Letter From John Edwards

Hat tip to Bob at Mad in the Middle for finding this-

John Edwards Letter to the editor - The New York Times

(reprinted in full):

In “For Wounded Veterans and Their Families, a Journey Without Maps” (Editorial Observer, March 24), Lawrence Downes missed an important opportunity to explain why both the Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs are unprepared to care for the service members who have been hurt in the Iraq war.

The reason is that the frequently reported number of the wounded in action (29,320 as of March 1) does not include everyone who’s been hurt.

The complete number of nonfatal casualties in Iraq is 60,645. Most assume the wounded number includes all, but it does not. It leaves out another 8,273 injured and 23,052 who became ill and required medical air transport from the war zone. The Department of Defense releases two reports: one with the weekly numbers of those wounded and killed, and then another monthly report with the complete numbers. After five years, it is time for respected news organizations to use the complete number.

The public needs this information so that we can better prepare for the care of all of our veterans from this war and others. The struggle for them and their families your article addressed is happening all across this country. Nearly 300,000 Iraq and Afghanistan veterans have already sought care from the V.A.

The system is broken. That is why so many veterans are still fighting for the care they earned. That is why their families struggle with paperwork and months of delay. And that is why 154,000 veterans sleep on grates or under bridges every night.

We have tens of thousands set to come home, and we aren’t prepared. Every day we should honor the more than 4,000 lives lost: every suicide, bullet or serious accident.

And every day we should honor those who have been hurt. That number is 60,645 and rising.
John EdwardsChapel Hill, N.C., March 31, 2008

also blogged about at: EENR and TPM

I link, therefore I am

Tracking a Marine lost at home

Letter from Venezuela

The alternating Relevance of those who make the simple truth look so easy to understand

Bob ponders not voting for Obama...

My response:

To me, actions speak louder than words. Hillary or Obama, in my crystal ball, will ACT much the same in office. Like you, John Edwards was my choice. Hillary has dropped the ball in three ways recently, though: failing to vote on the FISA matter, when Obama did. That's an action that had a consequence with this voter. Then cozying up to the worst of the worst of Republican hacks: Rush and Scaife. Finally, I believe I've watched this race with a neutral eye for some time. And again and again, I see the Clinton campaign using Rethug tactics to smear her Democratic opponent and actually Cheer on the Republican candidate. So, I am for Obama. Even so, Bob, I'd happily vote for Hillary over McCain. Because I can tell the difference between McCain and Hillary. And if Obama becomes the candidate, I surely hope you (and other HRC supporters) can find it in your heart to see the difference between Obama and McCain.

Why did you become a Democrat?

Watch this video

Montel Calls out Conservative

"Stop turning this into a political issue while I gotta man sitting there suffering. It's not a political issue"...

"This is not the time to get a soundbite. Tell me what you're gonna do about this man sitting here before you" ...

"Then let's get the President right now to take responsibility. He's the Commander in Chief- Quit turning his back on people who's doing his dirty work. Why not do that? "...

"I want a Republican and a Democrat to go tell that President- listen to me, you were a Reservist, you didn't even put your uniform on and do the real job-Why don't you now support the people who did?"

The truth is, if the President wanted to fix this, he could. And not ONE Democrat would vote against money for the healthcare of the troops.

So, the question is, Why doesn't the Decider do something?

I think we all know the answer.

There's plenty of money to finance Blackwater. But there is not a damn dime for troops that can't fight anymore. Once an American soldier is wounded beyond ability to serve in Iraq, the Republicans don't support them ANY LONGER.

UPDATE: Frederick has more on McCain and Veteran's Healthcare

News

Good Mammal News of the Day

From the Duh Dept -
Sex Ed reduces teen pregnancy, Abstinence does not

What kind of parents let their kid get breast surgery? Death by plastic surgery Anyone who opts for plastic surgery just to make them more attractive is a FOOL. Hell, I'm ugly, it's not that bad, really.

Another Top Notch Arizona Republican speaks: Sen.Kyl blames Democrats, minorities, the poor, and the young for the Sub prime mess. What next? Brittney Spears was behind the Bear Stearns Bailout?

Cheney on 4,000 Dead Americans : They Volunteered.

More on what they volunteered for... Prisoners of War

EXCERPT

What kept him going was the end that was in sight. He just had to hang on till his contract was up, and then he could go home, go back to school, and finally be a 20-year-old kid. Then days before he was scheduled to get out, his unit was locked down, stop-lossed as part of the surge. He was looking at another 18-month deployment.

