The problem with our Government is not Democrats or Republicans, per se, but with the collective need to do whatever it takes to get and keep power. This never-ending opportunistic positioning on issues, with little regard for any who might suffer from the effects, fails all of "we the People" and the Government should be ashamed of itself...though we have a better chance of finding a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow than ever seeing sincere humility and embarrassment come from any of our Political Heroes in Washington.
The political football that is Iraq is being as poorly handled as any issue in my memory, and our Warfighters and Veterans (those we should most concern ourselves with) are being failed on almost every level. I blame the President. I blame the Department of Defense. I blame Veterans Affairs. Most of all, I blame Congress. While most of these issues with Soldiers and Veterans lie squarely in the lap of the DoD and the VA, Congress owns the lion's share of blame for not fixing this mess because they hold the checkbook and they aren't doing what needs doing: writing the damn checks.
Let's start with the New York Times piece, The Suffering of Soldiers:
Several years into a pair of wars, the Department of Veterans Affairs is struggling to cope with a task for which it was tragically unready: the care of soldiers who left Afghanistan and Iraq with an extra burden of brain injury and psychic anguish. The last thing they need is the toxic blend of secrecy, arrogance and heedlessness that helped to send many of them into harm’s way.
Quick cheap shot at the President aside, the NYT's Editorial board is on to something. But, before we look at the rest of this "opinion" piece, let's pile on a few more things for emphasis.
More below the fold...
First, consider the now-very-forgotten story of Walter Reed and Building 18 and the suffering of Soldiers there. Recall that President Bush promised a commission to review Military Health Care in the wake of that story, and a report from the so-called Dole-Shalala commission was issued. Anything implemented from that one yet? Not that I can find.
Consider as well the Ft. Bragg barracks disaster and the standard issue gasps of shock and outrage from the guy who OWNS it to begin with: SecDef Gates himself.
A cursory run through the news yesterday brings a story of Soldiers being cremated at a facility used for pets. It's no wonder people are screaming...a freaking pet crematorium being used for our fallen Heroes, and the Military isn't sure if this place is doing these cremations appropriately? What the bloody hell is wrong with this bureaucracy?
The President asked for the Iraq supplemental funding well over a year ago. The Democrats have finally come up with a disaster in response, and in an op-ed this morning Alabama Rep. Jo Bonner details the bloat lying in wait within it. The bill is a joke and the Democrats are well aware the President will have no choice but to veto this trash and the Warfighters and Veterans will continue to wait.
Congress was told by Adm. Mullen that the Army is almost out of money. Of course, Harry Reid could give a flip, given that he's already said it's no big deal [subscription], but if the Army runs out of money how can anyone expect the Soldiers and Veterans to get the care they need? They're about to lose their paychecks...how are they going to get treatment for the suffering the original Times piece above suggests they so desperately need?
Consider the last passage in the NYT piece:
Fortunately, the solutions are clear: more money for mental health services, closer tracking of suicides and more aggressive preventive efforts, more efficiency at managing veterans’ treatment and more help for their families. If this country gave back to wounded troops even a fraction of the commitment and service that it has received from them, they will be well cared for.
Why is this so hard for Congress to comprehend?
In the piece titled "The Costs of War" from the WaPo, dollars and cents make up the whole discussion about Iraq. With all of Schumer and Reid's ranting and raving...and calling President Bush "King George"...nowhere is there a mention of what MORE the Army can do about the problems it's Warfighters and Veterans face were these clowns to draft a bill the President can actually sign. They are clearly more concerned with the constituencies they can buy off...and with shoring up majorities and expanding them. They are there to do the people's business, not muck up our lives and CERTAINLY not to destroy the lives of our Soldiers and their families, yet that is exactly what they continue to do.
They fail us all.
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