Broken Promises
By Nicole Belle Sunday May 25, 2008 12:00pm
Thousands of Iraqi and Afghanistan veterans are returning home only to become casualties of war - at their own hands. Suffering from psychiatric injuries, 1,000 veterans under Veterans Administration care are attempting suicide each month. Almost 40 percent of the young men and women returning from combat almost have proven mental health injuries that include Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, major depression and traumatic brain injury.
But when they seek help, disabled veterans face a claims system so mismanaged and inefficient that they often must wait more than five years for any assistance. The Department of Veterans Affairs is choking on a backlog of some 600,000 unresolved benefits claims. Even after their eligibility has been established, thousands of veterans cannot obtain adequate mental health treatment. While they wait for the care they are owed, veterans are dying. About 126 veterans per week commit suicide. Vast numbers of veterans are living with mental illness, sometimes so severe that they are unable to work. Nationally, about 154,000 veterans are homeless on any given night and twice that many are homeless at some time during the year. Read on...
I've said before that I'm the granddaughter of a career military officer. There is no excuse for the treatment of vets and it horrifies me that we're adding tens of thousands of more vets every year from Iraq and Afghanistan. They say that the measure of a society is how they treat the neediest among them. What does this say about us?
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This is the only thing that scares me about National Health Care. If the government can't take care of the men and women they sent into battle why should they be in charge of taking care of the next generation?
This is not only a tragedy, it's criminal. Waste, inefficiency, and cronies sticking their hands in the pot. It adds up to a lot of people who don't give a damn about the returning veterans or this country.
Bill O'Rielly will Deny that this fact is real. All of Fox News is in Denial about these kind of things.
It says that we suck. I, me, mine, me, me, me. That seems to be what this country has become. I wish I had an answer.
This should not even be a problem topic. This just goes to show that this administration does not have one ounce of sympathy for anybody but themselves. Also, lets not forget all of the Republicans in congress who supported this despicable group people. They're doing this shit right if front of our faces and they are laughing at us.
This is an old American tradition. Amidst all the patriotic crowing, these young people are no more than fodder for greedy ambition.
Jeanne @ 1:
Stack the government with ineffective cronies, give em a paycheck at taxpayer expense to wreck the system, then point to the ineffectiveness of "big government" as an excuse to cut the programs. Then take that money to pay for wars for the "offense" contractors, big oil and the Halliburtons. It's the Republican way.
National Health care can work as it does in other countries if we have politicians in power looking out for our interests with our money and not their interests and special interests.
It says that our current President and his supporters are self centered, sociopathic users who are completely blinded and deluded by their farcical "mission." Provide help for those who bravely and selflessly offered service to their country? Why do that? That wouldn't benefit der Wehrmacht! The Bushcovite junta is repulsive and sickening.
"They say that the measure of a society is how they treat the neediest among them. What does this say about us?"
It reveals how the CEO mentality has dominated the American political system. Cost cutting is the priority. On another level it reveals how damaging the corporation structure is to a society.
GOP - The party of broken promises. Catchy slogan.
Sick-making.
Slavery did not end with the civil war. It's just been shifted around.
bmw 528 @ 7:
As much as I love to jump on the Bash Bush bandwagon, this has been a problem for more than the last 8 years. Rather than take the myopic stance of pointing to the current inhabitant of the White House, I would rather see all those people who say they support the troops or drive with yellow ribbons on their cars to take five minutes out of their life and call their representatives and say that this should be a priority for this country and ask them to draft and pass legislation to solve this. Turning a blind eye when we are exponentially adding to the ranks of damaged vets is no longer an option.
Nicole Belle @ 11:
Taking an extra 5 minutes to find a better parking space at the Home Depot is more important to these yellow ribbon SUV driving "troop supporters".
Bush and Company have reached the apotheosis of cowardice.