...

I find it so painfully ironic that as other excuses for the war have been proven false, (weapons of mass destruction, U.N. sanctions, ties to Al-Queda, etc.) the administration has fallen back on the most unbelievable of all: freedom. While George Bush insists that Iraqis accept freedom, American style, one out of every 100 of our own citizens are in prison. Almost twice as many as the runner-up, China. Iraq is 62 on the list, though it is unclear whether that includes those being held by Americans. In this country, there are 2,258,983 in prison. That figure does not include the 723,000 locked up in local jails. Or the 60,000 stop-lossed soldiers.

Pentagon studies have shown that each deployment leaves a soldier 60 percent more likely to suffer serious mental health problems. In support of that, as this president sends soldiers back into combat as many as five times in as many years, the U.S. Army Medical Command Suicide Prevention Action Plan acknowledges that suicides among active-duty soldiers in 2007 were up 20 percent from 2006, their highest level since the Army began keeping such records in 1980. And the number of suicide attempts has increased sixfold since the Iraq war began. There were several in the I-30 Infantry Battalion, and Goldsmith holds his sergeant major responsible. Like Goldsmith, these young soldiers are being told not only that they are prisoners, but that they are disposable. They are our children, and their deaths are on the hands of those who hold their freedom hostage.

Dept of Republican Security - Nuclear Fuses sent to Asia on Accident

"The Defense Department mistakenly shipped secret nuclear missile fuses to Taiwan more than 18 months ago and did not learn that the items were missing until late last week, Pentagon officials acknowledged yesterday, deepening concerns about the security of the U.S. nuclear arsenal."

Ligers ...

And Glenn Greenwald brings us Iraqis thoughts on American Intervention- that you seldom see on American media : Operation: Pay Attention

Can't kill everybody

After reading this account of our soldiers in Afghanistan, I am reminded that the situation there is no less fucked up than in Iraq.

Fixer at Alternate Brain , who like me, is not one to mince words, posts today that we could have already won in Afghanistan if we would've have been more merciless. I understand the sentiment, really I do, and I always felt that Afghanistan was different from Iraq. I believed they deserved it. Why? Because Osama was there right? He was in charge, with the Taliban, right? Well, whatever. But also, I thought Afghanistan deserved what they got because, if nothing else, they seemed to be celebrating the 9-11 attacks. So, fuck em, right? But years past that knee jerk kill em all feeling- the one that also told me that sending our troops there was justified- I don't seem to believe my simple minded revenge horseshit anymore. Alternate Brain is one of my favorite spots- and I respect Fixer and his opinion on this matter, even though I disagree. He certainly isn't some neocon gasbag postulating emptily on this matter. It's understandable to wish "the enemy" was all dead so our soldiers could come home and get some relief from the never-ending hell that the Republican party has inflicted on them.

Here's a brief excerpt from "Wanna go to war?"-

And thinking about it, I think I should explain.

According to the narrative we've heard since 11 September 2001, the nation of Afghanistan harbored Osama bin Laden and facilitated the attacks on the US. Fine. Why did we go in there saying 'we'll take out the Taliban, but we're gonna go over there and win hearts and minds'?

Let me explain something. You don't go to war worrying about winning hearts and minds. You go to war to break the enemy, pound him far enough so he surrenders. War is ugly, dirty, and a last resort but if you're gonna go, you have to go ugly and dirty. Why in Hell do you think they call it 'war'?

We should have blown Afghanistan to shit, period. Fuck the innocents, fuck everything and kill 'em all. Worry about building hearts and minds later. There should have been a horrible price exacted from them for attacking America. Instead, we have the mess we do now. We have guys in Hindu Kush getting killed using the same tactics the Mujaheddin used against the Russians. You don't go in to a war worrying about offending sensibilities. It's war for crying out loud.

full article

My reply in the comments there:

The sentiment that you can "kill them all" is some Neocon John Wayne Bullshit. You can't kill them all. You could send in fire missions til we run out of bombs, you can kill every civvie you see every day for the next year, and you won't Kill them all. The Afghani people didn't do 9-11. Saudis and Bin Ladin did. Going all Rambo/Ace of Spades wouldn't do anything but make America a genuine Nazi nation, and make us a hell of lot more subject to global ridicule and retaliation. As long as we have the benefit of the doubt, even the barest shred of illusion that we are doing the right thing, we won't be held accountable as much as we would if we went in with a true scorched earth policy. So, sorry, but I think that the notion of killing every woman and child in Afghanistan only does one thing: Gives the psychos their jollies. "Do we get to win this time?" It's pure bullshit. And the soldiers who came back from the mass slaughter of truly innocent villagers this would involve- would be forever fucked in the head. Be careful what you wish for.

