You. Me. Every single one of us. And especially the Senators who yesterday, for the second time in three months, voted against Jim Webb and Chuck Hagel's amendment to give our troops a fair shake.
Let me tell you exactly what the Webb-Hagel amendment was; you tell me if it's a good idea:
For every month you serve in Iraq or Afghanistan, you are stationed one month stateside for rest, training, and recuperation before you fight again.
That's it. No wonder Jim Webb and Chuck Hagel supported this amendment. No wonder we here at the Veterans for America supported it. Because despite the rhetoric we heard yesterday from those who say they support the troops, this amendment is about a simple fact.
Our military is exhausted.
The demands placed on our military from our wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have created a crisis.
At the heart of the crisis is this: we haven't had enough troops to wage our wars without placing an unbearable burden on those in the military who've been repeatedly deployed, with inadequate rest.
Our military and our government have resorted to tactics that shamefully abuse those who proudly wear the uniform and have answered the call of duty for our country.
They are abusing them by failing to provide adequate dwell time between tours. They are abusing them by extending tours. And they are abusing them by redeploying service members over and over again.
The Department of Defense has admitted that the way we have conducted the war in Iraq has compounded the wounds of our service members and has produced extraordinarily high rates of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and other mental health problems.
Yesterday, when the Webb "dwell time" amendment was being debated in the Senate, we heard many claims that the Webb amendment unconstitutionally tied the hands of the president. That is not the point.
This is not a constitutional argument. It is not a political one. It is a question of American values.
Are we going to continue to abuse our troops like this?
Are we as a country finally going to take ownership of what we are doing to our men and women in uniform?
President Bush may have started this war. But we own it now.
You.
Me.
All of us.
Our military is at a breaking point. We are irreparably damaging the lives of our troops and their families.
Twice now, the Senate has had the opportunity to do something about this.
Twice, they have failed.
44 Senators may think it's okay to fail our men and women in uniform. I don't. If you're with me, join me; for thirty years plus I have fought for our veterans.
I sure as hell am not stopping now. I could use your help.
~Bruce Springsteen
The Webb bill does nothing to end the war. A clause in it allows Bush to ignore it if necessary.
It would help our troops, but it's really just a distraction from efforts to actually get our troops out of harms way.
It's just another legilative effort to make it seem like Dems are trying when they are actually failing to do what we elected them to do.
Support the troops by removing them from that slaughterhouse and bringing them home as quickly and as rapidly as possible.
"Don't you fret, honey. It maybe years before I get to see you and the kids again, but by golly, look at all them ribbons!"
I'll cop to killing our troops, if you'll cop to killing the planet, to driving a car fueled by the oil they're dying for. And while we're at it, thanks for acquiting O.J. Simpson for double murder twelve years ago.
Oh, that's right you weren't on the jury. Just like the preponderence of us do not sit in Congress, and those that do fail to listen to our mandate.
Hell, we elected Gore, and Bush now sits in the White House. Is that our fault too? We're the sheep, the unwashed masses, the disenfranchised gutted middle class whos kids are getting killed over there. Stop blaming the victims.
The United States is not fighting a war of necessity, it's a war of choice... Not your choice, not my choice, but the choice of the elite who don't have to feed their children to the machine.
Just you wait, the worst is yet to come. I predict that before the 2008 election, there's going to be a "Major Terrorist Attack" somewhere in the United States and Bush will declare a "State of Emergency" and suspend the elections, the constitution, your rights, your freedom... and assume a "dictator for life" role. He already claims over and over again that he's above the law. It's not much of a stretch from there to claim dictator.
So it up to the people to stand up and say NO MORE! It's up to the soldiers to refuse to fight in any more wars of aggression... Lay down your arms... all of you... it's time to come home.
We can keep talking and debating... but it's all just a distraction from what really needs to be done... REVOLUTION!