Obama Bringing Troops Home: Are We Ready to Welcome Them?
President Obama traveled to Camp Lejeune today to announce the eventual drawdown of combat troops in Iraq. There's sure to be a lot of discussion about the details of the timeline, and a lot of politics getting in the way of any coherent military analysis.
But whether it is 16 months or 19 months or 23 months, whether the residual force is 10,000 or 50,000 troops, the president's new plan will create a surge of new veterans coming home in 2009 and 2010. We need to be ready.
Our duty to these brave men and women doesn't end when they leave the battlefield. Military families have borne a tremendous strain through more than eight years of conflict, and our troops are returning to the worst economy we've seen in decades. No veteran's 'welcome home' should come in the form of an unemployment check.
There are some concrete steps that must be taken. The new GI Bill must be properly implemented, so veterans can go back to school and train for civilian careers. Mental health resources must be expanded, so veterans suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder can get the care they need. And we must ensure that the network of veterans' hospitals and clinics nationwide have all the funding they need to cope with the influx of wounded troops.
This week, the president released his budget for veterans, which represents a strong step towards supporting our returning troops. The budget increases spending on health care and other vital veterans' programs by about 11%, and an increase in VA funding of $25 billion over five years.
These numbers are profoundly encouraging, but the devil is in the details. When the complete plan comes out in April, we'll be going over it with a fine-tooth comb to ensure that these budget numbers aren't reliant on increasing veterans' health care fees and copays. And I'm disappointed to see that the president has not included one of his campaign promises to veterans - advance funding for the Department of Veterans Affairs. Advance funding wouldn't cost any money, but it would help veterans' hospitals plan their budgets earlier, and bring an end to the care-rationing that hospitals are forced into when the budget is passed late. Every veterans' organization in the country was hoping to see this common sense solution in the budget this year.
Still, it's good to see the government beginning to do its part. But it will take more than just the politicians to support our veterans; every American has a responsibility to support those who've served. IAVA has done its part by launching a historic outreach campaign anchored by the groundbreaking website CommunityofVeterans.org. At this site, Iraq and Afghanistan veterans can connect with one another and find critical mental health, education and employment resources to help with the transition home. No matter how you feel about the war, you can help support our veterans. If you want to help your community welcome home our troops, join us at www.iava.org.
Crossposted on IAVA.org.
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dear paul: as one who has joined and supports the iava, i want to personally thank you for all you do in support of our returning veterans.
hopefully, with your continuing vigilance, this war's returning veterans will look more like after WWII and not vietnam. in these difficult economic times, and with our country's need for an educated workforce particularly in areas such as engineering and science; hopefully, many of our returning veterans will go to college. this was the beginning of the robust middle class we enjoyed following WWII.
Thanks for a great post and the great work that your group does. I am an unemployed veteran myself, so I know the pain of having served America and believed in her, and then being pushed aside. If you are good enough to fight then you should be good enough to work. I use some of my time these days to raise money and awareness for Fisher House, another great organization which supports the families of veterans. I encourage all my brother and siser veterans to get involved. Join av eteran organization like Paul's. Hold fundraisers. Get involved in local politics and help start a Democratic or Republican veteran's caucus in your state. Help vets network for jobs.
I think that we should start to push for President Obama to hold one of his traveling town hall meetings at one of the VA hospitals which is treating the severly wounded. Sound like a good idea?
dear praire2paradise: a great idea! our thanks to you, peace to you and yours.
Ask the average civilian the casualty county to date? It would be interesting to see the film of a couple of dozen people answer the question.
Considering how some employers and other have treated troops while away, I have little faith in the civilian population treating vets as they sd./deserv
Time will tell but will wager they will likely get the short end of the stick again even though without them there would be no stick at all.
Great article. But I'm afraid somehow it underplays the concerns we (and more importantly, our vets) should have.
I have much hope but little faith that those returning will get the care, respect, and services they need. Remember Walter Reed? Remember that pay hike Congress approved for "stop-loss" soldiers? (Supposed to go into effect October 1st, still hasn't happened.)
Time to put our money where our mouth is.
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as usual, paul is right on.
i am a big fan of paul's and he speaks the truth.
i've always been a fan of paul's and know what he says is ALWAYS THE TRUTH!