(Update: To clarify- the reference to 'gives the psychos their jollies' is in no way directed at Fixer, but at the macho neocon chickenhawks that always use the kill 'em all argument)

And I recalled having posting on the Kill em all mindset before, at the Old House. Here is the full post from that day, July 14 2006 (during Israel's assault on Lebanon)

How many times have you heard your neighbor or co-worker say something along the lines of "We ought to kill them all!" ?

As much as Republicans want to distance themselves from any comparisons to Nazi-like tendencies- GENOCIDE - was a tool used by the Nazis. And to seriously discuss Genocide, as if it were some possibility or tactic- is to court the absolute worst crime of the 20th century and make yourself an easy target for comparisons to the Nazi party.

Since this topic was initiated by my employer, (an Ex Army Officer, veteran of two tours in Viet Nam, a helicopter pilot who was awarded several medals) I will address the genocide solution to Palestinians- whom he was blaming for all terror acts as we watched Israeli shells blowing Lebanon to bits while the Lebanese Army, hopelessly outmatched, stood aside and simply did damage control against the Israeli onslaught.

I noted to him that blowing up innocent civilians, whether you do it with a homemade bomb OR a shell from a tank that America sold Israel- was still an act of terror to the civilian population.

"One of these days, we're going to- have to kill them all, kill all of these ... Palestinians. Don't you think?" He asked, probably a little less forcefully than normal because he knows I have intricate opinions on world politics. Now I suppose the standard Texan's response is "Hell yes. Kill them before they kill us." But that's simplistic propaganda of the lowest common denominator.

I replied that I didn't think we can eradicate a "people". It's just not possible. And if it was, the results would be horrendous and America WOULD be considered the new Nazis around the globe. He quickly changed the subject to the price of oil, spiking during Israel's invasion. It was the end of the day and nothing more was discussed about it.

Later I thought about all the times I have seen some otherwise humane and thoughtful American spouting Genocidal nonsense as if it WERE A SOLUTION. It is not.

But, since this idea is constantly running through the backs of so many Americans' minds- let's take a look at the simple realities of those who supposedly love freedom and democracy to entertain the mass murder of millions:

"They all want to kill us". No. They don't. There are 1.5 billion adherents to Islam on the planet- If they all wanted to kill us, there would be MUCH MUCH More strife than what we see. Those jihadists, like American genocidists, are very much in the minority. And it's a good thing- because it is insanity to believe you can destroy billions of people in their entirety.

If we want to eradicate all the worshippers of Islam- that's a lot of killing. Short of a massive nuclear war that would kill more than two thirds of the people on the planet, it's NOT going to happen. And if you want it to, you belong in a loony bin.

Okay, you say, you're not advocating killing ALL the muslims- that's crazy. You KNOW that- but killing all the terrorists- Yeah, that's the ticket. Well, who are the terrorists? They are NOT Entire nations. We cannot label every Palestinian a jew-hating terrorist just like we can't label every Israeli a Haji-hating terrorist. I know pro-peace movement people on both sides- who have the hardest job of all- convincing their own people that the solution to unending violence is Not More Violence. Sounds like a no-brainer, but the hate stops brains from working properly.

Well, okay- I get it- but still, the Palestinians MAINLY hate us all and so we should kill them all, man,woman, and child. Then there would be no terror.

Okay- well let's examine it. Let's say in a joint Israeli/American operation we do just that. We kill every Palestinian in Israel/Palestine. Well that's 5.3 million. How we are expected to just kill them all, I will leave the details to the vivid imaginations of the Genocidists. Gas chambers perhaps? But after those 5 million are dead, theres another 4 million in other countries. I suppose we can root them out with the aid of the other countries.

Now once we have killed those 9 million "terrorists" we're good, right? That will solve everything? Do you think that the 1,491,000,000 muslims left in the global population would stand by and let America commit genocide? Would Christians stand by as 9 million of their people were systematically slaughtered?

No one would- The world would rise together, aghast, as we did in response to WWII and America would be finished as a world power.

So, please - PLEASE - put away your scorched earth armchair quarterback fantasies- because that mentality can lead to the ruin of America. And more to the point- this type of mentality allows the American people to tacitly approve of other evil useless insanity such as torture and secret prisons. This mindset is THAT OF THE JIHADISTS. Do you hate EVERYTHING the terrorists believe in and what they stand for? Then stop supporting it, in the guise of supporting America. It's wrong.

