Jesus Christ does this son-of-a-bitch have any shame what so ever. The Republicans just flat out hate the troops, they just hate them.

ABC News

The Bush administration opposes a Democratic effort to restore full educational benefits for returning veterans, according to an official’s comments last week.

Senate Democrats, led by Virginia’s Jim Webb, want the government to pay every penny of veterans’ educational costs, from tuition at a public university to books, housing and a monthly stipend.

Such a benefit was a major feature of the historic 1944 G.I. Bill, which put more than eight million U.S. soldiers through college and is now credited by historians as fueling the expansion of America’s middle class in the post-war era.

But in recent years the benefit has dwindled; under the current law, passed in 1985, veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan can expect Uncle Sam to cover only 75 percent of their tuition costs. That’s not enough, say Democrats and veterans’ advocates.

More than 450,000 used the benefit last year, at a cost to taxpayers of $2 billion, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), which administers the program. The Democratic proposal would cost an additional $5.4 billion a year, the VA estimates — and that’s too much, it says.

The Republicans are filibustering the amendment that would call for a troop withdraw in 180 days, because thy know it will pass, more than a few of Republicans see their political life hanging in the balance and know that is Iraq is still an issue come election time next year they will be out of a job. So Reid as turned up the heat (for once the Dems are showing hey have some balls) and pulled the Defense Authorization bill from the floor. The Republicans know that the bill will pass if they allowed it to come to the floor.

From Reid’s office..

I have temporarily laid aside the Defense Authorization bill and have entered a motion to reconsider.

But let me be clear to my Republican colleagues – I emphasize the word “temporarily”. We will do everything in our power to change course in Iraq. We will do everything in our power to complete consideration of a Defense Authorization bill. We must do both.

And just to remind my Republican colleagues – even if this bill had passed yesterday, its provisions would not take effect until October.

So we will come back to this bill as soon as it is clear we can make real progress. To that end, I have asked the Democratic Whip and Democratic Manager of the bill to sit down with their counterparts to work on a process to address all outstanding issues related to this bill so the Senate can return to it as soon as possible.

Not sure what the real impact of this is yet.

Reason 12,349 as to why the Republicans hate the troops. The Democratic Congress has in the Defense Appropriations Bill a 3.5% pay raise for the troops starting in October, the start of the governments fiscal year. Bush thinks this is far to much for our troops. How dare the troops who are asked to do 15 month deployments in Iraq, with only a few months at home before they do it again, ask for a raise.

I kid you not, this is sick! 3.5% is nothing, and trust me, I was a troop, they make nothing! Bush has a new motto for the troops, “Nothing is to good for the men, and nothing is what they are going to get as long as I am president”

The Honolulu Advertiser as a good breakdown

Talk about lousy timing. With President Bush’s popularity scraping bottom in opinion polls, with U.S. casualties rising in Iraq in a force surge that has stretched tours to 15 months, the Bush administration has said it “strongly opposes” key military pay and benefit gains tossed into the fiscal 2008 defense bill.

Initiatives the administration opposes include:

• A military pay raise for next January of 3.5 percent versus 3 percent endorsed by the White House.
• Lowering the age-60 start of reserve retirement annuities for reserve component members by the length of their future mobilizations.
• Expanding eligibility for Combat-Related Special Compensation to service members forced by combat disabilities to retire short of 20 years.
• Directing pharmaceutical manufacturers to provide the Department of Defense with same-price discounts for Tricare retail pharmacy network that are provided on medicines dispensed from base pharmacies.

The administration also grumbled that the Senate intends to block for another year Tricare fee increases for under-65 retirees and dependents.

The objections appear in a “Statement of Administration Policy” from the White House’s Office of Management and Budget delivered to Senate leaders as they opened floor debate on the defense authorization bill.

A day later, Senate Republicans, at White House urging, blocked amendments that would have shortened Iraq tours for U.S. ground forces and slowed the frequency of war deployments.

The Republicans today filibuster an Amendment offered by Jim Webb of Virginia (Former Marine, son is Active Duty as we speak) that would make it a requirement that the troops get as much time at home as they do in Iraq. Right now Bush is killing our troops by keeping them in Iraq for 18 months, and them giving them only 12 or less back home… This amendment would have given them as much time home.