I asked a similar question on Yahoo! Answers once and got pilloried. The US has a legacy of sending people off to war and forgetting about them once the war is over.
I seriously doubt that we are ready for all of the veterans and their needs. When my dad came home from WWII after 28 months in the South Pacific, he was given a stipend to live on while he attended the University of Washington. I think that is the last time the Veterans' Administration got it right. My dad got his health care at the Seattle VA Hospital. It was not unusual for an appointment to take four hours what with all the delays in the clinics and pharmacy. The medical professionals were working their butts off, but they were extremely understaffed and underfunded.
Why is it that we, as a country, have no problem lavishly funding war, but treat the veterans of those wars like second class citizens? I get better health care and I am on Medicaid.
Veterans deserve better.
My dad deserved better.
You are correct UNDERFUNDED- If we can't take care of our Vets, then we should not ask them to go to war. Vets deserve so much better.and Bush / Cheney / and McCain did not give them their due. I know that most if not all Vets have had to wait many months to get the benefits they have coming- and have to fill out massive amounts of paperwork.
' When the war comes Home ' by a journalist who was in Iraq 3 years. What a wake up call that was. Another book- " The last one standing or last survivor ' or a similar name.
Bush Admin.was trying to keep the Veterans Admin costs low - to hide what the war REALLY COST..
. This can not be allowed to happen again. Why didn't the 24 hour media cover this more ?
The mainstream media has become lazy. You about have to have a scandal with sex involved to get their attention. Something as mundane as how we treat those from whom we have asked so much, just doesn't interest the media. Dang, if only Paris Hilton were a vet -- then they would get media coverage!
You're the only one who has got this right.
Under Obama, there is absolutely no way of knowing when our troops will be back home.
He is changing his "timetable" weekly.
And strangely, no one seems to care.
I don't understand.
it's called assessing the situation before firming decisions if bush and the congress had done this before going to war with iraq what a difference that would have made. and another assessing of the situation could lead to a smaller force being left or a faster withdrawal. i would rather have a president that thinks before deciding and changes his mind if the situation earrants than one who decides then try to make up infornation to fit his decision.
Most of us care very much. Under Bush we would never get them home- McCain said 100 years wasOOK with him. Obama's been Pres 5 short weeks- it took many years of indifference and lies to get into this disaster. Now we want it to end with a ' snap of the fingers.' As Colin POwell said
' if we go in to Iraq- We OWN IT' That is the problem-we need to disengage carefully, so as not to make things even worse. Cause we all know the GOP will crucify OBama- even though the GOP
put us here. FACT- OBAMA VOTED AGAINST THE WAR- NOW HE'S STUCK WITH IT.
Paul,
I couldn't agree with you article more, but what concerns me is America's history of neglecting its veterans. I hope that this time might be different but I am not optimistic. Thanks for all your hard work.
---From a former Lord Jeff teammate and Amherst '01
Paul, if you read the comments, I want to tell you that I am grateful for all of your hard work and diligence in pushing for Vets rights and benefits!!! I have not served in our military, but my sister served in the Airforce, and her daughter was in the AF, and qualified for, and is currently attending the Academy. Thank you, thank you, for being such a great advocate for our military, and their families.
It would surely be better for the soldiers to have a job when they return but we the bleak global-economy maybe a large part of soldiers could be used as security guards. This is what soldiers do in Asia when they leave service. I do hope that the US pulls all troops one day out of Iraq. On the next election in Iraq a referendum maybe given if the majority of Iraqi's wants US troops in Iraq. Maybe in the interest of the region it would be wiser to host all Western embassies in the complex and not just the US embassy because when I hear that 25000-50000 troops will stay in Iraq, this smells future troubles and if one day the Iraqi army goes against the 25000 US soldiers specially if the Republicans are back in power in 4 or 8 years time. As we all know Democrats can control Congress but what the president does is a total different story. I wish President Obama well and believe in his good intention but I know he will be only around for 8 years.
For real! These heroes need jobs, proper healthcare, retraining, etc.
Rick:
Every returning Veteran should be entitled to Free Green Job training and placement. Do it. Give Van Jones a call and work together to get a bill through Congress. He recently had success.
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