The only solution is diplomacy, peace and empathy. Oh you damn hippies!
That notion doesn't sit well with the scorched earth crowd who say that No peace-spouter ever solved anything. Is that true? Really?

Ghandi didn't? Jesus didn't? Jesus is a prophet to Muslims as well as christians. Bet the average christian doesn't know that. You might as well throw your bible away if you aren't going to at least attempt to follow Jesus' teachings. Countless others have fought against taking the easy path, to War- and persevered.

So if we can't kill everyone who disagrees with us, can we work to GET ALONG?
It's not as hard as some of the haters want you to believe.

Can't you stop bleeding from your bowels and start bleeding with your heart like some of us who realize the answer is PEACE?

We have seen the alternative in Ireland, in Palestine, In Iraq. In every country on the planet at one time or another. PEACE is the ONLY solution.

UPDATE: Taibbi has more on McCain and America's love of "the good wars"

Bits and Pieces

Play Me


Lubbock Left

"Wow!
I never thought I would live to see the day when more Lubbockites participated in the Democratic Primary than in the Republican Primary in the second most conservative city in the USA. Let’s hope the trend continues through election day (where, for once, the Democratic precinct conventions will get the nice big rooms in the voting locations!).
This is an exciting time to be a Democrat!"

Tom Hayden returns to Vietnam

As I walked through the busy Christmas streets, however, I was gripped by the question of why the Vietnam War was necessary in the first place. Why kill, maim and uproot millions of Vietnamese if the outcome was a consumer wonderland approved by the country's still-undefeated Communist Party? The whole wretched American rationale for the war, that Vietnam was a dangerous domino, a pawn in the cold war, seemed so painfully wrong. Was there any connection between destroying so much life and causing the Vietnamese to go Christmas shopping? Would the same outcome--a one-party socialist government leading a market economy--have occurred in any event, without the destruction? Now that US naval ships were paying peaceful visits to Da Nang, this question nagged at me: is it possible that Marxism and nationalism won the war but capitalism and nationalism have won the peace?

Just Another day in Iraq

5 US Troops Killed;
25 Dead, 70 Wounded in Violence;
Turkey Bombs Iraq

The Casual casualties

After reading this over at Unruly Mob, I just can't put up my usual Friday goof-off bullshit...

Semper Fi

Iraq's Tragic Future

Common Dreams has an interesting article written by Scott Ritter...

EXCERPT
The continued ambivalence of the American population as a whole toward the war in Iraq, perhaps best manifested by the superficiality of the slogan “Support the Troops,” all the while remaining ignorant of what the troops are actually doing, has led to a similar amnesia among politicians all too willing to allow themselves to seek political advantage at the expense of American life and treasure. January 2008 cost the United States nearly 40 lives in Iraq. The current military budget is unprecedented in its size, and doesn’t even come close to paying for ongoing military operations in Iraq. The war in Iraq has bankrupted Americans morally and fiscally, and yet the American public continues to shake the hands of aspiring politicians who ignore Iraq, pretending that the blood which soaks the hands of these political aspirants hasn’t stained their own. In the sick kabuki dance that is American politics, this refusal to call a spade a spade is deserving of little more than disdain and sorrow.

Blog comment of the day

found on one of the stock trading blogs...

(it may have gotten deleted... most of the comments on that thread are getting that way)

"No, shit-for-brains…I’m a military officer trying to keep our boys and girls alive in the midst of one of teh greatest foreign policy coups in our nation’s short history, while you sit on your overweight, fast-food-eating carcass of an arse in the US and act all indignant and patriotic and all that blah.

It’s ignorant citizens like you who let our politicians run afoul of international law and trash our credibility abroad, and then vote for them again so they can finish the job. And it’s citizens like you who put your little red, white and blue flags on your big shiny SUVs, while carefully placing your “No Dogs, Sailors or Soldiers on the Grass” sign on your front lawns.

.
And your comment about beheadings is putting the cart before the horse, I’m afraid.
You make me sick. I hate the fact that I swore an oath to defend and die for you."

.
GFY

Military "Mutiny" against White House treason

The only ones who can stop the war now are the troops and their officers. The weak-willed servants of the almighty dollar in congress won't do it. Here are several articles and organizations that concern the military's growing rebellion against George Bush's occupation of Iraq...

