Salon: The Army Is Ordering Injured Troops To go To Iraq

[Hissyspit]

http://www.salon.com/news/2007/03/11/fort_benning/

The Army is ordering injured troops to go to Iraq

At Fort Benning, soldiers who were classified as medically unfit to fight are now being sent to war. Is this an isolated incident or a trend?

By Mark Benjamin

- snip -

Eight soldiers who were at the Feb. 15 meeting say they were summoned to the troop medical clinic at 6:30 in the morning and lined up to meet with division surgeon Lt. Col. George Appenzeller, who had arrived from Fort Stewart, Ga., and Capt. Aaron K. Starbuck, brigade surgeon at Fort Benning. The soldiers described having a cursory discussion of their profiles, with no physical exam or extensive review of medical files. They say Appenzeller and Starbuck seemed focused on downplaying their physical problems. "This guy was changing people's profiles left and right," said a captain who injured his back during his last tour in Iraq and was ordered to Iraq after the Feb. 15 review.

- snip -

In direct contradiction to the account given by the soldiers, Appenzeller said physical examinations were conducted and that he had a robust medical team there working with him, which is how they managed to complete 75 reviews in one day. Appenzeller denied that the plan was to find more warm bodies for the surge into Baghdad, as did Col. Wayne W. Grigsby Jr., the brigade commander. Grigsby said he is under "no pressure" to find soldiers, regardless of health, to make his unit look fit. The health and welfare of his soldiers are a top priority, said Grigsby, because are "our most important resource, perhaps the most important resource we have in this country."

Grigsby said he does not know how many injured soldiers are in his ranks. But he insisted that it is not unusual to deploy troops with physical limitations so long as he can place them in safe jobs when they get there. "They can be productive and safe in Iraq," Grigsby said.

The injured soldiers interviewed by Salon, however, expressed considerable worry about going to Iraq with physical deficits because it could endanger them or their fellow soldiers. Some were injured on previous combat tours. Some of their ills are painful conditions from training accidents or, among relatively older troops, degenerative problems like back injuries or blown-out knees. Some of the soldiers have been in the Army for decades.

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[saltpoint]

1. Where is Senator John Warner's sorry self on this issue?

He ought to call a press conference tomorrow morning on the steps of the Capitol and denounce the Bush administration for overt cruelty and incredible stupidity in the name of the men and women who are our wounded soldiers.

If we don't hear from Armed Services Committee stalwart John Warner on this, we do not owe him an ounce of attention or respect for the rest of his time on this earth.

[Erika]

2. How sad our government has sunk to these levels for corporate profits

Wehave a whole administration who should be impeached yesterday.

[EFerrari]

3. This would be the clue, folks.

IMPEACH, INDICT, IMPRISON.

www.impeach07.org

:nuke:

[saltpoint]

7. Can crocodiles be involved? Your suggestions are of course the more

historically responsible.

But the crocodile variable really does have enormous appeal...

[EFerrari]

8. Let's strap a clock to him and see what happens.

:)

[saltpoint]

9. LOL! Tick tock tick tock Here comes the hungry croc

On the other hand, PETA would be at our doorsteps for animal cruelty.

We can't ask innocent creatures to swallow members of the Bush administration. We'd never hear the end of it.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

10. Bush does have a bit of a Peter Pan Syndrome

He's just a little boy who rides his bike all day, eats peanut butter and honey sandwiches for lunch, has Condi read him pasages from The Hungry Caterpillar before going beddy bye with his head on Mr. Pillie at nappy time. Like Peter Pan, Bush doesn't want to grow up and change. In fact, he's stubbornly resistant to any change or growth whatsoever. While Bush may be Peter Pan, Cheney is more like Captain Hook, dark, bloodthirsty, and paranoid. Condi must be Tinkerbelle.

[saltpoint]

12. I've seen the Peter Pan statue in -- is it Kensington in London? -- and

was surprised how understated it was, and then realized that the U.S. version is the Disney drawing.

Cheney as Captain Hook. And Condi as TinkerBell. That's a gas.

But I'm wondering if in the end Peter Pan is the better man, and Dubya is too shallow to be even a fictional spirit.

