Letters to the Editor

Letters posted here are associated with the following article:
Injured troops shipped back into battle Salon has uncovered further evidence that the military sent soldiers with acute post-traumatic stress disorder, severe back injuries and other serious war wounds back to Iraq.
The letters thread is now closed.
  • Rupert C - You make good points but this is not driven solely b y war and profits

    No doubt, most people, knowing the truth, would not go for an unjustified war when the outcome is so predictably disasterous (both for the US and the Iraqis).

    I think it is important to note though that the neocons (and AIPAC) are not driven solely by war profits (although this is a big part of it for them and others). There is a definitive link with Israel's right-wing which is driven in large part by ideology, including messianic Jewish fundementalism. These are things we are not supposed to talk about, but they are alsolutely true. You can sense the ideological hatred in people like Daniel Pipes.

    http://www.counterpunch.org/walsh03092006.html

  • So, who's not supporting the troops??

    King George and his media minions make such a huge deal out any attempt on the part of the dems to exercise constitutional authority over the administration as proof of their lack of patriotism and support for the troops.

    Between the scarcity of armour, cold water for reserves, Walter Reed and this, it is obvious who is refusing to support the troops.

    I wonder when the boys at Faux will pick on this story. I imagine they will try to blame Bill Clinton.

  • All I can suggest is

    You expel we 5th columnists from the country. We're a huge threat to you. I highly recommend a 'camp' maybe somewhere up in Wyoming or Alaska. At the very least there needs to be a loyalty oath sworn by all Jews who are still deemed to be worthy of citizenship. What say you?

  • I do remember at one point

    A TV segment of parents who are serving and I noticed they were interviewing a woman who was clearly already so out of shape she probably couldn't pass a stress test. I wonder how a 34 year old who's 70lbs overweight is qualified but someone with a blown knee isn't? I rather see those people rotated into support roles than having to cull another group of civvies into those roles, wouldn't you?

  • Making an Indifference

    As a result of the first story that appeared in Salon last month, I used used the on-line email forms provided by my respective senators and congressional district representative to request that they investigate this disturbing issue. All I received by way of response was a form letter from one senator expressing her views on the Iraq war. This kind of experience helps me understand why citizens believe contacting their representatives about their concerns is a futile effort. I would like to see Salon investigate how letters to representatives are handled--who views them and the policies surrounding what is done with them, and what, if any, impact they have.

  • How long until the MSM picks up this story?

    Will we have to wait a year for the Washington Post or other MSM outfit to pick up on this and report it as new news?

  • Do the math...what's a life worth?

    Smith's commanders are only looking out for the taxpayers. Smith will have a better chance of getting KIA if he is redeployed.

    A plane trip home in a box is a lot less expensive than a lifetime of rehab, which will never work anyway.

    Do the math...that's all the warlords are doing.

    Peace to all,

  • Realname - Stop Trying to Stifle the Debate about the Causes of the Iraq War

    Realname, I am no longer impressed by the tired charges of anti-Semitism. The straw for me was when Jimmy Carter, a great American and one of the most decent human beings in this country and perhaps the world, was labeled an anti-Semite and viciously smeared by the Israel Lobby simply for documenting the apartheid policies of Israel (implemented using American tax money mind you!) and for exposing that the Israel Lobby stifled debate on foreign policy issues critical to human rights, American interests and security through intimidation of the media and politicians (using the same tactic you are using to silence me by throwing around the anti-Semitism charge at any criticism of Israeli apartheid, the Israel Lobby or the neocons).

    As more and more people, inspired by Carter's courage, start to speak out, you will find that using the anti-Semitism charge to protect the neocons will no longer work.

    So, please stop playing the vicitim and help me understand with which of the following statements you disagree and why (I doubt though that you will want to discuss facts):

    1) Did the neocons play a major role in promoting the Iraq war through spin and false intelligence?

    2) Are the neocons closely linked to the Israeli right wing and particularly the Likud party (before answering, please read the Clean Break study AUTHORED by the leading neocons in 2000, which I referred to in my earlier message)?

    3) Are the neocons, the Israel Lobby and the Israeli government continuing to promote war in the Middle East (on Iran and Syria)?

    Again please stop the BS. The neocons ARE NOT the vicitms (nor are the Jews in general many of whom oppose the war). Young American men and women (and countless Iraqis) are!

  • This is a policy designed to create friendly fire deaths

    A victim of post traumatic stress disorder can not distinguish between real danger and an imagined threat. There is no such thing as friendly bickering to someone suffering from PTSD. The sound of a rocket and something as innocent as a footfall may be equally as terrifying---and they may spark the same fight or flight adrenalin reaction. A victim of post traumatic stress disorder does not have a "safe" time. He or she can not tell the body "What you hear/see/smell now can be ignored." Every waking moment of the day--and a fair chunk of the night---is spent in a hypervigilant state. When danger is perceived, there is no measured response. There are only two settings, "On" and "Off." "On" for someone with PTSD armed with a military weapon is "kill or be killed."

  • Anonymous

    Scolding becomes you. Now go cry to Joan Walsh about it. Your last post is a monument to blockheadedness. Jews = Israel = Neocons. Brilliant. Just Fucking Brilliant. Don't forget your bike helmet.

  • So anyway my polemic-based writers...

    What do you in fact do with middle aged people who are otherwise physically unfit to work at Home Depot but who are uninjured? Bring them all home because they're fat? What about the diabetics and asthmatics?

  • Sigh...

    An important topic like this, and I am so completely burned out on the process that the only thing that can persuade me to write a letter is to call RealName a dick.

    But I won't. It serves no purpose to fall to the level of the neocon and start calling people names and avoiding the real issue. Like how the war is unjust, but that we still can't leave. Can't have Middle East in chaos, our economy would collapse without all that oil. We can't win, and we can't lose. The troops we have now are not enough, but the yellow-ribbon crew just won't sign up. In this respect, it's much like the anti-abortion sentiment the neocons' like to show. We love your baby until it is born, then go fuck yourself.

    Are you really Christian, my neocon brothers? Jesus said pretty explicitly that we are here to live in love and peace. To take care of the poor, to feel the hungry, to clothe the naked, to heal the sick. But hey, how can we focus on that sort of thing when some dude might be blowing another dude? I mean, where are my priorities. I mean, it's all about the family values. That's why the neocons keep having serial marriages. They love the institution of marriage so much, they need to have three or four. Wife in the hospital with cancer? Fax those papers, baby. It's God's will.

    Somehow, I do not think Jesus, the Prince of Peace and a local, would call the killing of tens of thousands of people for what amounts top war profiteering and bragging rights very Christian. I hope he can forgive...

    I also hope he can forgive me for going back on my word and calling RealName a dick, too.

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