Petro @ 5:
Excellent comment and excellent link. As a Vietnam veteran, I have always found it astonishing that when veterans return to this country severely burned, blinded, brain damaged, paralyzed, missing their limbs, suffering from PTSD [as I am] or when representatives from the U.S. military knock on the door of a family member of a soldier who had died in Iraq and Afghanistan and tell them that "The secretary of the Army regrets to inform you...", that those family members do not become outraged at the government and the military for having allowed their loved ones to end up unjustifiably dead or maimed and crippled. It simply beggars belief that a wife or a husband or a mother or a father will allow themselves to accept the lies that they were given by an uncaring government. Perhaps, as the writer Norman Mailer once remarked, that they need something to hold onto. If that is true, then they end up, unfortunately, only deceiving themselves that their sons and daughters, husbands and wives, were sacrificed for some ambiguous noble cause when, in point of fact, they were used as cannon fodder to promote the aims of their corrupt government.
Jeanne @ 1:
The for profit healthcare system stinks and doesn't take care of people as well as it takes care of profits. Healthcare is pathetic in this country no matter what system it is. The GOP hates Vets.
What does this say about us?
I think for most of us it says we've let or watched our country get taken over by greedy, evil chumps. A lot of my Vet friends understand they're treated like trasH and just hate Dumbya.
Petro @ 5:
Not only that, but also -
the Agent Orange victims
the Atomic Veteran victims
the Gulf War Syndrome victims
the Depleted Uranium victims (coming soon to a tumor near you)
the Operation Whitecoat and related chem-bio experiment victims
"What does this say about us?"
[deleted--not on Memorial Day. There are more than just veterans of the Iraq/Afghanistan War that read this blog]
I think it's time you abandoned the ridiculous neo-con notion that soldiers should be supported no matter what they do. How about we treat them as PEOPLE rather than as some sort of privileged class of people immune from public criticism?
You cannot support the troops and at the same time not support the war and consider yourself in a non-contradictory position. This is because you would then be trying to convince yourself that the actual killing of innocents is OK, but giving the orders to shoot is not. That is completely ridiculous. Either you think the killings are justified or you don't. There is no logical way you can think that killers are somehow on a different moral plane than leaders. We must look at what PEOPLE do, not what CERTAIN people do.
Society advances when people minimize as much as possible the viewing of other people in terms of classes, groups, countries, affiliations, or other non-thinking entity. It is PEOPLE that make decisions, not groups. Even if a hundred people all shouted in unison "we", it still requires each person to decide to say it. This is just how we must treat the soldiers.
If you think that soldiers are immune from criticism simply because they are following orders, and that the order givers are the ones who should be criticized, then this breeds chaos because anyone that commits a crime can always say they were told to do so. It is a complete negation of what it means to be human if you accept that orders can ipso facto supersede human decency and goodwill.
If you say well, the soldiers would be punished if they didn't follow orders to kill, then the only answer for us as citizens is to criticize THAT LAW which states orders supersede morality. It doesn't mean we have to SUPPORT the troops. That would be an overreaction.
If you think that since there are some soldiers who have honor, and therefore ALL soldiers should be viewed positively, well, it's easy to see the logical fallacy there too. If soldiers as soldiers deserve tax-payer assistance, then why can't every citizen as a citizen get tax-payer assistance? If some soldiers have honor, and thus results in all soldiers being grouped together and viewed positively, then me as a citizen should enjoy the same benefits because there have been many citizens that have brought human well-being in their own ways and so we should all help every single citizen! Nevermind of course the free-riders, as long as we have a political point to make, everything is well and good!
Meanwhile the Military Chief warns troops about politics:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/26/us/politics/26military.html?partner=rs...
I had other priorities.
American Vets, no deposit no return.
Erroll @ 14:
Absolutely! Thank you, and Rebel Patriot @ 16.
Sorry, mixed up the two quote links...!
TruePatriot @ 17:
I wonder if people will support the troops when they WILL be used at some point to suppress us - or when they are ordered enforce martial law.
what do people think it will actually be like in this country when gasoline hits $15/gallon, or God forbid, this mafioso government strikes Iran?
