Republicans Only Pay Lip Service To Our Troops
Dave Gibson
May 17, 2008
Last month, the Senate passed a measure which will provide monthly $300 payments to Filipino veterans of World War II. However, it was passed without the support of Republicans. The vote was 56-41 and split right down party lines.
There are now about 6,000 of the aging veterans living in the United States and around 15,000 still living in the Philippines. Most are now in their 80´s and 90´s. These men fought alongside U.S. soldiers, under the command of the American military.
Because of their service, the U.S. Veterans Administration decided that the Filipino veterans were entitled to benefits. That was in 1942. However, in 1946 our Congress claimed that the Filipino soldiers would "not be deemed to have been" in the military.
Thousands of Filipino men answered the call, when President Franklin Roosevelt made an appeal to fight the Japanese after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Benefits promised to these men have been withheld for more than 60 years.
In 1942, The Japanese Army captured nearly 70,000 U.S. and Filipino soldiers at Corregidor. On April 9, the soldiers were sent on the infamous Bataan Death March. They were marched over 50 miles in 100 degree heat, with no food or water. If a man was unable to continue, he was killed by Japanese troops. They would either tie the exhausted man to a tree and use them for bayonet practice, shoot him, or behead him. Along the way, many Filipino civilians threw food to the POWs and were killed for their kindness. Enraged by the kind-hearted, the savage Japanese soldiers killed many civilians, including babies.
When the American and Filipino POWs finally arrived at Camp O'Donnell, close to 16,000 died along the way. During their internment, another 20,000 died from starvation and disease. The Japanese offered no medical treatment and less than a cup of rice a day to the prisoners. Many were later sent to Japan and their occupied territories to work as slave laborers.
The bill was sponsored by Sen. Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii), himself a WWII veteran and chairman of the Senate Veterans´ Affairs Committee. He said: The Filipino veterans of World War II fought bravely under U.S. military command, helping us win the war.
Republican Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina led the effort to defeat the bill. Despite a promise which has been delayed for over 60 years, Burr contended that the added payments along with $120 a month already paid to the veterans by their own government were not necessary.
If the Republicans still controlled the Senate, the benefits to these brave men would still be withheld.
More than 1 million Filipinos lost their lives during WWII.
Last year, an amendment introduced by Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.) which would have required that our troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan receive leave equal to the length of their last deployment, failed to pass. The measure failed because 41 Republicans voted against it. These are the same Republicans who constantly claim to support our troops, even though they have allowed them to become mired in a seemingly pointless and endless conflict.
The Webb amendment to the 2008 Defense Authorization Bill would have granted 15 month home leaves to our active duty troops in Iraq, as the Defense Dept. had just extended their tours of duty to 15 months. Additionally, National Guard and Reserve troops would have received a three-year break in between active duty deployments.
After his measure failed, Sen. Webb made the following statement:
"A clear majority of the Senate, 56 members, sent a strong message today in favor of ensuring responsible deployment cycles for our men and women in Iraq and Afghanistan. I regret that we did not reach the 60-vote margin that would have allowed this amendment to prevail. It was offered with the intention of protecting the well-being of our troops."
"A Republican filibuster kept this amendment from passing by an up-or-down vote. Americans are tired of this kind of posturing. The troops and their families don't want to hear about political, procedural maneuvers. What they really care about are results. They are looking for concrete actions that will protect the well-being of our men and women in uniform."
"The question on this amendment is not whether you support this war or whether you do not. It is not whether you want to wait until July or September to see where one particular set of benchmarks or summaries might be taking us. The question is this: more than four years into ground operations in Iraq, we owe stability, and a reasonable cycle of deployment, to the men and women who are carrying our nation's burden. That is the question. And that was the purpose of this amendment."
While Republicans tell us that only they care about our troops and their families, only seven Republican Senators felt the need to ease the incredible burden being made by those troops. The majority of these same Senators continue to support Bush though he offers no actual strategy for our forces in Iraq. With no definite goal, our troops have become nothing more than targets for Sunni and Shiite alike.
The Bush administration forces our soldiers to fight under constraining rules of engagement. This policy is not lost on the enemy who fights with ruthless determination. In many cases, our troops must call into headquarters to ask permission to mount an attack on insurgents even while already under fire. This nonsensical strategy is no doubt responsible for the death and dismemberment of thousands of our soldiers.
Our troops are now on combat duty longer than any troops in American history. While many of our soldiers during WWII were gone for years, after 180 days of combat line duty they were considered 'exhausted' and taken off of the line. Our troops go to Iraq and may go through heavy fighting for a month or two to take a particular area. After the territory is 'taken,' they then go out on patrol everyday in which they face more actual combat (RPG attacks, IEDs, snipers, small arms fire, etc.). Our soldiers are always subject to combat while in Iraq.
