STL DC bus riders and all war opposers ATTENTION PLEASE!!!

[Desert Liberal]

I just got the most awful news. I know that not all of you may have met Tina and Cloy Richards, but they are both phenomenal people. Tina had the grey SUV type vehicle that we took to DC from STL. I was fortunate enough to ride with Cloy for a few hours on the way to DC, and I found him to be a wonderfully intelligent, funny, and warm young man. I knew he was in one of the branches of the armed forces, but he didn't offer a lot of info, and I didn't want to intrude.
Guys and gals, Cloy has been called to report for duty. I cried bitter tears when I heard this news, for this young man has no place in a war zone. He's trying to finish his schooling, and didn't stay in DC for Monday's lobby day because he had classes. I'm sure his family needs all the support you can give them, so please, call your congressman or woman, tell them to stop the back-door draft.
We cannot allow this administration to keep sending good kids to kill other good kids.

DEMOCRATS
Carl Levin (Michigan) Chairman http://www.senate.gov/~levin /
Edward M. Kennedy (Massachusetts) http://www.senate.gov/~kennedy /
Robert C. Byrd (West Virginia) http://www.senate.gov/~byrd /
Joseph I. Lieberman (Connecticut) http://www.senate.gov/~lieberman /
Jack Reed (Rhode Island) http://www.senate.gov/~reed /
Daniel K. Akaka (Hawaii) http://www.senate.gov/~akaka /
Bill Nelson (Florida) http://www.senate.gov/~billnelson /
E. Benjamin Nelson (Nebraska) http://www.senate.gov/~bennelson /
Evan Bayh (Indiana) http://www.senate.gov/~bayh /
Hillary Rodham Clinton (New York) http://www.senate.gov/~clinton /
Mark L. Pryor (Arkansas) http://www.senate.gov/~pryor /
Jim Webb (Virginia) http://www.senate.gov/~webb /
Claire McCaskill (Missouri) http://www.senate.gov/~mccaskill /

REPUBLICANS
John McCain (Arizona) Ranking Member http://www.senate.gov/~mccain /
John W. Warner (Virginia) http://www.senate.gov/~warner /
James M. Inhofe (Oklahoma) http://www.senate.gov/~inhofe /
Jeff Sessions (Alabama) http://www.senate.gov/~sessions /
Susan M. Collins (Maine) http://www.senate.gov/~collins /
John Ensign (Nevada) http://www.senate.gov/~ensign /
Saxby Chambliss (Georgia) http://www.senate.gov/~chambliss /
Lindsey O. Graham (South Carolina) http://www.senate.gov/~graham /
Elizabeth Dole (North Carolina) http://www.senate.gov/~dole /
John Cornyn (Texas) http://www.senate.gov/~cornyn /
John Thune (South Dakota) http://www.senate.gov/~thune /
Mel Martinez (Florida) http://www.senate.gov/~martinez /

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[Pharaoh]

1. CANADA!!!

This is getting too crazy! If he doesn't get killed he could be horribly maimed or depressed beyond all hope..........run buddy run, this is no just war worth fighting, it is the fantasy of a delusional madman!

[Veronica.Franco]

2. They need to run for their lives ...

Iraq Vets Come Home Physically, Mentally Butchered

by Aaron Glantz
On New Year's Eve, the number of U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq passed 3,000. By Tuesday, the death toll had reached 3,004 – 31 more than died in the Sep. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

But the number of injured has far outstripped the dead, with the Veterans Administration reporting that more than 150,000 veterans of the Iraq war are receiving disability benefits.

Advances in military technology are keeping the death rate much lower than during the Vietnam War and World War Two, Dr. Col. Vito Imbascini, an urologist and state surgeon with the California Army National Guard, told IPS, but soldiers who survive attacks are often severely disabled for life.

"If you lost an arm or a leg in Vietnam, you were also tremendously injured in your chest and abdomen, which were not protected by the armor plates back then," he said. "Now, your heart and chest and lungs and heart are protected by armor, leaving only your extremities exposed."