[deleted–not on Memorial Day. There are more than just veterans of the Iraq/Afghanistan War that read this blog]
[deleted--Grow up. This is a private blog, not a state newspaper. Have some respect.]
Rebel Patriot @ 22:
"I wonder if people will support the troops when they WILL be used at some point to suppress us - or when they are ordered enforce martial law."
Then NOBODY can say that they weren't warned....repeatedly...
"what do people think it will actually be like in this country when gasoline hits $15/gallon, or God forbid, this mafioso government strikes Iran?"
The international bankers WANT chaos, because out of chaos there is centralization. There will be a NAU, a NAU currency, and then a world currency which will fund the world government.
People think this is not being planned....how naive they are!
Drew @ 23:
Look at all the state worship -
Armed forces day
Memorial Day
Flag Day
Veterans Day
Birthday of the Army
Birthday of the Navy
National Military Spouse Day
and many more.
enough is enough. all the wars of the 20th century have been nothing but frauds. Even the holy World War 2 was a creation of the elite and the industrialists/financial interests.
Its all a huge Effing LIE.
this is from a government of the people, by the rich, for the rich. and if you're not rich, hate yourself because it's God's will and it must be your own fault.
As mentioned above, this problem has been around for many (wars) years. But what makes it worse with this administration is there does not seem to be any end to the amount of money it will give out to Haliburtan, Dyncorp, Blackwater, Bechtal etc. etc. and how little to the returning soldiers. That being said, the higher ranks of the military, like all "management" of BushCo are well taken care of, it is only the "cannon fodder" that suffers.
Since the corporations own the MSM this will not get a lot of attention so the Dems should put it into their speeches and such which are covered live so that it will be covered.
The Iraq War is so wrong on so many levels, but if there is any GOOD that comes from this it is the transparency with which war, and lies to start wars, have FINALLY been made obvious to even the most clueless among us.
I then realize that almost ANYONE who has been exposed to daily, dehumanizing violence in Iraq will suffer mentally in some small, or large, way for the rest of their lives, and many wont get any, or not sufficient, help for their PTSD.
Physical injuries are another matter, as they cannot be ignored as easily, but even they will suffer from PTSD, and in some cases that PTSD will be worse than those with just mental injuries, so their recovery is twice as hard.
I truly believe one of the most damning aspects of this war is that, the same in ALL wars, the human mind can determine the validity of the mission and the whether it is legitimate and if it is not enough to ask for the sacrifices of our men and women that we are, we are also asking many, if not most, to ignore the voice of reason in all of us.
I'm truly sickened at the state of the nation on Memorial Day, 2008.
WWII was the "high water mark" of American military intervention, since then it has been all downhill, and at the moment, we find ourselves at depths not seen since Vietnam. The tragedy is we learned nothing in the years since our last war of aggression.
TruePatriot @ 17:
As a veteran of the Vietnam conflict, I find it amazing how so few so-called liberals will agree with the sentiments expressed by TruePatriot. He is absolutely correct when he points out that soldiers should not be considered to be immune from criticism simply because they are following orders. That excuse did not work out too well for those German officials and military personnel who were hanged at Nuremberg for trying to justify their actions during World War II.
On this Memorial Day [though I still consider that day to really be on May 30] one will continually hear how soldiers should be honored. As to be expected in America, few Americans will actually engage in any kind of critical thinking to ask why they should be honored. Should they be honored for blindly following orders which have resulted in the torture and terrorization of Iraqis and Afghanis? I think not.
A better approach, I believe, is not to honor but rather to lament that the soldiers who been used by our government have ended up not as "heroes" but as victims. A parade would signify that there is cause for celebration. There is nothing to celebrate when soldiers return to this country physically and psychologically scarred. Instead, about all one will see on television today is an endless stream of movies glorifying war and America's love of militarism. Not the best way to remember that the soldiers of today and yesterday have been used and "honored" for no justifiable reason whatsoever.
