different components have with each other. The army is seriously behind the Air Farce in this particular regard, and the consequences of this are evident, as can be seen by the article.

[Barrett808]

10. Here's the UPI link

http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20031017-024617-1418r

[RamboLiberal]

14. Thanks - I hope the nets, CNN, MSNBC and Faux

interview this reporter.

[brainshrub]

13. This is just part of their Training

This is just part of their corporate training that was hyped in the glossy television ads to get them to enroll in the first-place.

By being denied healthcare, they are learning how to deal with what it's going to be like in the Corporate world after they get laid off.

[dbt]

15. Woe to bu$h if Local TV gets hold of this crap!

This is exactly the kind of touchy-feely, heart-rending, human interest story that puts Rating$ Point$ in the eyes of news directors at local stations.

Some extremely smart sumbitch/bitch is going to realize that this is a story that cuts right across the Liberal/Conservative divide. ie, it doesn't matter which side of the "war" you're on, look at what's happened to our troops.

And then there's that tendency of the local stations to feed their stories to the national networks...

:freak:
dbt

[Chomskyite]

29. We have to do the work on this

I've written to all my local TV stations (who have news divisions) and to my one local newspaper about this, challenging them to do the followup work.

Let's make this a DU joint!!!

[The Backlash Cometh]

16. This is Rumsfelds' fault.

No commanding General would hold his troops in such contempt.

[aquart]

17. NEVER take a photo op with George.

It always turns out to be his alibi when you're found with his knife in your back.

[bluedog]

18. I can say now

that I totally hate the whole bush administation and wish them all the evils of hell in this world.....I hate those bastards for this and for many many more reasons....is there no limit to them????

[Nancy Waterman]

20. From a poster on Salon Table Talk

the UPI reporter who wrote this, Mark Benjamin:

has written several other reports on lack of information on Iraq combat wounded, the outbreak of pneumonia amoung troops serving in Iraq and if vaccines might be the cause plus other investigative reports on bad military medicine.

It sounds very legit. This story will be exploding tomorrow.

[shockingelk]

19. this guy - Wilsons Disease?

"I think it is disgusting," said one Army Reserve member who went to Iraq and asked that his name not be used.

That soldier said that after being deployed in March he suffered a sudden onset of neurological symptoms in Baghdad that has gotten steadily worse. He shakes uncontrollably.

He said the Army has told him he has Parkinson's Disease and it was a pre-existing condition, but he thinks it was something in the anthrax shots the Army gave him.

"They say I have Parkinson's, but it is developing too rapidly," he said. "I did not have a problem until I got those shots."

This guy should be tested for Wilson's Disease ... http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/diseases/facts/wilsonsdisease.htm ... if symptoms don't present until "soldiering age", they are likely to be neurological, and such patients are frequently misdiagnosed with Parkinson's ...

[Skwmom]

24. Those barracks are disgusting.

During the gulf war I had to stay in them when I first arrived at Ft. Stewart. Roaches were crawling everywhere, up the walls, on the beds etc. They are just cement block,no air conditioning, the heat is really oppressive.

I calling my congressman first thing tommorrow morning. This is outrageous.

[gauguin57]

25. Crimony!

We're turning into RUSSIA in the way we treat our military. The Bushies bomb the crap out of Iraq unnecessarily, then ask for $87B to clean it up. And the prexy/vice prexy's buddies get rich in the bargain. Meanwhile, the soldiers they use and spit out are treated this way. God Bless America, and God Damn the Bush Administration.

[spooked]

26. This poor Reservist! Please Read

These poor reservists being are being used and discarded! They even have to buy their own toilet paper! Here's what one reservist said in the article that makes me think Gulf War Syndrome II:

"I think it is disgusting," said one Army Reserve member who went to Iraq and asked that his name not be used.

That soldier said that after being deployed in March he suffered a sudden onset of neurological symptoms in Baghdad that has gotten steadily worse. He shakes uncontrollably.

He said the Army has told him he has Parkinson's Disease and it was a pre-existing condition, but he thinks it was something in the anthrax shots the Army gave him.

"They say I have Parkinson's, but it is developing too rapidly," he said. "I did not have a problem until I got those shots."

[Nancy Waterman]

27. bump

xxx

[saskatoon]

30. sickness

what about the depleted uranium bullets!

[tlb]

28. But since this is DRUDGE, it can't be believed, right ?

Aren't all stories from his site automatically discounted as lies since he is in the pocket of Karl Rove, and he hates Clinton and etc etc etc. Shouldn't this thread include at least 25 % posts ignoring the story but making personal slurs on Drudge and his site ?

Or is he only unreliable when he posts news not flattering to democrats ?

Or just maybe is it overdue for people to stop discounting news because they don't like the sources such as Drudge, Fox, or the Washington Post, and actually deal with the good and bad news both ?

[Barrett808]

31. This is actually a UPI story -- see post #10 n/t

n/t