The Pentagon Better Think Twice

Thanks to Heather Hollingsworth, AOL News and the AP

After Viet Nam, non-Veteran citizens didn't treat the Vets very well. Now it looks like the Govt that sent today's Vets to war will treat them poorly when they come home.
All I can think to say to the Pentagon is.... you Two faced mutha #@#$%s.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (May 31) - An Iraq war veteran could lose his honorable discharge status after being photographed wearing fatigues at an anti-war protest.
[...]
Iraq veteran Adam Kokesh is scheduled to meet with a Pentagon panel Monday over his discharge from the Marines.

Marine Cpl. Adam Kokesh and other veterans marked the fourth anniversary of the war in Iraq in April by wearing their uniforms - with military insignia removed - and roaming around the nation's capital on a mock patrol.

After Kokesh was identified in a photo cutline in The Washington Post, a superior officer sent him a letter saying he might have violated a rule prohibiting troops from wearing uniforms without authorization.

Kokesh, a member of Iraq Veterans Against the War, responded with an obscenity.
Now, a military panel has been scheduled to meet with Kokesh on Monday to decide whether his discharge status should be changed from "honorable" to "other than honorable."
"This is clearly a case of selective prosecution and intimidation of veterans who speak out against the war," Kokesh said. "To suggest that while as a veteran you don't have freedom of speech is absurd."

I wonder which draft dodging pinhead NeoCon came up with this idea?

Kokesh is part of the Individual Ready Reserve, a segment of the reserves that consists mainly of those who have left active duty but still have time remaining on their eight-year military obligations.
His attorney, Mike Lebowitz, said Kokesh's IRR status ends June 18. He said at least three other veterans have been investigated because of their involvement at demonstrations.
[...]
Kokesh said he had reservations about Iraq even before the United States invaded, but wanted to go there to help rebuild schools and mosques after Saddam Hussein 's regime was toppled. He even learned Arabic.
[...]
Kokesh argues that he was not representing the military at the protest in Washington, and he made that clear by removing his name tag and other military insignia from his uniform.

Lebowitz said Kokesh technically is a civilian unless recalled to active duty and had the right to be disrespectful in his response to the officer. He called the proceedings against Kokesh highly unusual and said the military usually seeks to change a veteran's discharge status only if a crime has been committed.
[...]
"I love the Marine Corps," he said. "I always have loved the Marine Corps, and that is why I'm particularly offended to see it being used for political ends."

Of course he loves the Marine Corps. Anybody who can make it through that training program must be dedicated.
Somebody better make sure these guys aren't attacked by the NeoCon hatchet men.
They deserve our respect and thanks no matter what their current opinion is on the war,and Kerry better jump in on this issue. He has a lot in common with these kids.

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"The system failed you" - unadulterated horse poop

"The problems at Walter Reed were caused by bureaucratic and administrative failures," Bush is quoted as telling the hospital's patients and staff. "The system failed you and it failed our troops and we're going to fix it."

after umpteen zillion photo-ops, scads of empty presidential promises, unequivocal demonstrations of zero follow-through, and 6-plus years of bald-faced lies, i'm sure our veterans are resting more comfortably now that they know their prez is on the case...

"I'm convinced he would honor them more if he would refrain from using soldiers as props in political theater," said Ret. Maj. Gen. Paul Eaton. "I would be very happy to see him do the Walter Reed visit more like the commander and secondarily as an inspector general, rather than as a politician."

i'm still puzzled about how they manage to animate an empty suit...

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Troop deaths in Iraq hit blended families hard

particularly since, by every available statistic, blended and non-traditional families are today's rule, not the exception...

[T]he $100,000 "death gratuity" ... goes first to a spouse or a child.

when you stop and think of how many single parents there are and how many grandparents end up raising their children's kids, even WITHOUT losing a child to an illegal war, you can imagine that there are a lot of folks struggling just to meet expenses...

The death gratuity, more than many other benefits, adheres to a strict next-of-kin rule, which Pentagon officials say makes it possible to pay out the $100,000 within a few days. They say that, in the "vast majority of cases," spo, uses are most in need when paychecks stop.

But there have been thousands of single parents deployed into combat zones since 2001. How many have died at war is unclear, but the Jaenke case shows that, in those cases, the benefit may be at odds with its original intent: to help the grieving family stay afloat when a service member's income suddenly stops.

the rules that govern these things, particularly in a time of war when young men and women, many of them parents, are dying, should be subject to continuous review to insure they are meeting the purpose for which they are intended... but, like so much else in our twisted governmental priorities, if it doesn't help business and the defense industry or foster the conditions for endless war, it might as well not exist...

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