McCain Sells Out Vets By Brian Beutler
This article appeared in the June 2, 2008 edition of The Nation.
May 15, 2008
The way John McCain tells it, the injuries he suffered at the hands of his captors in Vietnam would have ended his career as a Navy pilot were it not for the help of physical therapist Diane Rauch. And that's basically true: after months of painful treatment, he was well enough to pass his medical screening. But that leaves out an interesting part of the story. In his biography of McCain, Robert Timberg details the treatment McCain received at two naval hospitals. Navy doctors in Maryland were, in fact, McCain's first physical therapists, but they offered a bleak prognosis. Fortunately for McCain, the story of his imprisonment and torture was so widely known that strangers from across the country offered assistance. One of those strangers was Rauch, who provided her services at no charge.
As a vignette, it's charming--a POW, just released from a long and brutal stretch in captivity, finally stumbling upon some good fortune. But it's hardly a working model for veterans' health services. Most vets, after all, need government-provided treatment for the rest of their lives--first, like McCain, at military hospitals and then, unlike McCain, at VA facilities.
Thirty-five years after McCain's return to the United States, the Veterans Health Administration has undergone a sea change. Once a national embarrassment, it is now among the highest-functioning public bureaucracies. In fact, it's the best health system, public or private, in the country. (Military hospitals are a different story altogether, managed not by the Veterans Administration but by the armed services. To many, the words "military hospital" evoke images of the Soviet-style decay uncovered by journalists at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.)
odanny @ 29:
Yes. The "voice of reason" is a work-in-progress for most of us, and the odious promises of the noble virtues of battle stunt that work - in young people of all things.
TruePatriot @ 17:
you hit a very important nail on the head.
The American Troops do not support our freedoms.
http://www.lewrockwell.com/hornberger/hornberger64.html
by Jacob G. Hornberger
afterall...
they already spy on us without warrants
they already seize us without warrant and without trial
they torture us
they confine us to free speech zones
they send our hallowed military on wars based upon lies and hoaxed evidence
they stage false flags to enrage the nation into actually wanting war (revenge)
and so on...
Erroll @ 30:
you're right. though there never was a vietnam vet ever spat upon for his service, soldiers' morality was put to the question during the vietnam era. Kerry was attacked by those supposedly "supporting" the troops" and what he really wanted was that it should be made known that soldiers are morally accountable for what they have done, not necessarily because of some external yardstick, but because soldiers are moral people who have to reconcile their values with what they have actually done during the war.
the accounts of how 'friendly fire' took down Tilman should be made more widely known. some soldiers have paid the price of having a conscience. too few examples are available.
Rebel Patriot @ 34:
yes, the Rubicon has already been crossed, twice.
I have no doubt that each veteran suicide is seen by the criminal Bush and his criminal chicken-hawk cronies as being a benefit to them - one less promise they have to keep. It is astonishing to me how anybody in uniform or anyone who is a veteran can vote for these Republican gangsters, given the clear contempt that those bastards hold for all active duty, reservists and vets. It just blows me away.
TruePatriot @ 17:
I find your post ironic. You vilify many for the actions of a few, in the name of humanity, then say that many should suffer or be abandoned based on those actions. Not really a consistent position you got going there.
But then I find the posts of many folks on the site of late to be ironic. I see people here decry brutality and turn around a few posts later wishing people they don't like dead, raped, tortured.
Not progressive, liberal or left leaning at all. And definitely not on the side of humanism. It reminds me of Anti choice People ("Think of the Chiiiiiiildren!!!!") who want to see everyone convicted of murder killed by the state.
CoIntelPro for Democratic Party Victory @ 36:
Yup.
