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From
Bring 'Em On To Bring 'Em Home
by
Heather Wokusch
Dissident
Voice
November 11, 2003
As
America honors its service men and women this Veterans' Day, we especially owe
it to those struggling on the front lines in Iraq, Afghanistan - wherever fate
and the Bush administration have sent them - to take a closer look.
Five
Important Questions to Ask on Veterans' Day
1.
Why did we invade Iraq?
With
140,000 active-duty, reserve and National Guard troops now on the ground in
Iraq, almost 400 US soldiers killed since the invasion started (250 of those
since Bush declared major combat over), and more troops being called up, it's
important to remember why we're over there in the first place.
Claims
about Hussein's nukes
*
Bush, Oct 2002: "The evidence indicates that Iraq is reconstituting its
nuclear weapons program ... Iraq has attempted to purchase high-strength
aluminum tubes and other equipment needed for gas centrifuges which are used to
enrich uranium for nuclear weapons."
*
Cheney, March 2003: "We believe [Saddam] has, in fact, reconstituted
nuclear weapons."
Once
the invasion was underway, the Bush administration did a U-turn:
*
Cheney, September 2003: "I did misspeak. We never had evidence that
[Saddam] had acquired a nuclear weapon."
*
Rumsfeld, June 2003: "I don't know anybody in any government or any
intelligence agency who suggested that the Iraqis had nuclear weapons."
Claims
about Hussein's other WMD
*
Rumsfeld, March 2003, "We know where they are. They're in the area around
Tikrit and Baghdad and east, west, south and north somewhat."
*
Rumsfeld, September 2003, clarifying his earlier "We know where they
are" claim: "Sometimes I overstate for emphasis."
Same
story, of course, with the administration's imaginary link between Hussein and
9-11.
So
why again are we in Iraq? Why have our service members been put in harm's way
over there?
2.
Who profits from the takeover of Iraq?
Iraqi
reconstruction has become a bonanza for companies connected to the Bush
administration. Vice president Cheney, for one, owns 400,000 stock options
in/receives large payments from Halliburton, a company whose subsidiary KBR has
been soaking American taxpayers via no-bid contracts in post-war Iraq.
And
of course, deep-pocket Bush supporters have reaped handsome post-war dividends.
A study by the Washington-based Center for Public
Integrity found that companies sharing the $8 billion spoil in contracts to
rebuild Iraq and Afghanistan had donated more money to the Bush presidential
campaign than to any other politician over the last dozen years.
Meanwhile,
the American taxpayer has forked over billions for the invasion and occupation,
billions that could have been much better spent at home.
Why
again are we in Iraq?
3.
What's going on for our troops on the ground?
Judging
by a mid-October slew of upbeat letters-to-the-editor written by soldiers in
Iraq (reporting positive developments like "the quality of life and
security for the citizens has been largely restored") things are going
just fine over there.
Unfortunately
though, it turned out the soldiers didn't write those letters after all -
instead Army superiors had just given them copies to sign for propaganda
purposes. That fact became obvious when 11 different newspapers ended up
running the exact same letter, supposedly written by different soldiers, on the
same day.
What's
really going on over there?
4.
How are military families holding up?
The
Bush administration has dramatically lengthened deployment periods, which in
turn has put pressure on military families - when both parents are sent to
fight, imagine what that does to the kids left behind.
At
the same time, the administration has requested cuts in combat pay, Veterans
Administration per capita expenditures, life insurance benefits, and funding
for school districts that host military bases.
In
addition, our returning wounded vets are often denied proper treatment. In one
particularly nasty example, hundreds of injured Iraq veterans have languished
at a poorly-equipped base in Georgia, waiting to receive medical care.
And
of course, we now know the Army and Air Force all but ignored a 1997 law
requiring that soldiers sent to war zones be given extensive pre- and
post-deployment medical exams, which will make it much harder for Iraq veterans
to press for medical compensation in the years to come.
5.
How does the Bush administration honor fallen veterans?
Many
find it insulting that the President has not attended memorial services for
troops, and see it as the administration's attempt to gloss over the harsh
realities of war. Similarly, body bags are now being called "transfer
tubes" and the media is forbidden to show coffins arriving home with U.S.
casualties from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
But
sticking our collective head in the sand doesn't make America's problems go
away, and it certainly doesn't make life better for our service members.
On
this Veteran's Day, we can't just drape flags around the (unseen) coffins of
our fallen soldiers and call that patriotism.
We've
got to insist that our troops aren't sacrificed for the profits of politicians'
favored corporations, and we've got to make a distinction between supporting our
troops and supporting the Bush administration.
Because
we don't help those in the trenches by handing the Bush administration more
money and more power. Instead, we should fight to bring 'em home.
Heather
Wokusch is a free-lance writer with a background in clinical
psychology. Her work as been featured in publications and websites
internationally. Heather can be contacted via her website: http://www.heatherwokusch.com
*
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*
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*
America's
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