"This Is Not Right"

[Pirate Smile]

Daily Kos

"This Is Not Right"

by BarbinMD
Sun Mar 11, 2007 at 06:01:59 PM PDT

In the aftermath of the Washington Post series that revealed the disgraceful mistreatment of soldiers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, George Bush announced the creation of the President's Commission on Care for America's Returning Wounded Warriors because he was:

...concerned that our soldiers and their families are not getting the treatment that they deserve, having volunteered to defend our country. Any report of medical neglect will be taken seriously by this administration, I'm confident by the Congress, and we will address problems quickly.

And now we find out why he was so concerned; he needed those returning wounded warriors back on their feet so they could be sent back to Iraq http://www.salon.com/news/2007/03/11/fort_benning/:

"This is not right," said Master Sgt. Ronald Jenkins, who has been ordered to Iraq even though he has a spine problem that doctors say would be damaged further by heavy Army protective gear. "This whole thing is about taking care of soldiers," he said angrily. "If you are fit to fight you are fit to fight. If you are not fit to fight, then you are not fit to fight."

As the military scrambles to pour more soldiers into Iraq, a unit of the Army's 3rd Infantry Division at Fort Benning, Ga., is deploying troops with serious injuries and other medical problems, including GIs who doctors have said are medically unfit for battle. Some are too injured to wear their body armor, according to medical records.

While this administration continues to claim that the troops aren't over-extended, they are already sending untrained brigades to Iraq for on the job training, while at the same time:

...in the midst of a war — the number of soldiers approved for permanent disability retirement has plunged by more than two-thirds, from 642 in 2001 to 209 in 2005, according to a Government Accountability Office report last year. That decline has come even as the war in Iraq has intensified and the total number of soldiers wounded or injured there has soared above 15,000. <...>

In 2005, Ellen Embrey, deputy assistant secretary of defense for force health protection and readiness, told House lawmakers the reason for the comparatively large numbers of troops placed on temporary disability was actually to keep end strength up. A premature medical evaluation board decision, she said, "may negatively impact the individual’s ability to continue serving."

And now we know why.

Other soldiers slated to leave for Iraq with injuries said they wonder whether the same thing is happening in other units in the Army. "You have to ask where else this might be happening and who is dictating it," one female soldier told me. "How high does it go?"

How high indeed? A question that needs to be asked as Congress considers legislation that would allow George Bush to waive readiness requirements for troops returning to Iraq. Because we now know how low he'll go to continue his war at all costs.

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/3/11/192635/289

[Monkeyman]

1. No Main Stream Media is picking up the story

[REACTIVATED IN CT]

12. It is on an NPR radio program now

"Fresh Air" is airing here in CT now at 1 PM

Correction - the program is "Day to Day", not "Fresh Air". They are interviewing the salon.com reporter

[whistle]

2. Bush knows that any troops who survive exposure to all the toxins in Iraq

...will be a long term medical liability for the military so he wants to make sure they don't survive. Republicans in congress and fascists in the military apparently back him on this.

[Monkeyman]

3. If this War stopped right now 600 Billion for life time care of these kids

[Cobalt-60]

4. Raw and wounded troops to battle?

The last tryant that insisted on that was Hitler.

[Monkeyman]

5. Yep

[walldude]

6. I saw a quote last week from the commander of...

I believe it was Ft Stewart. Claiming that no soldier goes home without his express written permission, whether they have completed their enlistment or not. These guys are now prisoners. You know... DRAFTED! K&R Great Post Pirate

[Monkeyman]

7. Stop Lost in Effect

[walldude]

8. Yeah.. knew about it before, but to hear the guy say it

in the way he did really just brought it home for me. I tried to find the quote but it's gone from the link I kept.. I did however find this LTTE:

"I am a hard working middle class man who was in the Army many years ago. I was proud when my son followed in my footsteps and joined to serve his country. My son, who is my only son, has served for two-and-a-half years on two tours in Iraq and just returned from a rotation in Afghanistan for four months. He has just learned that his unit at Fort Stewart is to be deployed in September, preventing him from proceeding with his discharge in August.

My son has been on the front lines in Iraq, won commendations and awards and did so bravely and without question. However, as a father and former Army man, I question the judgment of the Army and my president.

As a citizen, veteran and father, I ask that President Bush allow these men who have unselfishly served their country to leave when they are entitled to and not keep deploying the same men over and over again. To allow some to never see war and force others to repeatedly serve is not only unfair, it is a disgrace, dishonor and a disservice to these young men.

I beg President Bush, as a father, to allow my son and all the others like him to come home when their enlistment is up instead of making them become one of the statistics by sending them over repeatedly until the odds catch up with them.

Kenneth R. Freeman
High Point"

http://blog.nrinteractive.com/staff/letters/archives/2006/12/president_bush_2.html

[Pirate Smile]

9. kick

[BeFree]

10. Scraping

The bottom of the barrel; making the injured go back to Iraq.

Now do you see why I never wanted to be a soldier in big brother's army?

[mopinko]

11. presidents committee MY SHINY METAL ASS!!!!

i'm just picturing harry truman hearing about this shit. he is grabbing his hat and steaming out the door. he is walking over to building 18, aides left in the dust as he is nearly running. he bursts through the doors, goes up to the guy in charge, and says- "you are fired, your staff is fired, get the &^%* out of town before i decide to draw and quarter you." he picks up the phone, and gets the red cross over there to take care of things until he can find competent people to take the job. he keeps on firing people until anyone who had anything to do with this debacle is gone. then he orders all the services to have a stand down, and all available hands report to the nearest military hospital. nothing else gets done until every one is spit and polished.

once upon a time, you had to be a leader to live in the white house. jesus fucking christ.

[Richard Steele]

13. That was a different time. Back then, the buck stopped....somewhere. Now it never stops. nm

[mopinko]

14. yup, it just circles round and round

if it does stop, it is with the littlest "bad apple"

[Pirate Smile]

15. kick