As if they hadn't already sunken low enough, now it seems that the Rethugs have orchestrated US military policy around the principle, "Screw over our severely wounded Iraq War veterans at every opportunity." Read this:
http://www.tri-cityherald.com/tch/local/story/6717741p-6605054c.htmlExcerpt: "Lefever {mother of a severely wounded Iraq soldier} and other critics say the Army's medical system, particularly Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington, D.C., has been overwhelmed by the number of wounded returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. They accuse the Army of attempting to discharge wounded soldiers before their essential medical needs are met and transfer them to Veterans Administration medical facilities."
I can understand that the Army hospitals are feeling vastly overwhelmed by the shockingly high numbers of severely wounded soldiers returning from the wars (even though Iraq War critics were warning about this from the outset). But the answer to these strains is not to prematurely discharge soldiers who've sacrificed so much and deny them medical care. The answer is to allocate the funds that are needed for the hospitals to give adequate care to the patients and not rush them out the door.
Yet the Rethugs and the neocons, despite their rah-rah rhetoric and superpatriot flag-waving, continue to quietly cut veterans' benefits when they think no one is looking, and shoo the severely wounded out the door. Not only are they chickenhawks who demand others sacrifice life and limb for them, they then refuse to render medical care to those who have made the sacrifice for them. Much more important to pad the bank account of yet another billionaire Rethug contributor. Makes you sick-- no wonder the Armed Forces can't seem to recruit anybody for the services, they know they'll get screwed if they sign on the dotted line.