Republican backers of the quagmire in Iraq, including the party’s apparent nominee to succeed George W. Bush, have a reprehensible habit of equating support for the President’s policy with support for the troops and brand anyone who disagrees with the war, the conduct of the war, or the premise underlying the war as “not supporting the troops.” Yet, those who most wave the flag, who make the most bombastic speeches in support of soldiers and their families, and who are most critical of those who question George W. Bush and Dick Cheney have actually done the least to support the soldiers, from placing roadblocks in the procurement process for adequate body armor and protective vehicle armor, to denying promised educational benefits to volunteers after they have returned home, to extending their stays months beyond their promised times, to forced reenlistments, to refusing to alleviate disgusting and inexcusable sanitary conditions at military facilities both in Iraq and in America, and to denying or limiting medical care needed for injuries suffered while carrying out the President’s policy.
Now, Daniel Zwerdling reports on NPR’s All Things Considered, on May 15, that military officials are doing all they can to avoid treating the psychological and emotional injuries suffered by the men and women who have been courageous and dedicated enough to carry out the policies of the nation’s two most powerful draft dodgers. He recounts the story of Tammy LeCompte, wife of Army Spc. Ryan LeCompte, who has fought for treatment of her husband after his return from two tours of duty with a severe case ofpost-traumatic stress disorder. Ryan LeCompte has been reduced to a near catatonic state, yet his “superiors” at Fort Carson, Colorado accuse him of faking his symptons and punish him by making him stand at attention for hours at a time and cleaning latrines. Only when Congressional aides to Sen. Christopher Bond, one of the few Republicans independent enough of the President to actually support the troops, and Sen. Timothy Johnson, a Democrat, pressed the issue was Spc. Lecompte allowed treatment at Walter Reed. Many thousands of other troops have faced and failed to overcome the obstacles deliberately put in place to prevent them from receiving the medical and psychiatric help they need as a result of carrying out the policies of this President.
Republican leaders, as well as Rush Limbaugh and the dozens of brainless, fascist Rush-wannabe’s on AM talk radio who bloviate about supporting the troops (when they really mean supporting George W. Bush’s failed policy), should realize that the thousands of soldiers whom they have abused, as well as the hundreds of thousands of family members and friends of the brave men and women whom Bush and Cheney have betrayed by their callous indifference, will remember them at the polls and in their hearts for decades. George W. Bush says that history will understand. I doubt that. I doubt the he understands. Let’s support the troops by giving them the medical and psychological care they have earned and deserved.