TruePatriot @ 17:
well said why should veterans who enjoyed all that free food and going to other countrys at the taxpayers expence get a free ride , vet health cares a joke , the veterans get humped everytime an adminisrations changed , today its the iraq and afganistan veterans turn in the barrel for enjoying the bennifits the tax payers pay for, its worth putting on a uniform and going to iraq and getting your face deformed a leg or two blown off even the loss of an arm or two can be an enjoyment now , in the old days they gave a guy a nice wooden leg or a rubber arm replacement , today the new vets can get nice new titanium springy legs ,improves a guys running abilitys , hey how about them nice new bionic arms and hands , gee to be a free loading vet once again!
Rebel Patriot @ 34:
I don't if all our troops would do that, my son certainly wouldn't, but I have no doubt who Blackwater works for - and it ain't us.
CoIntelPro for Democratic Party Victory @ 35:
It was laudable that Kerry brought to the attention of Congress in 1971 the testimony of the Winter Soldiers and the atrocities that they had witnessed and/or participated in while being in Vietnam. But the tragedy of Kerry was that he did not learn the lessons of Vietnam, as evidenced by the fact that during his campaign he was not advocating for the speedy withdrawal of American troops from that quagmire in Iraq. The question that he asked during those hearings, "Who will be the last man to die for a mistake" [in Vietnam] is what he should have raised when he ran for president in relation to Iraq but, to his everlasting shame, he did not.
Jeanne @ 1:
You make a very valid point. But Medicare works, doesn't it?
If everyone was on Medicare, it'd work also, but the money would have to come from somewhere, like the defence budget which will never happen. God forbid we'd not be able to invade other unthreatening sovereign nations. This country doesn't give a sh*t about the people except for the top 1%. Go to Europe, Australia or New Zealand and the people's voice is heard. Not here.
Looks like the VA is using the Walmart form of healthcare
Let the government handle it.
Erroll @ 42:
could it be that Kerry was also a fellow Bonesman in the Order with George W, George HW, Prescott Bush, and a whole host of other evil Sons of Bitches that often frequent placement at CIA and other high value government/financial interests?
I say yes.
Paul @ 37:
Isn't it the duty of any serviceman NOT to follow illegal orders or serve in a country where an illegal invasion is deployed? I do not know the answer.
Nicole Belle @ 11:
I agree with you that this problem did not start recently---but the Iraq conflict and the negligent leadership of our current President and his defective, do nothing syncophants considerably magnified the problem. As you say, nothing ultimately replaces concerted public input and action. And it is imperative that we elect public officials that genuinely care about vets welfare instead of those who are hidebound by their failed political philosophy at veteran's expense.
What, the magnet on my Escalade isn't enough?
mystic @ 43:
I work for the health care system and there is nobody who would like to see the system change more than me. I want National Health care. I want the injured vets as well as elderly and children (our most vulnerable citizens) to have their health care needs met. If we do it we need to do it right. We can't have the incentives for innovation and hard work go away.
We are capable. We can do anything. I truly believe that.
How does a thread about veteran healthcare become about war policy and war crimes?
I don't always stick to the subject of these threads either, but at least when I do so it's in an attempt at humor.
Let me say my family has/had over 50 members who served in the Armed Forces.
Some died fighting, but most died later because of the lack of care and treatment. I commend the foot soldiers, the grubs because without you peace and humanitarian efforts would be almost impossible.
PS we are working hard to get y'all home! I love you guys!
Fuck Blackwater!
mystic @ 46:
It is the duty of a soldier to refuse illegal orders. But we have seen what happens to the independent thinker in the military, as evidenced by Lt Watada and a handful of others who have pondered, then acted upon that decision.
I think it's hard to break through the rigorous thought reform or re-education they receive-you know the 'up is down, white is black, wrong is right, Sir! Yes Sir!!' bullshit that is pounded into them that makes them good soldiers. I'd be willing to bet cults and captors use the same type of techniques to get people to follow them
I'd be further willing to bet many of these soldiers don't have the capacity to form intent anymore.