Did you see Paul Newman in HUD? It was based on a Larry McMurtry novel called HORSEMAN PASS BY, and the main character, Hud, was a rascal, a tomcattin' out-late beer-guzzling fist-fightin' ladies man on the wind-blasted Texas plains. A guy who didn't give a damn.

He's the only character I've ever seen that Dubya reminds me of directly.

And Hud was a psychological mess.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

13. I saw that movie a long time ago

I don't remember it well, but I wouldn't give Bush the charisma that Paul Newman had in that role as a type of rogue or rascal (a fist-fightin' ladies man, as you say). Bush strikes me as someone who would have headed under the pool table at the first sign of a fist fight. But it's close. Bush certainly doesn't give a damn.

The thing about Peter Pan is that he stands for that side of the human personality that doesn't want the responsibilities that come with being an adult. Bush has never taken responsibility. He lives in a Never-Never Land where he can play his games and live out his swashbuckling fantasies about himself as a dress-up war president but in the end, when it comes time to go back to reality, he doesn't want to face it. Someone else always bails him out. Peter Pan answers to no one, keeps no schedule, and doesn't do anything he doesn't want to do. To me, that's a very strong part of Bush's personality, along with his resistance to change.

[saltpoint]

14. I hear ya. I picked Hud because he didn't want any responsibility either,

and he was a no-good-for-nothin' kind of a guy as well.

I agree with you completely that at the first sign of a fist fight he'd likely dive behind a table or high-tail it out of town.

What do you say we hold the Iowa caucus next week and get this show on the road?

[EFerrari]

18. Did it look like this?

:rofl:

[saltpoint]

19. LOL!

Ok, stop screwing with my head.

You know how VOLATILE I am.

[EFerrari]

20. I think the Democrats should take this and RUN with it.

Or, maybe Mr. Chavez would oblige. :)

[saltpoint]

21. Probably right on with Chavez. We'd get his blessing on it, no questions

asked!

[EFerrari]

22. Okay, I'm sending it to the Venezuela Info Office.

:rofl:

[saltpoint]

24. Good deal. I'll help pay for the fax. Oh -- and send Brit Hume a copy.

We shouldn't pass up any opportunity to piss off Brit Hume.

[EFerrari]

26. I really did send it.

The VIO is very responsive. :evilgrin:

I'd love to piss of Brit Hume. Let me tinker with it and out it goes.

lol

[saltpoint]

29. good lord I love it. Maybe Chavez will grant an inteview with you --

a DU exclusive!

I'd pay to hear it.

[EFerrari]

47. They called me back today.

And said that they keep their lit focused on Venezuela but will circulate the idea. :evilgrin:

[EFerrari]

27. And, btw, you are a genius. What a powerful metaphor

to describe this pResident!

:toast:

[saltpoint]

28. ain't_no_life_nowhere really put us on the track here with the Peter Pan

notion. I did a poor job with the Hud connection. I think I'm beating a dead horse here but I get a lot of Hud vibe in Dubya, especially when he flashes that smirk of his to reporters. But I can't find the window into the connection.

I'm thoroughly enjoying your idea of strapping a clock around Dubya and maybe dragging him through the Everglades or something. I haven't fished for years. But this coud lure me back.

[EFerrari]

30. I confess that I've never seen that classic. Will and will check back in.

Imho, the Peter Pan comparison could be devastating if it gets picked up. :)

[saltpoint]

31. in post #9 anln gives us Condiliar as TinkerBell. I can see Condi's

scowling, jealous visage now, twitting about the air over Bush's Pan, glaring with rage as only Condi can do.

We could throw Karen Hughes in as Wendy.

[EFerrari]

32. This is a good jumping off image, lots of room to comment:

[saltpoint]

33. "Mission accomplished, boss."

Maybe this is all that's left of the coalition of the willing.

[EFerrari]

39. Swamp Rat's version:

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

41. Phenomenally good - that's it

Swamp Rat is King!

[saltpoint]

44. Swamp Rat, how do you DO that? Beyond the technical facility, I mean.

You get the politics of it just right.