Data point 2932 that the Republicans don’t give a shit about the troops. They also do not give a shit about family values, because how can you expect our troops spouses to remain happy in the marriage when they are gone 60% of the time.

The vote was 56-41, Webb, and the troops, needed 60 for it to pass.

The troops should think twice before they vote Republican, because Republicans HATE YOU!

Right now a keg at a frat house has a greater chance of surviving than do out solders in Iraq. Bush war is a disaster for our troops, they are over worked, stressed out of there ever loving minds, and dangerously outnumbered. At this point I feel like they are slaves to George Bush and his total cluster-f*ck of a war. Bring them home NOW.

ABC News Reports…

The U.S. military said 14 American troops have died in several attacks in the past 48 hours, including five slain Thursday in a single roadside bombing that also killed four Iraqis in Baghdad.

Elsewhere, a suicide truck bomber struck the Sulaiman Bek city hall in a predominantly Sunni area of northern Iraq, killing at least 16 people and wounding 67, an Iraqi commander said.

The latest U.S. deaths raised to at least 3,545 the number of American troops who have died since the war began in 2003, according to an Associated Press count.

Well it is the day after Memorial Day, and 8 US Soldiers died in Iraq while we were at our Bar-B-Q’s, the 8 deaths 10 deaths are “making May the deadliest month of the year for U.S. troops in Iraq.” God Bless them, and may Bush’s War in Iraq be over by the next one, we can hope.

UPDATE: 10 Deaths, Washington Post Reports

May 26, 2007
Dublin, Ireland

Dear Democratic Congress,

Hello, my name is Cindy Sheehan and my son Casey Sheehan was killed on April 04, 2004 in Sadr City , Baghdad , Iraq . He was killed when the Republicans still were in control of Congress. Naively, I set off on my tireless campaign calling on Congress to rescind George’s authority to wage his war of terror while asking him “for what noble cause” did Casey and thousands of other have to die. Now, with Democrats in control of Congress, I have lost my optimistic naiveté and have become cynically pessimistic as I see you all caving into as one Daily Kos poster called: “Mr. 28%”

There is absolutely no sane or defensible reason for you to hand Bloody King George more money to condemn more of our brave, tired, and damaged soldiers and the people of Iraq to more death and carnage. You think giving him more money is politically expedient, but it is a moral abomination and every second the occupation of Iraq endures, you all have more blood on your hands.

Ms. Pelosi, Speaker of the House, said after George signed the new weak as a newborn baby funding authorization bill: “Now, I think the president’s policy will begin to unravel.” Begin to unravel? How many more of our children will have to be killed and how much more of Iraq will have to be demolished before you all think enough unraveling has occurred? How many more crimes will BushCo be allowed to commit while their poll numbers are crumbling before you all gain the political “courage” to hold them accountable. If Iraq hasn’t unraveled in Ms. Pelosi’s mind, what will it take? With almost 700,000 Iraqis dead and four million refugees (which the US refuses to admit) how could it get worse? Well, it is getting worse and it can get much worse thanks to your complicity.

Being cynically pessimistic, it seems to me that this new vote to extend the war until the end of September, (and let’s face it, on October 1st, you will give him more money after some more theatrics, which you think are fooling the anti-war faction of your party) will feed right into the presidential primary season and you believe that if you just hang on until then, the Democrats will be able to re-take the White House. Didn’t you see how “well” that worked for John Kerry in 2004 when he played the politics of careful fence sitting and pandering? The American electorate are getting disgusted with weaklings who blow where the wind takes them while frittering away our precious lifeblood and borrowing money from our new owners, the Chinese.

