Chimperator Bush talks about "supporting the troops" and accuses the Democrats of not doing so. Never mind that Bush's regime has never provided adequate body armor to the troops or enough armored Humvee and other vehicles. Now, the Chimperator's regime is horribly failing the troops when they come home maimed and mentally damaged. With support like the Chimperator's who needs an enemy. Here (http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/C/COMING_HOME_WOUNDED_THE_PRICE?SITE=1010WINS&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT) is a telling story:TEMECULA, Calif. (AP) -- He was one of America's first defenders on Sept. 11, 2001, a Marine who pulled burned bodies from the ruins of the Pentagon. He saw more horrors in Kuwait and Iraq. Today, he can't keep a job, pay his bills, or chase thoughts of suicide from his tortured brain. In a few weeks, he may lose his house, too. Gamal Awad (pictured at left), the American son of a Sudanese immigrant, exemplifies an emerging group of war veterans: the economic casualties.
More than in past wars, many wounded troops are coming home alive from the Middle East. That's a triumph for military medicine. But they often return hobbled by prolonged physical and mental injuries from homemade bombs and the unremitting anxiety of fighting a hidden enemy along blurred battle lines. Treatment, recovery and retraining often can't be assured quickly or cheaply. These troops are just starting to seek help in large numbers, more than 185,000 so far. But the cost of their benefits is already testing resources set aside by government and threatening the future of these wounded veterans for decades to come, say economists and veterans' groups.
Every morning, Awad needs to think of a reason not to kill himself. He can't even look at the framed photograph that shows him accepting a Marine heroism medal for his recovery work at the Pentagon after the terrorist attack. It might remind him of a burned woman whose skin peeled off in his hands when he tried to comfort her. He tries not to hear the shrieking rockets of Iraq either, smell the burning fuel, or relive the blast that blew him right out of bed.
There's another twist. This dedicated Marine was given a "general" discharge 15 months ago for an extramarital affair with a woman, also a Marine. That's even though his military therapists blamed this impulsive conduct on post-traumatic stress aggravated by his Middle East tours. Luckily, his discharge, though not unqualifiedly honorable, left intact his rights to medical care and disability payments - or he'd be in sadder shape.
[B]etter armor and field medicine have kept U.S. soldiers alive at the highest rate ever, leaving 16 wounded for every fatality, according to one study based on government data. The ratio was fewer than 3-to-1 for Korea and Vietnam. On the flip side, many are returning with multiple amputations or other disabling injuries not completely fixed even by fancy prosthetics, methodical rehabilitation, and job retraining. The Pentagon counts more than 29,000 combat wounded in the Middle East since the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington. Tens of thousands more were hurt outside of combat or in ways that show up later.
There was no mistaking the wounds of Cambodian-American Sgt. Pisey Tan. Eight months into his second tour in Iraq, a makeshift bomb blasted his armored vehicle and took both his legs. Still, Tan has needed to rely on private donations and family, as well as the government. The government treated him and paid for his artificial legs. But his brother, Dada, left college to live with him at a military hospital for almost a year. Later, his brother carried him piggyback up and down the stairs at home as Tan got used to his prosthetics.
So many lives ruined just so the Chimperator could indulge in hubris and "avenge his daddy." To say that the Chimperator sickens me is an understatement.
No comments:
Post a Comment