After the 9/11 attacks, Bush had the opportunity to grow the size of our military. He could have asked Congress to re-instate the draft or simply made an appeal to all men between the ages of 18-35. However, he told us instead to "go shopping." He and Donald Rumsfeld did not raise the necessary number of troops to take the fight back to the Muslim world, nor even to invade Iraq. Even as the Iraq war dragged on, Bush failed to substantially grow the military and instead continued to push already exhausted troops.
The families of these soldiers are without fathers, mothers, sons, and daughters for long periods of time. If they are lucky enough to have their soldier return home in one piece, they will only be with them for a few months before they must return to combat. This open-ended war is truly placing an undue and shameful burden on military families.
No one in the Bush administration has served in the military, because all of these Ivy League elitists felt that it was beneath them. This is one reason why these same half-men have no respect or compassion for our troops and THE reason why this war was doomed to failure. Bush and the rest of the Republican milksops only pay lip service to our troops, while asking much more of them than they ever asked of themselves.
Sen. Webb attempted to bring some measure of peace and order to our soldiers chaotic lives, and the neocons said HELL NO!
Sen. Jim Webb also introduced a new G.I. Bill to see to it that any veteran returning from this current war can have access to a free college education. The measure just cleared the House of Representatives.
The following description of Webb´s bill was taken directly from his official Senate website:
"The "Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act" (S.22/ H.R. 5740), would provide service members who have served since September 11, 2001 with improved educational benefits similar to those provided to World War II-era veterans. The legislation boasts strong bi-partisan and bi-cameral support with 58 cosponsors in the Senate, 295 cosponsors in the House and the endorsements of the nation´s leading veterans' organizations."
President Bush opposes the measure and has threatened a veto if it passes both houses of Congress.
Of course, President Bush has a history of opposing benefits for our exhausted troops.
In 2007, Bush opposed a Democratic measure introduced in the House which would have given our military personnel a 3.5 percent pay raise. Bush called the raise "unnecessary." Ultimately, Congress passed a lower increase to our soldiers´ pay. Though the so-called ´War on Terror´ and the Iraq War have required an enormous contribution from our military Reservists, Bush opposed extending TRICARE medical benefits to those Reservists for three years. Former Sec. of Defense Donald Rumsfeld also opposed the benefits, and advised Bush to veto any defense bill which extended TRICARE to Reservists. In 2006, our Reservists were finally included in the TRICARE plan.
It is apparent that while Republicans always claim to be the toughest on the issue of national defense, they actually care very little for the men and women who are tasked with carrying-out that defense.
This current government does not deserve the sacrifices being made by the men and women in our military.
There are now about 6,000 of the aging veterans living in the United States and around 15,000 still living in the Philippines. Most are now in their 80´s and 90´s. These men fought alongside U.S. soldiers, under the command of the American military.
Because of their service, the U.S. Veterans Administration decided that the Filipino veterans were entitled to benefits. That was in 1942. However, in 1946 our Congress claimed that the Filipino soldiers would "not be deemed to have been" in the military.
Thousands of Filipino men answered the call, when President Franklin Roosevelt made an appeal to fight the Japanese after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Benefits promised to these men have been withheld for more than 60 years.
In 1942, The Japanese Army captured nearly 70,000 U.S. and Filipino soldiers at Corregidor. On April 9, the soldiers were sent on the infamous Bataan Death March. They were marched over 50 miles in 100 degree heat, with no food or water. If a man was unable to continue, he was killed by Japanese troops. They would either tie the exhausted man to a tree and use them for bayonet practice, shoot him, or behead him. Along the way, many Filipino civilians threw food to the POWs and were killed for their kindness. Enraged by the kind-hearted, the savage Japanese soldiers killed many civilians, including babies.
When the American and Filipino POWs finally arrived at Camp O'Donnell, close to 16,000 died along the way. During their internment, another 20,000 died from starvation and disease. The Japanese offered no medical treatment and less than a cup of rice a day to the prisoners. Many were later sent to Japan and their occupied territories to work as slave laborers.
The bill was sponsored by Sen. Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii), himself a WWII veteran and chairman of the Senate Veterans´ Affairs Committee. He said: The Filipino veterans of World War II fought bravely under U.S. military command, helping us win the war.
Republican Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina led the effort to defeat the bill. Despite a promise which has been delayed for over 60 years, Burr contended that the added payments along with $120 a month already paid to the veterans by their own government were not necessary.
If the Republicans still controlled the Senate, the benefits to these brave men would still be withheld.
More than 1 million Filipinos lost their lives during WWII.
Last year, an amendment introduced by Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.) which would have required that our troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan receive leave equal to the length of their last deployment, failed to pass. The measure failed because 41 Republicans voted against it. These are the same Republicans who constantly claim to support our troops, even though they have allowed them to become mired in a seemingly pointless and endless conflict.