I knew having a Democratic Congress would make no difference in grassroots action. That’s why we went to DC when you all were sworn in to tell you that we wanted the troops back from Iraq and BushCo held accountable while you pushed for ethics reform which is quite a hoot…don’t’ you think? We all know that it is affordable for you all to play this game of political mayhem because you have no children in harm’s way…let me tell you what it is like:

You watch your reluctant soldier march off to a war that neither you nor he agrees with. Once your soldier leaves the country all you can do is worry. You lie awake at night staring at the moon wondering if today will be the day that you get that dreaded knock on your door. You can’t concentrate, you can’t eat, and your entire life becomes consumed with apprehension while you are waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Then, when your worst fears are realized, you begin a life of constant pain, regret, and longing. Everyday is hard, but then you come up on “special” days…like upcoming Memorial Day. Memorial Day holds double pain for me because, not only are we supposed to honor our fallen troops, but Casey was born on Memorial Day in 1979. It used to be a day of celebration for us and now it is a day of despair. Our needlessly killed soldiers of this war and the past conflict in Vietnam have all left an unnecessary trail of sorrow and deep holes of absence that will never be filled.

So, Democratic Congress, with the current daily death toll of 3.72 troops per day, you have condemned 473 more to these early graves. 473 more lives wasted for your political greed: Thousands of broken hearts because of your cowardice and avarice. How can you even go to sleep at night or look at yourselves in a mirror? How do you put behind you the screaming mothers on both sides of the conflict? How does the agony you have created escape you? It will never escape me…I can’t run far enough or hide well enough to get away from it.

By the end of September, we will be about 80 troops short of another bloody milestone: 4000, and MoveOn.org will hold nationwide candlelight vigils and you all will be busy passing legislation that will snuff the lights out of thousands more human beings.

Congratulations Congress, you have bought yourself a few more months of an illegal and immoral bloodbath. And you know you mean to continue it indefinitely so “other presidents” can solve the horrid problem BushCo forced our world into.

It used to be George Bush’s war. You could have ended it honorably. Now it is yours and you all will descend into calumnious history with BushCo.

The Camp Casey Peace Institute is calling all citizens who are as disgusted as we are with you all to join us in Philadelphia on July 4th to try and figure a way out of this “two” party system that is bought and paid for by the war machine which has a stranglehold on every aspect of our lives. As for myself, I am leaving the Democratic Party. You have completely failed those who put you in power to change the direction our country is heading. We did not elect you to help sink our ship of state but to guide it to safe harbor.

We do not condone our government’s violent meddling in sovereign countries and we condemn the continued murderous occupation of Iraq .

We gave you a chance, you betrayed us.

Sincerely,
Cindy Sheehan
Founder and President of
Gold Star Families for Peace.

Founder and Director of
The Camp Casey Peace Institute

Eternally grieving mother of Casey Sheehan

From ThinkProgress 

On April 11, Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced that tours of duty for the Army would be extended from 12 months to 15 months, effective immediately. In exchange for the extensions, soldiers would receive at least a year home between deployments. This rest time was intended to “provide some long-term predictability for the soldiers and their families…particularly guaranteeing that they will be at home for a full 12 months,” Gates added. Watch it…

But Gates has not kept his promise. Stars and Stripes reports:

The Army is sending a company of Europe-based soldiers back to Iraq before the unit has had a full 12 months of “dwell time,” or at-home rest.

Members of the 1st Armored Division’s 1st Battalion, 6th Infantry, Company A, learned Tuesday that they are scheduled to head back to Iraq in November, just nine months after the 150-soldier company left the combat zone in February after a 13-month deployment.

A recent Pentagon report concluded that soldiers on extended and repeated deployments “were more likely to suffer acute stress, and that mental health problems correlated with higher rates of battlefield misconduct.”

When asked yesterday about this nine-month deployment, Gates simply replied, “I’ll be very interested in finding out more about that.” Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman’s response was that “there are some people, just by the nature of transferring units and things like that may not end up with the full 12 months.”

According to Whitman, the 12-month rest period between deployments “is a goal,” not a guarantee.

It has been reported that we lost 9 of our finest in one day in Iraq. For the love of all that is good and holy in this world, can we please end this pointless war. George, you have won, the military is broken and your friends are richer than they ever dreamed. You won, so can we now end the death?

END THIS WAR NOW AND BRING OUR TROOPS HOME. IT IS NO LONGER ABOUT SUPPORTING THE TROOPS, IT IS ABOUT SAVING THEM FROM THE MESS YOU HAVE CREATED!

End this damn war now!

