We're Killing Our Troops

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.

Comments

[Merrysunshine]

Blind faith in your leaders or in anything will get you killed.

~Bruce Springsteen

[altohone]

C'mon.

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.

[Erroll]

Elmysterio has it exactly right. Having been in Vietnam, [as I was], Bobby Muller must be aware that, as demonstrated in the powerful documentary Sir! No Sir!, the military personnel were able to bring the illegal and immoral Vietnam war to an end by saying NO to the war machine which was perpetrated by the United States. Those in the military can do the same thing in Iraq by seeking inspiration from this film and by also receiving guidance from the VVAW [Vietnam Veterans Against the War] who can aid them as well as the IVAW [Iraq Veterans Against the War] in how best to speak out against another illegal and immoral war of aggression initiated by the United States.

Support the troops by removing them from that slaughterhouse and bringing them home as quickly and as rapidly as possible.

[JeffDeVore]

If you really wanted to support the troops you would put a yellow ribbon on your car. That is all the support they need.
"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!"

[cynara]

Killing our troops? We started a war that is killing innocent Iraqi men woman and children. We have created half a million refugees, we have unleashed chaos that has killed hundreds of thousands of Iraqis. Troops sign up for the military, accepting risk of death as part of their job. Iraqi civilians didn't sign up for any of this...

[grendl]

Censoring free speech isn't just a right wing thing I suppose. I'll post it again to test your sense of irony.

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.

[Ben Dixon]

You are correct in that the Army is exhasuted. But the answer is not to increase dwell time but rather to increase the size of the Army.

[elmysterio]

As if any of the elites care about the troops... They're just fuel for the war machine. The machine is going to keep chewing up and spitting out our children until WE THE PEOPLE put a stop to it.

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!

[RickO]

Of course they're exhausted. I would ask these Senators if they know what exhaustion really is. Not the kind you feel after 18 holes or a long day of dialing for dollars, but the kind of exhaustion one feels after months of brutal heat, constant fear, loneliness, the horrific sights and smells, worrying about how your family is getting by on subsistance wages, not to mention back breaking work...then finding out it's all because you've been lied to and that you're being extended...again.

[jcboston]

thanks for fighting Bobby

[seawolf77]

Oh it's just the democrats turncoats who are complaining. Let them bitch and moan. The real men, the Republican soldiers love this war and this guy. Love him. Would vote for him for life . UUGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!

[hopeless277]

Aw, man, the troops are having a GREAT TIME in Iraq. I saw the pictures with Bush. They were smiling and shaking his hand. The word I get is that if they could come home, THEY WOULDN'T. They want to finish the 'mission'. So I say leave 'em there. Forever. If they wanted to come home they would have told Bush, right? Not doing so PROVES they just love it in Iraq. After all, they're defending America from Iraqi insrugents who want American out of their country. Well, we don't WANT to leave and you can't make us. Just like Bush said, the troops can't come home until they've made Iraq a safe, stable, free nation able to govern, protect, and sustain itself. So remember all you military families, vote Republican to keep your loved ones in Iraq. Forever.