Abusing Our Own Soldiers

When a man or a woman volunteers to fight for his country, you owe him many things. Respect and support are two basic rewards a hero deserves. A volunteer also should expect medical treatment for wounds, both physical and psychological.

A veteran shouldn't expect that his country will lie to him and prevent him from receiving the care the veteran desperately needs. This is what happened to some of our soldiers in Iraq.

The New York Times has revealed that the CIA was buying chemical weapons created by Saddam Hussein, that were loaded with Sarin gas, and blowing  them up in the open air, potentially inflicting damage to the nerves of many of our soldiers. Since the purchase of these chemical weapons was supposed to be a secret, no one told the Veterans Administration that soldiers could have had their nervous systems seriously impaired by their service to their country.

Upon their return, soldiers who'd been injured by Sarin gas were denied treatment and did not have their conditions monitored. Any attempt by the soldiers to call attention to what had happened to them was denigrated and denied. This country, which I thought valued its veterans, is guilty of a horrible crime. Imagine if you returned from serving your country and had many problems with your nervous system and were told it had nothing to do with your service. This is truly disgusting. Some reports say Karl Rove was one of the people who tried to suppress the information that could have helped these men and women deal with the illness. Shame, shame on the men who sent people to fight and then let them needlessly suffer.