From AP

Beginning immediately, all active-duty Army soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan will serve 15-month tours - three months longer than the usual standard, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Wednesday.

It was the latest move by the Pentagon to cope with the strains of fighting two wars simultaneously and maintaining a higher troop level in Iraq as part of President Bush's revised strategy for stabilizing Baghdad.

"This policy is a difficult but necessary interim step," Gates told a Pentagon news conference, adding that the goal is to eventually return to 12 months as the standard length of tour in Iraq and Afghanistan.

He said the new policy does not affect the other main components of the U.S. ground force in Iraq: the Marines, whose standard tour is seven months, or the Army National Guard or Army Reserve, which will continue to serve 12-month tours.

Gates acknowledged that the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are making life difficult for many in the military.

"Our forces are stretched, there's no question about that," Gates said.

He said the new policy also seeks to ensure that all active-duty Army units get at least 12 months at home between deployments. He said it would allow the Pentagon to maintain the current level of troops in Iraq for another year, although he added that there has been no decision on future troop levels.

Without changing the standard tour length to 15 months, the Army would have been forced to send five brigades to Iraq before they completed 12 months at home, Gates said.

Some units' tours in Iraq had already been extended beyond 12 months by varying amounts. The new policy will make deployments more equitable and more predictable for soldiers and for their families, Gates said.

"I think it is fair to all soldiers that all share the burden equally," he said.

The frustration of the boy king is becoming apparent to everyone. Today in a speech at the VFW George Bush stringed so many mistruths together in one sentence it was almost hard to wrap your mind around it. For instance he said, “It's now been 64 days since I have requested that Congress pass emergency funding for these troops. We don't have all of them there”, What he is not telling you is his last request for Iraq war funding was made to a Republican-led Congress and it took them 119 days to comply. The Democrats acted twice as quickly as the Republicans ever did. He went on to say, “…the Democrat leadership in Congress has spent the past 64 days pushing legislation that would undercut our troops, just as we're beginning to make progress in Baghdad.” This is also nothing more than spin, what the Democrats have done is to fully comply with his war funding request giving him every penny he asked for him. Bush is not happy with is that the Democrats have said that they understand what the American people want and this will be the last request Bush sees. The Democratic message is clear “You have about a year to finish the job because the will of the American people is all but gone.” In short Bush is panicking because he sees the gig is up, in chaos he could steal, and the Democrats have chosen to end the chaos.

As I said in the beginning of this post, President Bush is holding the troops hostage. You need to look no further than the following statement made by him today, “Some of our forces now deployed in Afghanistan and Iraq may need to be extended, because other units are not ready to take their places. In a letter to Congress, the Army Chief of Staff, Pete Shoemaker, recently warned, 'Without approval of the supplemental funds in April, we will be forced to take increasingly draconian measures, which will impact Army readiness and impose hardships on our soldiers and their families.'" This is a slap in the face to the troops, today in the news it was reported that over 15,000 troops will have their current tours of duty extended. Also reported today National Guard troops in three states to the tune of 13,000 troops have received notice that they will be shipped to Iraq, in direct violation of agreements made between the states and the Department of Defense that state National Guard troops will not be deployed more than once every five years. One unit that received letters today have been stateside less than two years. So how can the president say that if the Democrats don't fully comply with this failed policy that somehow the troops will be redeployed or extended when in fact that is exactly what is happening and they have all the money they need. Bush is using the troops and their families as hostages to keep the war in Iraq going so he and his buddies at Halliburton can keep bilking money from the war zone.

Bush's surge plan is so important to “Operation Save my Legacy” that he is sending untrained troops into Iraq and causing them to die. This is how the Republicans support our troops, they rush the necessary training our troops need, not to win, but to survive.

From Editor & Publisher (bolds are mine)

Two soldiers killed in Iraq in February may have died as a result of friendly fire, Army officials said Wednesday, not from enemy fire, as the press reported.

The military suspected friendly fire later in February but did not inform the dead soldiers' families of these new doubts.

One of the soldiers died just hours after arriving in Iraq — and was one of those troops rushed to the country in the "surge" who did not receive full training.

