Sunday, February 18, 2007
Republicans spit on returning veterans
Today the second part of the WaPo series by Anne Hull and Dana Priest covers the lives of the "lucky ones" living in the best accommodations, Mologne House. Despite the clean surroundings, maid service, bar and courtyard, the stories don't get any better.
An American flag T-shirt is stretched over his chest. He reaches for his dog tags, still the devoted soldier of 19 years, though his life as a warrior has become a paradox. One day he's led on stage at a Toby Keith concert with dozens of other wounded Operation Iraqi Freedom troops from Mologne House, and the next he's sitting in a cluttered cubbyhole, at Walter Reed, fighting the Army for every penny of his disability....I never knew that the definition of "hero" was something you use up and throw away. I do know that these men and women deserve so much better than this broken promise so tragically detailed these past two days. Perhaps I could react like a Republican to this stuff were it not for previous disclosures of the Billions of dollars wasted on and stolen by war profiteers like Halliburton, Blackwater and all the rest of the Republican donor class. Hotel Aftermath indeed!
....Dogs are periodically brought in by the Army to search the rooms for contraband or weapons. When the fire alarm goes off, the amputees who live on the upper floors are scooped up and carried down the stairwell, while a brigade of mothers passes down the wheelchairs. One morning Annette opens her door and is told to stay in the room because a soldier down the hall has overdosed.
In between, there are picnics at the home of the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and a charity-funded dinner cruise on the Potomac for "Today's troops, tomorrow's veterans, always heroes."
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