Condi as Tink is a bellringer.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

34. Actually it was the crocodile that swallowed the clock that got this started I think

I have read however other comparisons of Bush to Peter Pan on the Internet. Here's my quickly devised photo of "Bushler Pan". Unfortunately, the flesh tones don't match too well. And I was hoping to find a color photo of Mary Martin's famous portrayal of Peter Pan but couldn't find one. With all due respect to Mary Martin, she did tend to have the body of a little boy, especially in those tights. All I could find unfortunately was a color photo of a female model wearing a Peter Pan outfit to stick Bush's head on. Voila, Bushler Pan:

[EFerrari]

35. works for me

:rofl:

[saltpoint]

36. O my god that's outrageous.

O my god.

[EFerrari]

40. I'm thinking of writing an OP ED that uses this metaphor.

(And, by the way, the Venezuela Info Office did call me back to chat, lol.) How do I credit you for the metaphor? :hi:

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

43. No crediting required

As mentioned, I've seen the discussion of George Bush as having a Peter Pan Syndrome on other blogs. If you could just send me a note when you finish the piece so I could have the pleasure of reading it, that would be great.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

45. I vote for Joseph Lieberman in the role of the nightgown-wearing Wendy

One night, Peter Pan appears in her bedroom and seduces her into abandoning reality and flying off with him to a fantasy world called "Never Never Land", where little boys and girls never grow up. I think Joe Lieberman as Wendy fits.

Then there are the Lost Boys, commanded by Peter Pan. I suggest people like Zell Miller and Sean Hannity as the Lost Boys, the people who continue to invest in Bush's fantasy world and look up to him as their leader.

Maybe Laura could be Tiger Lily. I don't know. I recall that Tinkerbelle (Condi?) was very jealous of both Wendy and Tiger Lily and their relationships to Peter Pan.

[EFerrari]

46. LOL

:rofl:

[Swamp Rat]

38. Here ya go:

:D

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

42. You are the best, man!

I just wonder how the crocodile with the ticking clock that pursues Captain Hook can be worked in. The croc image was what started this whole thing. And who represents that crocodile with the ticking clock? It's no longer Patrick Fitzgerald. Maybe Henry Waxman?

[EFerrari]

15. Omigod! Junior IS PETER PAN!

:wow:

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

16. The Peter Pan Syndrome

According to Wikipedia:

"The Peter-Pan psychological type is one characterized by immaturity or certain sorts of psychological, social, and sexual problems. The type of personality in question, usually male, is immature and narcissistic. More completely, according to Kiley, the characteristics of a "Peter-Pan" include such attributes as irresponsibility, rebelliousness, anger, narcissism, dependency, manipulativeness, and the belief that he is beyond society's laws and norms. According to Kiley, "Peter Pan" is the adult little boy who, when in a relationship or in seeking a relationship, acts out a need for mothering. It is useful to compare the Jungian archetype of Puer Aeternus, the eternal boy.

In his Peter Pan book, Kiley likened the characters of J. M. Barrie's play, Peter Pan, to a dysfunctional co-dependent family."

[EFerrari]

17. Intimately familiar, thanks, lol! Here ya go --

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

23. LMAO - but I'd also like to see Shrub's head superimposed on Mary Martin's body

That might be rather amusing.

[EFerrari]

25. I paged Swamp Rat because my graphics software is limited.

But, it certainly can be done. :evilgrin:

:hi:

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

4. I'm sure Rush Limbaugh will have something to say about these goldbricking

shirkers and malingerers who complain about going back to the Bush Holy War and this time doing our Chimp the favor of dying.

Now if only they had anal cysts, that would be a different story. That would be a reason to keep them home.

[Erika]

5. Yes. We are angry

Beyond angry.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

6. indeed.

:mad:

[Kagemusha]

11. So why not send disabled people?

I mean, seriously, paragraph #3 above is completely 180 degrees from everything we've been hearing, including during gays in the military debates...

[Disturbed]

37. The Army Brass is callous and stupid.

Soldiers are treated worse than farm animals. This treatment for an all volunteer Military is disgraceful. This is the absolute opposite of how a Military will be able to increase it's ranks of new volunteers. Complete stupidity!