Wounded Vets Trade One Hell for Another

[babylonsister]

http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/01/16/6408/

Wounded Vets Trade One Hell for Another
by Aaron Glantz


SAN FRANCISCO - Last year, the United States woke up to the reality of hundreds of thousands of soldiers wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan — and began to grapple with what to do about it.



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According to the GAO, “46 percent of the Army’s returning service members who were eligible to be assigned to a (medical) unit had not been assigned due in part to staffing shortages.” Over half of the military’s special “Wounded Warrior Transition Units” had staffing shortfalls of more than 50 percent.

Key bases like Fort Lewis in Washington and Fort Carson in Colorado were short massive amounts of doctors, nurses, and squad leaders. In short, the Bush administration was simply not hiring enough doctors and nurses to care for what had become a tidal wave of injured soldiers wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan.

In December, Congress put its solution forward — folding a Wounded Warrior Bill designed to help disabled veterans into a massive 700-billion-dollar defence bill. But on Dec. 28, President Bush surprised many observers by vetoing the measure. Bush objected to a provision that would allow victims of Saddam Hussein’s regime to seek compensation in court.

Congressional Democrats are now checking to see if they have the votes to override Bush’s veto. If they don’t, they may send the bill back to President Bush with the offending sections removed.

Either way, Veterans for Common Sense’s Paul Sullivan says veterans are not likely to see major progress until 2009.

“Some of the problems may be solved in the next year if Congress fights hard but I do believe that the anti-veteran Bush administration does indeed need to go away so that real reform can be brought to the Department of Veterans’ Affairs,” Sullivan told IPS.

[Frustratedlady]

1. Remember, the Repugs support the military...not the Dems

First the children...then the military...who's next? It sure won't be Halliburton, KBR or the Saudis.