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"To all of our men and women in uniform, and to their parents and families: Help is on the way!" — Dick Cheney campaigning in the 2000 presidential elections. UPI reports: "One month after President Bush greeted soldiers at Fort Stewart — home of the famed Third Infantry Division — as heroes on their return from Iraq, approximately 600 sick or injured members of the Army Reserves and National Guard are warehoused in rows of spare, steamy and dark cement barracks in a sandy field, waiting for doctors to treat their wounds or illnesses. … "Some of the soldiers said they have waited six hours a day for an appointment without seeing a doctor. Others described waiting weeks or months without getting a diagnosis or proper treatment. "Soldiers here estimate that nearly 40 percent of the personnel now on medical hold were deployed to Iraq. Of those who went, many described clusters of strange ailments, like heart and lung problems, among previously healthy troops. They said the Army has tried to refuse them benefits, claiming the injuries and illnesses were due to a ‘pre-existing condition,’ prior to military service. "Most soldiers in medical hold at Fort Stewart stay in rows of rectangular, gray, single-story cinder block barracks without bathrooms or air conditioning. They are dark and sweltering in the southern Georgia heat and humidity. Around 60 soldiers cram in the bunk beds in each barrack. "Soldiers make their way by walking or using crutches through the sandy dirt to a communal bathroom, where they have propped office partitions between otherwise open toilets for privacy. A row of leaky sinks sits on an opposite wall. The latrine smells of urine and is full of bugs, because many windows have no screens. Showering is in a communal, cinder block room. Soldiers say they have to buy their own toilet paper." Since UPI broke this story, CNN has reconfirmed it, and the Pentagon says today it will send a team to Georgia to investigate. CNN also quotes a sergeant who says Fort Stewart soldiers are afraid to talk to the news media about their poor treatment. "Here we all were overseas, ready to get ourselves killed in order to bring democracy to these countries, and we get home and we don’t even have freedom of speech anymore," she says. * * * The obvious solution: Horrifically overpay some overcharging defense contractor to go to Iraq and build "a $500 million to $700 million children’s hospital with all the latest technology." After all, the home front should always come last, right? Then again, if we wanted to divert some of the $87 billion (billion!) the President wants to spend in Iraq to places like Fort Stewart we could do so easily — because that $87 billion isn’t even necessary right now. According to a study by the non-partisan Congressional Research Service, we’ve already approved hundreds of billions of dollars for military needs, both general and Iraq-specific, and the White House has enough cash to play with through early May. Apparently Bush is trying to pile up as much slush for the war as he can now because he doesn’t want to ask later — during an election season. Leadership like this does not go unnoted. So it’s not surprising a survey by Stars and Stripes newspaper of troops serving in Iraq found half of them won’t re-enlist; half of them feel their training was inadequate; and a third were even willing to state that the whole Iraq war is of little or no value and lacks a clearly defined mission. http://www.thenation.com/outrage/index.mhtml?bid=6

Response:

November, 2004 – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – > "To all of our men and women in uniform, and to their parents and families: > Help is on the way!" — Dick Cheney campaigning in the 2000 presidential > elections. > UPI reports: "One month after President Bush greeted soldiers at Fort > Stewart — home of the famed Third Infantry Division — as heroes on their > return from Iraq, approximately 600 sick or injured members of the Army > Reserves and National Guard are warehoused in rows of spare, steamy and dark > cement barracks in a sandy field, waiting for doctors to treat their wounds > or illnesses. … > "Some of the soldiers said they have waited six hours a day for an > appointment without seeing a doctor. Others described waiting weeks or > months without getting a diagnosis or proper treatment. > "Soldiers here estimate that nearly 40 percent of the personnel now on > medical hold were deployed to Iraq. Of those who went, many described > clusters of strange ailments, like heart and lung problems, among previously > healthy troops. They said the Army has tried to refuse them benefits, > claiming the injuries and illnesses were due to a ‘pre-existing condition,’ > prior to military service. > "Most soldiers in medical hold at Fort Stewart stay in rows of rectangular, > gray, single-story cinder block barracks without bathrooms or air > conditioning. They are dark and sweltering in the southern Georgia heat and > humidity. Around 60 soldiers cram in the bunk beds in each barrack. > "Soldiers make their way by walking or using crutches through the sandy dirt > to a communal bathroom, where they have propped office partitions between > otherwise open toilets for privacy. A row of leaky sinks sits on an opposite > wall. The latrine smells of urine and is full of bugs, because many windows > have no screens. Showering is in a communal, cinder block room. Soldiers say > they have to buy their own toilet paper." > Since UPI broke this story, CNN has reconfirmed it, and the Pentagon says > today it will send a team to Georgia to investigate. CNN also quotes a > sergeant who says Fort Stewart soldiers are afraid to talk to the news media > about their poor treatment. "Here we all were overseas, ready to get > ourselves killed in order to bring democracy to these countries, and we get > home and we don’t even have freedom of speech anymore," she says. > * * * > The obvious solution: Horrifically overpay some overcharging defense > contractor to go to Iraq and build "a $500 million to $700 million > children’s hospital with all the latest technology." After all, the home > front should always come last, right? > Then again, if we wanted to divert some of the $87 billion (billion!) the > President wants to spend in Iraq to places like Fort Stewart we could do so > easily — because that $87 billion isn’t even necessary right now. According > to a study by the non-partisan Congressional Research Service, we’ve already > approved hundreds of billions of dollars for military needs, both general > and Iraq-specific, and the White House has enough cash to play with through > early May. Apparently Bush is trying to pile up as much slush for the war as > he can now because he doesn’t want to ask later — during an election > season. > Leadership like this does not go unnoted. So it’s not surprising a survey by > Stars and Stripes newspaper of troops serving in Iraq found half of them > won’t re-enlist; half of them feel their training was inadequate; and a > third were even willing to state that the whole Iraq war is of little or no > value and lacks a clearly defined mission. > http://www.thenation.com/outrage/index.mhtml?bid=6

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