Troops refuse to patrol

Courage to Resist

Winter Soldier

Generals Speak out against Iraq War

Appeal for Redress

Military Families Speak out

And here's a Mother Jones article that elaborates on the current situation in Iraq :
Awakening-Nightmare

Officers and Gentlemen..

Bill Moyers makes an impassioned speech in his lecture at the United States Military Academy to a group of our future military officers.

(from Common Dreams): The Entire speech is, like all of Moyer's lectures, inspiring, thoughtful and poetic.

http://www.commondreams.org/views06/1129-21.htm

An Excerpt:

We were warned of this by our founders. They had put themselves in jeopardy by signing the Declaration of Independence; if they had lost, that parchment could have been their death warrant, for they were traitors to the Crown and likely to be hanged. In the fight for freedom they had put themselves on the line—not just their fortunes and sacred honor but their very persons, their lives. After the war, forming a government and understanding both the nature of war and human nature, they determined to make it hard to go to war except to defend freedom; war for reasons save preserving the lives and liberty of your citizens should be made difficult to achieve, they argued. Here is John Jay’s passage in Federalist No. 4:

It is too true, however disgraceful it may be to human nature, that nations in general will make war whenever they have a prospect of getting anything by it; nay, absolute monarchs will often make war when their nations are to get nothing by it, but for the purposes and objects merely personal, such as thirst for military glory, revenge for personal affronts, ambition, or private compacts to aggrandize or support their particular families or partisans. These and a variety of other motives, which affect only the mind of the sovereign, often lead him to engage in wars not sanctified by justice or the voice and interests of his people.

And here, a few years later, is James Madison, perhaps the most deliberative mind of that generation in assaying the dangers of an unfettered executive prone to war:

In war, a physical force is to be created, and it is the executive will which is to direct it. In war, the public treasures are to be unlocked, and it is the executive hand which is to dispense them. In war, the honors and emoluments of office are to be multiplied; and it is the executive patronage under which they are to be enjoyed. It is in war, finally, that laurels are to be gathered; and it is the executive brow they are to encircle. The strongest passions and most dangerous weaknesses of the human breast; ambition, avarice, vanity, the honorable or venial love of fame, are all in conspiracy against the desire and duty of peace.

I want to be clear on this: Vietnam did not make me a dove. Nor has Iraq; I am no pacifist. But they have made me study the Constitution more rigorously, both as journalist and citizen. Again, James Madison:

In no part of the Constitution is more wisdom to be found, than in the clause which confides the question of war and peace to the legislature, and not to the executive department. Beside the objection to such a mixture to heterogeneous powers, the trust and the temptation would be too great for any one man.

Twice in 40 years we have now gone to war paying only lip service to those warnings; the first war we lost, the second is a bloody debacle, and both rank among the great blunders in our history. It is impossible for soldiers to sustain in the field what cannot be justified in the Constitution; asking them to do so puts America at war with itself. So when the Vice President of the United States says it doesn’t matter what the people think, he and the President intend to prosecute the war anyway, he is committing heresy against the fundamental tenets of the American political order.

The full article is an amazing trip through the history of our American military and the inherent duties of each officer. He concludes with this statement:

I know the final rule of the military Code of Conduct is already written in your hearts: “I am an American, fighting for freedom, responsible for my actions, and dedicated to the principles which made my country free...” The meaning of freedom begins with the still, small voice of conscience, when each of us decides what we will live, or die, for.

Impeachment is TOO Good.

"The Government, being resolved to undertake the political and moral purification of our public life, are creating and securing the conditions necessary for a really profound revival of religious life." - Adolph Hitler, in a speech at the Reichstag on March 23, 1933

"No matter what amount of talent is employed in the organization of propaganda, it will have no result if due account is not taken of these fundamental principles. Propaganda must be limited to a few simple themes and these must be represented again and again. Here, as in innumerable other cases, perseverance is the first and most important condition of success."Mein Kampf; the James Murphy translation. February, 1939

For President Bush, Impeachment isn't enough, by far.

3000 dead Americans. 25,000 seriously injured, some of whom will never lead normal lives ever again. A world that used to respect America for it's freedoms now fears and despises us for our hypocrisy. Lady Liberty's hands have been bloodied by a madman and a fool. An idiot who was so convinced that he was right that NO price was too high. No Constitutional law was important enough respect as he blundered along his destructive path. No immoral act was too shameful for him to lower our country to, in his so-called quest to "protect" us.

President Bush and his advisers, with the power of Congress behind them after 9-11 began making big changes to our Government. The first blow to the Constitution was the "Patriot" Act. Then he began spying on everyone whose agenda was suspect, chiefly not on terrorists, but on anti-war protesters.