Dr. Imbascini just returned from a four-month deployment to Germany, where he treated the worst of the U.S. war wounded. He said that an extremely high number of wounded soldiers are coming home with their arms or legs amputated. Imbascini said he amputated the genitals of one or two men every day.

"I walk into the operating room and the general surgeons are doing their work and there is the body of this Navy SEAL, which is a physical specimen to behold," he told IPS. "And his abdomen is open, they're exploring both intestines. He's missing both legs below the knee, one arm is blown off, he's got incisions on his thighs to relieve the pressure on the parts of the legs that are hopefully gonna survive and there's genital injuries, and you just want to cry."


http://www.antiwar.com/glantz/?articleid=10262

[evlbstrd]

3. Done.

Dammit. Done.

[Name removed]

4. Deleted message

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[evlbstrd]

5. Before I alert on your ignorant ass...

Understand that he has served two tours in Iraq and was DISCHARGED! Unlike Dick "Other priorities/Five deferments" Cheney.

[Name removed]

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[evlbstrd]

7. How very empathetic of you.

Now go sign up.

[Name removed]

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[proud2BlibKansan]

11. You need to take that attitude

straight to the nearest recruiting office.

They need sword livers like you in Iraq.

[Vickers]

19. He's done his swordplay already, and so have I...have you?

:eyes:

[proud2BlibKansan]

10. They didn't tell him he would be

ordered to kill innocent women and children.

They didn't tell him he would be injured and called back to duty while still on crutches.

They didn't tell him the VA would NOT take care of him when he returned.

No he most certainly did NOT know the consequences.

[proud2BlibKansan]

9. I think two tours is enough

especially compared to your tours. How many times did you say you had been over in Iraq serving your country?

If you need enlistment info, I would be glad to post that for you.

I would welcome you to DU but I know you will be too busy serving your country to spend much time posting here.

:hi:

[Name removed]

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[proud2BlibKansan]

17. "Personal responsibility" is a republican catch phrase

You've been had.

Hmm a new Duer tells me (a long time well know DUer) that I sound like a republican. And she/he uses a RW talking point to do so.

You really don't want to go there.

[Name removed]

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[proud2BlibKansan]

26. But he didn't

knowingly sign his rights over to GW.

This kid is a good friend of ours. We DO know the details here. You don't.

[Name removed]

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[babylonsister]

12. How many tours would be enough for you, eddie? And have you

served even one honorably? If you haven't even walked a mile in this soldier's boots, who are you to criticize?
You might want to read up on what's happening to many of the soldiers who've actually signed up, and their futures.

Here are some staggering facts:

One in three homeless Americans are military vets, and that is rising.

One in four vets with PTSD sought medical care from the VA, where they experienced a two to three month wait to see a doctor.

Over 53,000 are wounded. The ratio of doctors to patients is one doctor for every 500 patients.

Veteran males aged 20 to 24 have twice the unemployment rate.

40% of troops currently being rotated are National Guard or reservists. 95% of them are experiencing problems getting their pay. Many are being sent back are on potent anti-depressants, anti-anxiety drugs with little or no counseling or supervision or screening.

Over 200 have committed suicide.

There's a 70% divorce rate for returning soldiers.

The GOP plan for 2007 drops $65 billion in benefits over the next five years.

[Name removed]

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[babylonsister]

15. I noticed you didn't answer the question. It's easy to badmouth

a soldier behind a keyboard. What have you done for US lately?

[Name removed]

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[proud2BlibKansan]

18. And do you know WHEN he signed up?

I do and you are completely off base here.

[Name removed]

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[babylonsister]

21. Which is I'm sure what you've done for your country-nothing but

criticize those that do.

[Name removed]

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[proud2BlibKansan]

23. You claim everyone know what bush has done

So I take it you will take back what you said if you find out he signed up before bush took office?

[Name removed]

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[Mrs. Overall]

28. Drop the Kucinich avatar and find a picture of "GW" instead.

No one calls bush "GW" here.

[Name removed]

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[Name removed]

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[Desert Liberal]

31. Update on Tina/Cloy

Here's the Instead of War update for this. I hope you all can help.

http://www.insteadofwar.org/site/weblog.php