Metallicube said:
What do you mean supposed? Their conditions are very real. The EPA downright LIED about the safety of the air on 9/11 and now the republicans refuse to pay for these mistakes? What a load of bull.. Sure, but they have no problem throwing away $100 billion to fight these mythical "terrorists," despite the fact that there are more cases of death from peanut allergies a year in this country than from terrorist acts. I don't get why republicans have such a hard time with giving benefits to American heroes. It's like if you're a military veteran, they want nothing to do with you. |
100 billion dollars? Try one trillion dollars, and that's only so far;
http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0933935.html
I agree with you though, the "war on terror" is the most irresponsible, reckless military action in decades. "There may be sympathizers here." "Ok, let's bomb the shit out of an entire country and ruin their infrastructure and what little means of scraping together a GDP they have. Remember to demand that NATO come help with the bills once the dust is settled despite this being an unsanctioned war with few to no justification." They also choose your government of course, flying in some exiled, Westernized puppet to rule.
The Iraq war started as a hunt for WMD's and then when everyone called the bluff since no WMD's were forthcoming (I remember seeing Powell's "briefing" live and laughing loudly at the "intelligence") it was suddenly dubbed Operation Iraqi Freedom and became a war for getting rid of Saddam Hussein and liberating the Iraqi people. The region has never been so unstable, its Haiti and Somalia all over again and if one is to wage war out of the kindness of one's heart, there are certainly other people in other regimes that are suffering more than the Iraqi ever did, with an added bonus of being in countries with little to no military organization, making a clean sweep and dethroning of tyrants all the more easy.
This case in particular does not surprise me, several countries are poor at handling veterans (and policemen, firemen, paramedics etc, anyone who has a job where they can get seriously traumatized) and their needs properly. Norway (my home country) are also doing a shitty job, I have friends who have been in Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq and relatives who were in Lebanon for years, none of them got any follow up exams on their condition, both mental and physical upon returning and were pretty much left working through the stress and trauma on their own. Shame, downrigt shame. Pretending to value one's effort when you pick up arms and wield them in the name of some senseless conflict with no discernable purpose under the guise of "protecing your homeland" (from what? when was Saddam going to invade the US or other parts of the West?) only to toss you a small check and a tiny army pension and a "Hey, this war fucked you up something fierce! Good luck with that and thanks for participating!"
Ah, well. That's my take on it anyway (pretty much, that is).