As I listened to President "chickenhawk" Bush on C-Span this morning address our nation on Memorial Day I became sick to my stomach. This man has no right to address our nations Vets, and we all know why.
But I want to take this opportunity to thank all of our nations Vets for their service. I know the majority of Vets have the best of intentions when they join the military. Even though the Bush administration has abused the honor of our Vets.
miss_kitty @ 52:
US military training has evolved to enhance the psychopathic nature of humanity. Most people are hard-wired to resist killing another human being. Even one trying to kill them.
is it any great leap that once that psychopathic threshold has been crossed that they would do anything that their commanders order them too?
Lt. Colonel Grossman wrote a book on the subject - Trained to Kill.
http://www.killology.com/print/print_teachkid.htm
Rebel Patriot @ 45:
either a bonesman or his spine eroded into one of a politician. same result.
'disabled veterans face a claims system so mismanaged and inefficient that they often must wait more than five years for any assistance'
I'm sure it is like that by design. The more difficult it is to get help, the less likely assistance would be sought. I believe it's built into the system...all of the systems. The very existence of the VA now only serves to propagate an illusion that the Government cares and is taking responsibility. If there is a thing the Government is good at these days, one of them would be the creation of illusions. To actually benefit from it is to go through an unending forest of red-tape for years. Eventually many simply give up, which is what the Government wants...to simply just go away. It is no fault of the VA itself. The agency simply no longer receives the funds it did before the WarPigs started running the country. Now, the Warpigs have no problem feeding the monster (war) that produces the injured, but they refuse to completely take responsibility for their sacrifices. Because of the Bush Administration the U.S. no longer has any honor in it's no longer hallowed halls of Government. At one time the VA was a God-send to many Vets. My father who was a WWII vet benefited greatly from their assistance in his lifetime. That was when our country was The United States of America...not the United State of AmeriKa it is now.
Our broken soldiers are coming home to very broken country. A country that is so broken on every level imaginable. Thanx George...hekuva job.
bmw 528 @ 47:
the problem started under noxin. there was a measure of revenge exacted against all non-hawk military services by the repugs thereafter and reagan/bush(1) accelerated the removal of obstacles to privatization of government, especially military, the biggest single umbrella budget item. clinton continued the boosh(1) privatization of the military until you have the services running under boosh(23).
JerryO @ 55:
you nailed it!
And those who suffer from PTSD as a result of sexual assault. The NOW story posted yesterday featured a VA administrator who spoke about female assault survivors who develop PTSD because they've been attacked by commanding officers or men in their units. Imagine what the contractor companies' rape victims must go through--it's even worse.
Petro @ 21:
I use the VA for medical attention. I get excellent service and am always treated with respect. My paperwork was completed correctly because I asked other veterans already "plugged in" at the VA system for help in filling out my forms. The problem here is a lack of ombudsmen to help legitimate veterans who need the health care get their problems successfully through the VA bureaucracy. There used to be outreach programs during and shortly after the Vietnam War to help veterans get their act together and to help prepare and present the paperwork. Different veterans have different levels of reading and paperwork skills. Both are needed to fill out the claim form correctly. If the veteran's paperwork is completed incorrectly, there will be delays in getting services to which the veteran is entitled. The VA system can be a model for any National Health Care system. One caveat, however: it cannot be done on the cheap.
Jeanne @ 1:
If the government can’t take care of the men and women they sent into battle why should they be in charge of taking care of the next generation?
They can take care but they won't take care.
126 veterans commit suicide per week, so 6552 a year? Unbelievable!
vet@61 @ 60:
I went with my 81 year old father to the V.A. in Dayton Ohio. The place (although it was sad to see that so many of the historic buildings had been torn down) was impeccable everyone who we interacted was kind and efficient. Although you could see from the long lines that the facility was over whelmed. Many more people using the V.A. since they have lost their jobs and the health coverage that they had had. Double whammy!
the other thing I became aware of is how difficult it is to find out just w