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Volume CXXXIII, Number 16 |
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The real deal in the Marines
ALEX CORNELL DU HOUX
CONTRIBUTOR
Why are so many service members Republican? While I was training with the Marines, I found that most of my fellow Devil-Dogs were Republican, but I also noticed that most of them didn't realize what George W. Bush and the Republican party have been doing to their pay and social programs.
This may have been because we were all relatively new to the military, but Marine Col. James Lowe, the base commander at Quantico, realized the truth when he said, "The very fact that [the cuts are] being conducted at this time when marines, sailors, soldiers, airmen, and their families are increasingly required to give more of themselves to go into harm's way is taken by many as a personal affront. It raises serious questions about DoD's commitment to quality-of-life issues."
As of February 20, 636 service members-544 from the U.S.- have lost their lives in Iraq. In addition, 2,685 U.S. service members have been injured as a result of hostile action in Iraq. While other nations honor their fallen, George W. Bush has not attended a single funeral. The Pentagon has even set up its own news broadcast to cover the events in Iraq in order to filter what we see coming out of Iraq. It is tragic and shameful when the president and commander-in-chief of the United States military will not go to a single funeral because he fears it will draw attention to the way he is running the military.
When Donald Rumsfeld became Secretary of Defense, he began questioning why the military was "running stores" and why the Pentagon was "supporting education." Rumsfeld believes that anything that doesn't help the military kill is simply an unneeded extra. As a result, schools for military children, health care for veterans, and combat pay for troops have all been compromised. In addition, Rumsfeld has violated a recent law which mandates that the military keep baseline medical data in order to prevent a repeat of the 220,000 veterans who suffered form Gulf War Syndrome. He ignored this law, and our service members are not being properly cared for. With this kind of mentality, it is no surprise that Rumsfeld's tendency to cut corners has resulted in over a quarter of the troops in Iraq still waiting for flak jackets that can stop AK-47 rounds.
By pushing America into an unjust war, Bush has managed to demoralize our service members to such an extent that about half will not reenlist. As a result, Rumsfeld and the Pentagon are tactfully preventing many from leaving and effectively freezing their contracts. To get an idea of how much we are utilizing our military, consider this fact: Between WWI and the first Gulf War the National Guard and Reserves were called up nine times. In the past 12 years they have been mobilized ten times.
Under the Bush administration the military is basically being run like a large corporation that uses sweatshops to produce its products. The Republicans are willing to spend taxpayers' money on multi-billion dollar projects in Iraq that include corporations such as Vice-President Cheney's Halliburton, but are unwilling to fund schools, health care and basic human needs. This is a very important issue because, according to the Veterans Administration, 28 million veterans are currently using VA benefits and another 70 million Americans are potentially eligible for such programs-a quarter of the population.
How are Bush and the Republican administration rewarding our veterans? They have slashed medical care, pensions, hazard pay, compensation for having been tortured, and continue to cut social services on military bases. In the 2004 budget plan, further cuts will target health care and compensation for disabled veterans.
Bush has a plan to take away the overtime pay of millions of Americans, and veterans will be a target of these cuts. Under the new regulations, employees will be allowed to consider some military training as equivalent to a four-year degree, thus exempting them from overtime pay.
When Democrats proposed cutting the tax breaks Republicans awarded to people making more than one million dollars a year by just five percent-in order to reverse the $1.5 billion in cuts by Bush to military housing, barracks, child care centers, schools, hangars, and office buildings-the Republicans killed the Democrats' attempt to fund our military.
Veterans are also being forced to wait from six months to two years, simply to have their initial visit to a doctor in VA medical facilities. This is yet another example of how the Republicans are wasting money. They try to look good by passing a bill that provides a certain amount of funding for the VA, but in reality it leaves other areas completely underfunded, creating an administrative bottleneck that slows the process down, thus preventing veterans from getting the medical attention they deserve. However, the Republicans are happy because it creates the appearance that they helped our veterans, and the bottleneck saves them money since not as many veterans can utilize their benefits.
Bush also proposed doubling the cost of prescription drugs for veterans. Luckily the Democrats were able to negotiate an amendment to reject the increase. Bush also announced that he would cut access to health care benefits for 160,000 veterans, due to budget constraints as a result of spending so exorbitantly on tax breaks for the wealthy.
When 17 combat veterans who suffered human rights violations during the first Gulf War, filed for compensation under a 1996 law, Bush cited "weighty foreign policy interests" and sued to withhold the money from the 17 ex-POWs and their families. The Bush Administration is also denying service women access to reproductive care, including abortions. Finally, Bush fought to cut longstanding benefits to veterans of the World Wars, Korea and Vietnam by opposing the repeal of the Disabled Veterans Tax. At one point during the debate, Defense Secretary Rumsfeld told the White House to veto the bill if the veterans got their money.
The Republicans may give the appearance that they are helping the military, but in reality they are simply using our armed forces as an excuse to award billions in contracts to special interests. I agree that we need to maintain a strong and technologically advanced military, but we also need to ensure that our citizens and service members are cared for. The resources are available to do both-it's a matter of how one utilizes them. As part of the world's best fighting force, I find it shameful that anyone would disregard the well-being of someone who has risked his or her life to preserve our freedom.
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