‘Strangely Quiet’ Scene As Bush Visits Base Where . . . .

[donsu]

‘Strangely Quiet’ Scene As Bush Visits Base Where Medically-Unfit Troops Were Deployed


http://thinkprogress.org/2007/04/05/bush-fort-irwin/

Yesterday, President Bush visited Fort Irwin, California, the main desert training camp where most U.S. soldiers are sent before deployment to Iraq or Afghanistan. Bush told the troops:

Ours is a remarkable country when people volunteer to serve our country in a time of war. The amazing thing about our United States military is thousands and thousands have signed up knowing full well that we’re a nation at war. The government didn’t say, you have to do this, you chose to do it on your own. You decided to put your country ahead of self in many ways.

That message must have resonated in a unique way for some of the soldiers present. As Salon.com’s Mark Benjamin reported recently, Fort Irwin is where some soldiers with debilitating injuries and other medical conditions, including female soldiers who were pregnant, were deployed for weeks:

Hernandez is one of a dozen soldiers who stayed for weeks in those tents who were interviewed for this report, some of whose medical records were also reviewed by Salon. All of the soldiers said they had no business being sent to Fort Irwin given their physical condition. In some cases, soldiers were sent there even though their injuries were so severe that doctors had previously recommended they should be considered for medical retirement from the Army.

Military experts say they suspect that the deployment to Fort Irwin of injured soldiers was an effort to pump up manpower statistics used to show the readiness of Army units. With the military increasingly strained after four years of war, Army readiness has become a critical part of the debate over Iraq.

As Steve Benen noted, Bush’s remarks to the soldiers yesterday hardly produced the rally-like atmosphere of years past. Reuters reported that troops “sat quietly at their lunch tables, some joined by family members, as Bush spoke.” The Houston Chronicle’s Julie Mason described the event as “less than a rally, more than a stare-down,” and said the troops were “strangely quiet.”


and see the bastard leaning on the military man

[TwilightGardener]

1. The guy he's leaning on looks like he is trying to find his "happy place"

to get away from Chimpy.

[havocmom]

6. bush treats them like plaster 'jockey-boy' lawn ornaments

The restraint of the man he is leaning on is amazing.

[TwilightGardener]

7. Look at that expression on Chimp's face--you can see the contempt

for these men underneath the trademarked smirk.

[TheCowsCameHome]

15. He's a total a--hole. That photo is disgusting.

[donco6]

2. Caption: Damn, it'll take WEEKS to get that stench off!

What an asswipe.

[Toots]

3. Props..That is all the military s to Bush*.. Political Props

I would love to see that man get his just rewards...

[Monkeyman]

4. Someday the truth will be told

[lazer47]

12. It is unacceptable that it takes so many lives

for us to finally become aware of the truth

[natrat]

5. i feel bad for those guys-sacraficing for a lie

[genie_weenie]

8. Bush was incredibly smart

to use the military to legitimize his Regime. I wonder if there wasn't a warning to all "dissenters" in America that Bush would be willing to use the military to enforce domestic tranquility...

[Vexatious Ape]

9. I wonder what % of those soldiers know how bush got out

the Vietnam war. I work with a guy that served in Iraq with the Marines and he hadn't a clue.

[INdemo]

10. And this will be reported by the corporate MSM as

"Bush greeted by up beat crowd of soldiers" or something to this effect..That is what the general public will see..The script was probably written for the media before Bush even landed in Calif.

[subterranean]

11. Bush seems truly amazed...

that anybody would put "country ahead of self" and actually choose to enlist in the military in a time of war. It's a concept that's totally alien to him. Here's how Bush explained what he did when he had the opportunity to do the same:

"I was not prepared to shoot my eardrum out with a shotgun in order to get a deferment. Nor was I willing to go to Canada. So I chose to better myself by learning how to fly airplanes."
--George W. Bush, 1994

[Marr]

13. He warned Democrats against using "political theater".

The man is stupefyingly arrogant and hypocritical. It's almost as if he's actively trying to put on the world's biggest display of projection.

[dogday]

14. The miltary regs forbid Bush using our troops as political props

The DOD regulations make clear that the White House cannot use uniformed military, active duty or veterans, as props in political events. But that's what Bush did today when he used current or former troops in uniform as window dressing for his political press conference attacking the Democrats as un-American. Is this now the official policy of the US military, that Democrats don't support the troops? What are we, a banana republic now?

Let me quote the relevant regulations...

Regarding active duty troops
It is DoD policy that:

3.1. The wearing of the uniform by members of the Armed Forces (including retired members and members of Reserve components) is prohibited under any of the following circumstances:

3.1.1. At any meeting or demonstration that is a function of, or sponsored by an organization, association, movement, group, or combination of persons that the Attorney General of the United States has designated, under Executive Order 10450 as amended (reference (c)), as totalitarian, fascist, communist, or subversive, or as having adopted a policy of advocating or approving the commission of acts of force or violence to deny others their rights under the Constitution of the United States, or as seeking to alter the form of Government of the United States by unconstitutional means.

3.1.2. During or in connection with furthering political activities, private employment or commercial interests, when an inference of official sponsorship for the activity or interest may be drawn.

3.1.3. Except when authorized by the approval authorities in subparagraph 4.1.1., when participating in activities such as unofficial public speeches, interviews, picket lines, marches, rallies or any public demonstration, which may imply Service sanction of the cause for which the demonstration or activity is conducted.
And regarding retired vets:
3.2. Former members of the Armed Forces, unless under another provision of this Instruction or
under the terms of Section 772 of title 10, United States Code (reference (d)), who served honorably during a declared or undeclared war and whose most recent service was terminated under honorable conditions may wear the uniform in the highest grade held during such war service only on the following occasions and in the course of travel incident thereto:

3.2.1. Military funerals, memorial services, weddings, and inaugurals.

3.2.2. Parades on National or State holidays; or other parades or ceremonies of a patriotic character in which any Active or Reserve United States military unit is taking part.

3.2.3. Wearing of the uniform or any part thereof at any other time or for any other purposes is prohibited.

3.3. Medal of Honor holders may wear the uniform at their pleasure except under the circumstances set forth in paragraph 3.1., above.

http://americablog.blogspot.com/2007/03/miltary-regs-forbid-bush-using-our.html