This is what drives me crazy

[whatever]

I must surely be the biggest hypocrite, because though all these folks walked into that situation, I'm still mostly bothered by what this war is doing to our troops. I think it must be horribly self-centered of me, because the civilians in Iraq have no choice and are NOT trained fighters. But still, I know most of the one's going over to Iraq don't "get it" until they're there.

They depend on us to send them into situations that need force. If we tell them a story and send them over...is it their fault that their younger 20-something brains buy into the lies? Is it their fault they trust their elders? That they trusted those sending them were honest?

No, not completely their fault. Most of them are over there thinking they're doing the right thing. And coming home like this, too many of them. And this damned Admin acts ashamed of them. Hides them. Kicks them when they're down. Bastards.

The Invisible Wounded
By Mark Benjamin
Salon.com

Tuesday 08 March 2005

Injured soldiers evacuated to the U.S. never arrive in the light of day -- and the Pentagon has yet to offer a satisfactory explanation why.

more...


Photo taken in darkness

[whatever]

And quotes like this one, for me, say it all

Pentagon "casualty reports," for example, only reflect troops hurt by the bullets and bombs of the enemy -- excluding over 20,432 troops evacuated from Iraq and Afghanistan for injuries or illnesses the Pentagon deems not caused directly by combat, like Humvee accidents or mental trauma

They don't even site "mental trama" as being caused by their war...mental trama from a war zone isn't a casualty? Sad, sick little America. CrrrrrrrrrrAzy!

This is just all about watching a train wreck now.

[outgirl]

We're now hiding our injured? Jeezus

[whatever]

outgirl said:

We're now hiding our injured? Jeezus

Yeah, AND we've been doing it all along.

I remember, early in the war, I was railing and ranting on STL CA about the wounded. I got very little response, as if talking nonsense. Idiots.

They were saying, even in the first weeks, that the wounded would be an issue, because thanks to the body armor (those lucky to have it, it turns out) our soldiers are/were surviving much worse battles, and surviving much worse wounds. And so, the casualties are the real story of this war, not the dead. They will speak to us about the dead, but next to nothing is said about the wounded.

It was said that the number of dead wouldn't reflect how the war was actually going, because a LOT of the casualties would have been deaths just a few short years ago. It was a numbers game, one they knew the American people wouldn't figure out until it was already a done deal. They predicted a MUCH higher number of casualties for each soldier dead. This nation ignored it. Now, they're ignoring the night flights.

This nation, like with every other little bit of info that could have made a difference, ignored it. Even though it was in such plain sight, I knew what was going on from network news and just a few websites.

They're kicking them when they're down outgirl. None of these boys (or girls, sob) will be able to stand up and say anything against these night flights. Not until they're better, and not until they're minds have time to put it all back together. Not until they realize just how badly the US and their own families have been duped.

When they realize why they were flown in on night flights, they're going to be PISSED. But they'll be left with hardly anyone to confront over it. And they would be the very LAST ones to want to hurt the war effort. The LAST one's to complain.

All this feeling is being taken advantage of, by this bastard admin. Our boys, being kicked when they're down. That's how I see it. What this is going to do to them, when they realize? It's going to eat them up inside.

And it pisses me off to the max. Because it's going to take the American people forever and a day to "get it." It's not fair to expect our wounded soldiers to fight THIS battle, a stupid friggin PR battle, upon comning home. Kicking them when they're down, subverting them when they're at their weakest, in a hospital bed. Bastards.