Support the Troops (2/27/2007)

President Bush and his cohorts smear Iraq war critics, saying they undermine our troops. As if opposition to the war means lack of concern for the troops.  But it’s the Bush people who do not support our troops.  Here’s proof:

First, Bush put our troops in peril with an unnecessary war.  He was so eager to invade Iraq that he ignored all the pre-war intelligence that didn’t fit his agenda.  Instead he used so-called “alternative intelligence,” created by Douglas Feith, policy undersecretary at the Defense Department. Pentagon inspector general Thomas Gimble testified that Feith’s group, “developed, produced and then disseminated alternative intelligence assessment on the Iraq and Al Qaeda relationship, which included some conclusions that were inconsistent with the consensus of the Intelligence Community...” When the real intelligence didn’t fit the policy, the Bushies twisted it.  How does faking a link of Iraq to Al Qaeda, in order to wage war, show respect for the lives of our troops?

Second, the public was fed a false, rosy picture of an easy victory and a war paid for by Iraq oil, and Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld sent too few troops to Iraq without the equipment necessary to protect them.  Remember when a soldier asked Rumsfeld about lack of equipment and got the awful response,  “You go with the army you have.”  How did that help the troops?

Third, Bush’s inept management has resulted in civil war and increased regional turmoil.  Iraq reconstruction has been a fiasco as Bush political cronies, with no experience, got lucrative jobs and contracts based on party loyalty.  Taking care of political hacks was, and continues to be, more important than taking care of our troops. 

Fourth, Bush ignores a diplomatic solution, escalates the war and drains our military.   His surge numbers are false; the 21,500 troops number does not include the thousands of additional soldiers needed to provide support.  Every place in Iraq is dangerous, so all troops are in harms way, whether deployed for combat or for support. Despite promises of adequate leave at home, our troops have little respite.  Many have served 3 tours overseas. Some units are being called up and sent without adequate training and equipment.   Some will ride in Humvees without FRAG Kit 5 armor that reduces deaths from roadside bombs.  These bombs cause 70 percent of our casualties. Equally horrific, soldiers with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder are sent back into active duty.  But, ready or not, Bush sends them.

Fifth, our troops struggle to pay bills at home to keep their families going.  This often forces them to borrow from high-interest-rate predatory lenders.  Yet, billions of dollars hemorrhage, unaccounted for, into Iraq.  363 tons of cash, bundled up and flown to Baghdad from the Federal Reserve Bank to aid the Iraqi government, have disappeared.  Ten disbursements of cash ranging from $120 million to $900 million have no documentation at all. The troops could use that money to help their families.  Where’s Bush’s concern for their financial well-being?

But, Bush presses on with another surge.  Florida Republican Representative Ric Keller said of previous surges in Baghdad, “The benefits were temporary.  The body bags were permanent.”   Bush has even proposed cuts in veterans’ benefits.  Real troop support means bring them home and provide all the benefits they deserve.

and healthier. Remember the old adage that no dying person ever said he wished he had spent more time at the office.

- Judith Kohler

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