Does anyone truly care about the troops?
Submitted by Ruth on March 13, 2007 - 12:15am.
Veterans & Military
So much has come out lately about the treatment of our troops. From Walter Reed to paintgunner recruiting it is almost too much to comprehend. From yellow ribbons to Dana Priest...who truly cares?
The last few weeks I've watched everyone posturing for political purposes exclaiming outrage at the treatment our soldiers are subjected to. Where were they before it was politically correct?
I'll tell you where Wes Clark was. He spent an entire evening with a soldier who did two tours in the Gulf War and one tour in Iraq at a Democratic dinner in Iowa.
When the future Lt. Gov. of Iowa asked Wes to join her table at dinner, Wes declined with apologies and explained he was sitting with a soldier and his family.
This is no way to worm your way into the inner circle.
If you're lucky, once in a lifetime, you'll experience true leadership.
I'm very very lucky.
Or when Bush came into office. We all know stories both first hand and anecdotal about Vets getting shafted, whether it's guys who were in 'Nam or whatever. This Iraq war has obviously exposed alot of things, my point is that there are many people going back decades who are responsible and should be ashamed - politicians, civil service/bureaucrats, and military personnel .
and it only makes it that much more painful,
knowing that this is nothing new under the sun
and that we haven't advanced much as a society.
...under the rug, always.
But until something happens to make the impact of the war felt by the general public, "supporting the troops" is going to be like giving to the poor at holiday time--one of those things people do, when prompted, like lemmings so they can feel good about themselves, and then proceed to forget about for the rest of the year.