The Webb amendment to the 2008 Defense Authorization Bill would have granted 15 month home leaves to our active duty troops in Iraq, as the Defense Dept. had just extended their tours of duty to 15 months. Additionally, National Guard and Reserve troops would have received a three-year break in between active duty deployments.
After his measure failed, Sen. Webb made the following statement:
"A clear majority of the Senate, 56 members, sent a strong message today in favor of ensuring responsible deployment cycles for our men and women in Iraq and Afghanistan. I regret that we did not reach the 60-vote margin that would have allowed this amendment to prevail. It was offered with the intention of protecting the well-being of our troops."
"A Republican filibuster kept this amendment from passing by an up-or-down vote. Americans are tired of this kind of posturing. The troops and their families don't want to hear about political, procedural maneuvers. What they really care about are results. They are looking for concrete actions that will protect the well-being of our men and women in uniform."
"The question on this amendment is not whether you support this war or whether you do not. It is not whether you want to wait until July or September to see where one particular set of benchmarks or summaries might be taking us. The question is this: more than four years into ground operations in Iraq, we owe stability, and a reasonable cycle of deployment, to the men and women who are carrying our nation's burden. That is the question. And that was the purpose of this amendment."
While Republicans tell us that only they care about our troops and their families, only seven Republican Senators felt the need to ease the incredible burden being made by those troops. The majority of these same Senators continue to support Bush though he offers no actual strategy for our forces in Iraq. With no definite goal, our troops have become nothing more than targets for Sunni and Shiite alike.
The Bush administration forces our soldiers to fight under constraining rules of engagement. This policy is not lost on the enemy who fights with ruthless determination. In many cases, our troops must call into headquarters to ask permission to mount an attack on insurgents even while already under fire. This nonsensical strategy is no doubt responsible for the death and dismemberment of thousands of our soldiers.
Our troops are now on combat duty longer than any troops in American history. While many of our soldiers during WWII were gone for years, after 180 days of combat line duty they were considered 'exhausted' and taken off of the line. Our troops go to Iraq and may go through heavy fighting for a month or two to take a particular area. After the territory is 'taken,' they then go out on patrol everyday in which they face more actual combat (RPG attacks, IEDs, snipers, small arms fire, etc.). Our soldiers are always subject to combat while in Iraq.
After the 9/11 attacks, Bush had the opportunity to grow the size of our military. He could have asked Congress to re-instate the draft or simply made an appeal to all men between the ages of 18-35. However, he told us instead to "go shopping." He and Donald Rumsfeld did not raise the necessary number of troops to take the fight back to the Muslim world, nor even to invade Iraq. Even as the Iraq war dragged on, Bush failed to substantially grow the military and instead continued to push already exhausted troops.
The families of these soldiers are without fathers, mothers, sons, and daughters for long periods of time. If they are lucky enough to have their soldier return home in one piece, they will only be with them for a few months before they must return to combat. This open-ended war is truly placing an undue and shameful burden on military families.
No one in the Bush administration has served in the military, because all of these Ivy League elitists felt that it was beneath them. This is one reason why these same half-men have no respect or compassion for our troops and THE reason why this war was doomed to failure. Bush and the rest of the Republican milksops only pay lip service to our troops, while asking much more of them than they ever asked of themselves.
Sen. Webb attempted to bring some measure of peace and order to our soldiers chaotic lives, and the neocons said HELL NO!
Sen. Jim Webb also introduced a new G.I. Bill to see to it that any veteran returning from this current war can have access to a free college education. The measure just cleared the House of Representatives.
The following description of Webb´s bill was taken directly from his official Senate website:
"The "Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act" (S.22/ H.R. 5740), would provide service members who have served since September 11, 2001 with improved educational benefits similar to those provided to World War II-era veterans. The legislation boasts strong bi-partisan and bi-cameral support with 58 cosponsors in the Senate, 295 cosponsors in the House and the endorsements of the nation´s leading veterans' organizations."
President Bush opposes the measure and has threatened a veto if it passes both houses of Congress.
Of course, President Bush has a history of opposing benefits for our exhausted troops.
In 2007, Bush opposed a Democratic measure introduced in the House which would have given our military personnel a 3.5 percent pay raise. Bush called the raise "unnecessary." Ultimately, Congress passed a lower increase to our soldiers´ pay. Though the so-called ´War on Terror´ and the Iraq War have required an enormous contribution from our military Reservists, Bush opposed extending TRICARE medical benefits to those Reservists for three years. Former Sec. of Defense Donald Rumsfeld also opposed the benefits, and advised Bush to veto any defense bill which extended TRICARE to Reservists. In 2006, our Reservists were finally included in the TRICARE plan.
It is apparent that while Republicans always claim to be the toughest on the issue of national defense, they actually care very little for the men and women who are tasked with carrying-out that defense.
This current government does not deserve the sacrifices being made by the men and women in our military.
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