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The whole meme of supporting the troops has clearly been co-opted by the right. In this post, I'd like to explore ways you think we (our representatives in Congress and in the media) can support the troops that are different from the right. I know we can do individual things, like sending phone cards to the people in stateside military hospitals, or sending care packages, but this is about the larger policy matters.
I'm hoping this won't become an antiwar thread. I am against the War in Iraq(tm) as much or more than anyone, but not knee-jerk against the warriors, particularly the rank and file, average "troop" (God I hate that term .... "troops").
Anyway, there are some issues that affect service people both on active duty and when they return. The regime of Chimpus Khan is ignoring much of it. Body armor and properly armored vehicles. I'm not sure their voting this past cycle was proper, given the intervention of the Pentagon in "helping" them to vote. There are no legal protections for the jobs of Reservists and Guardsmen apart from the notion that their job has to be held for them (which actually doesn't mean what it says at all, and hasn't ever, really). There's much more, and I am sure most of you are aware of them.
Some thoughts that come to mind for me are:
A program that gives veterans, including all activated Guard and Reservists, a preference in hiring and in federal contracting. Not a giveaway, just a preference. We currently have a similar program for Vietnam vets.
Expanded health care for any and all combat related needs. Expand the program such that the feds pick up the cost of care for returning combat vets for in-theater related illness or injury that allows them to go not only to VA hospitals but to any hospital or doctor.
Some sort of federal subsidy for the families of activated Guard and Reservists. If I'm not mistaken, they're the ones who bear a much larger financial burden than the families of active duty, who have such support programs in place by virtue of being active duty/regulars.
Have the Pentagon defer the purchase of new weapon systems like the Raptor in favor of providing each and every deployed service person the body armor and other mundane things they need with the savings.
Again, please argue the war in another thread. This one is about supporting our sons and daughters, mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters who find themselves in a place most do not want to be.
Remember, for every military miscreant like the ones who committed the atrocities at Abu Ghraib or in the mosques of Fallujah there are hundreds or thousands who, like Jessica Lynch, joined for reasons such as a way to pay for college and become a kindergarten teacher.
Also, is there anything you, as an individual, are doing right now in your own way to support them? Might there be something we on DU could do collectively.
The Right are NOT the only ones who "support the troops".
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