He bought media sources and inserted pro-war, pro-fear propaganda wherever possible. He dropped taxes on the rich, effectively paying off Corporations and the affluent to help support his policies. To pay for these tax-cuts his Congress cut benefits for welfare and college tuition assistance. Who cares? The middle class doesn't mean anything.

He controlled the rich with promises of more tax cuts, and controlled the poor with threats of terror and inspiring fear among the common man. He used his religion as a bludgeon, he told us he did NOT NEED Complex reasons for his actions. He played the prophet while his Pharisees in Congress played the politics of sucking on the teat of Lobbyist cash. They scaled back the EPA, OSHA, and countless other important agencies for money from the Corporations. They traded the health and welfare of the very people of America for Corporate gold. They gave tax cuts to oil companies and cut alternative energy programs. President Bush appointed CEO after CEO of industry hacks into positions of "oversight".

He looted our Budget. Only one of his harmful plans didn't go as planned- And if you are retired, you better thank God for that. His privatization of Social Security would have worked as well as letting Halliburton "assist" in Iraq. In short it would be a nightmare that bled our nation's elderly dry. But as gullible as the American public was on WMD, and torture and spying - they didn't quite trust Grandma's money to Bush's Cadre of Larry Kudlow scumbags.

So, no- Impeachment is Not Enough. Although the best possible action for America would be removing this fool from the Office of the President as soon as we can.

But embarrassing this man isn't enough. He doesn't know what shame is. He's a cruel, vindictive little man who has disgraced our nation. He deserves more than simply losing a job that his Daddy's money got him.

I want him to apologize personally to every family who has lost a soldier for LYING TO THEM. I want him to ask forgiveness for sending those troops to die for a Lie.

I want him stripped of all possessions- I want him homeless, barefoot and befuddled. I want him starving and dehydrated for a week while under camera lights like he left so many Katrina victims. I want him to KNOW what it is to not have anything. Not Daddy's money, not his oil buddies bailing him out. I want "W" to be branded into his forehead like the mark of Cain.

I want him to walk the breadth of Iraq, wearing an irradiated uranium collar made from the shrapnel that our troops are exposed to. I want him to stop in every Iraqi city to see what he is responsible for. I want him to hold a dead Iraqi child killed by an airstrike in his guilty hands. I want him to bury that child in front of its family.

But most of all I want him to UNDERSTAND. I want him to OPEN HIS EYES and see the truth of what he has wrought on the world. I want him to comprehend how he has hurt America, Americans, and how his actions will hurt Americans for years to come.

I am an atheist, but I even wish there WAS a god, who could render a more perfect judgement than I on the miserable excuse for a human being that George Bush is.

But, I expect I will be lucky to get even an impeachment. I know one thing, for the rest of American history, the time President Bush II was in office WILL be considered a dark time in America's past. He will be vilified. Eventually we will ALL know the full list of his crimes and his "legacy" will be treated accordingly.

Our Overtaxed Military, Our undertaxed Millionaires

Some news headlines today show how bad our military and their families are suffering under this administration. They have been asked to take a backseat financially to mercenaries and private contractors in Iraq while doing all the dangerous work in Iraq, stymied in Afghanistan by Rumsfeld's failure to provide enough resources to do their job. President Bush is more concerned with alleviating the stress of the poor put-upon millinaires sitting on their fat asses at home than he is with addressiong our troops' failure to make enough money to even feed their families while they are dying in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Military families relying on donated goods:
http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20061013/news_7m13bread.html

Our Troops in debt:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15337932/

And then there's the rising healthcare costs in order to keep up with all the darn wounded people that just don't seem to stop coming in from Iraq.

Our government doesn't have the money to support our military AND a War in Iraq. So what does it want to do? Cut more Taxes for its millionaire supporters and the war profiteers who are drenched with the blood, sweat and tears of our troops.

We have GOT to get our military out of Iraq before the whole military is broken irreparably.
And before the whole country is broke.

Or do you believe that all these millionaires will happily give up their money in order to bail out America? Are you laughing? Or crying?

They will break every soldier in this country just to make a buck. THAT's what THIS Republican leadership is doing.

Get the U.S. out of Iraq- And get every Republican OUT OF OFFICE!
And then, we can start salvaging our military and paying our brave soldiers what they deserve!
And if you elitist rich bastards don't like it, As Dick Cheney likes to say: You can go fuck yourselves.