The Army said it is investigating the deaths of Pvt. Matthew Zeimer, 18, of Glendive, Mont., and Spc. Alan E. McPeek, 20, of Tucson, Ariz., who were killed in Ramadi, in western Iraq on Feb. 2. The families of the soldiers at first were told they were killed by enemy fire.

According to Col. Daniel Baggio, unit commanders in Iraq did not initially suspect they were killed by U.S. forces, but an investigation by the unit found they may have been.

A supplemental report filed Feb. 28 suggested that the initial report might be wrong and an investigation was under way. It took another month before the families of the two soldiers were told, on March 31, that friendly fire was suspected.

On February 9, the Savannah (Ga.) Morning News reported: "At least 143 soldiers joined Fort Stewart's 1st Brigade too late to participate in a final combat exercise before their units deployed to Iraq. Last week, one of those soldiers - Pvt. Matthew T. Zeimer, 18 - was the first from the brigade to be killed when he was hit by enemy fire in Ramadi, the stronghold of Iraq's Sunni insurgency.

with a Commander in Chief like this who needs enemies.

Is Bush ever going to tell us why we are there still. I thought that they were doing all the work, that we were just there as backup.

From the AP (Bolds are mine)

The U.S. military death toll in March, the first full month of the security crackdown, was nearly twice that of the Iraqi army, which American and Iraqi officials say is taking the leading role in the latest attempt to curb violence in the capital, surrounding cities and Anbar province, according to figures compiled on Saturday.

The Associated Press count of U.S. military deaths for the month was 81, including a soldier who died from non-combat causes Friday. Figures compiled from officials in the Iraqi ministries of Defense, Health and Interior showed the Iraqi military toll was 44. The Iraqi figures showed that 165 Iraqi police were killed in March. Many of the police serve in paramilitary units.

According to the AP count 3,246 U.S. service members have died in Iraq since the war began in March 2003.

At least 83 American forces died in January and 80 in February, according to the AP tabulation.

The Iraqi figures were gathered from officials who released them on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to give out the numbers.

Additionally, the Iraqi ministry figures listed 1,872 Iraqi civilian deaths for the month, about 300 more than the AP tabulation, which is mainly gathered from daily police reports nationwide.

The civilian death toll for the month was down significantly from 2,172 in December, the highest month casualty figure since the AP began keeping records of civilian deaths in April 2005.

However, the number of civilians killed in March was in the same range as for the first two months of this year; 1,604 in January and 1,552 in February, according to the AP count.

Nearly a third of the Iraqi civilian deaths, more than 500 people, where killed in three big bomb attacks in the last week of the month and revenge killings of Sunni men in Tal Afar the night after a Shiite market was bomb in the northwest Iraqi city.

The US Military is so overtaxed that the DOD has notified 1800 Ready Reserve Marines that they may be called up for a tour in Iraq. Here is what the Ready Reserve is, when someone signs up for the service, say 4 years, their contract says that are to spend 4 years active duty, and 4 years inactive duty, in other words the Ready Reserve. For the most part, these people leave the service and go on about their civilian lives.

It is almost unheard of to call up these forces, the DOD is strapped, and god knows that we would never ask for a draft, because nothing would end this war faster.

From the Stars and Stripes

The Marine Corps plans to notify 1,800 Marines in the Individual Ready Reserve this month that they could be mobilized for one year, to include an expected seven-month deployment to Iraq, said Maj. Steven O’Connor, Reserve liaison officer at Headquarters Marine Corps Public Affairs.

Troops in the IRR have left active duty but still have time on their obligation to serve. Unlike other reservists, they do not drill.

Of the Marines notified, about 1,200 are expected to get orders to join the I Marine Expeditionary Force in Iraq, O’Connor said Monday.

That breaks down to 1,067 sergeants and 133 captains, said Lt. Col. Jeff Riehl, of Manpower and Reserve Affairs.

Of the roughly 60,000 Marines in the IRR, about 25,200 are eligible for this callup, Riehl said.

Riehl gave the following breakdown of how many Marines the Corps is looking to call up per Military Occupational Specialty:

• Aviation maintenance, 361
• Logistics support, 225
• Infantry, tanks and artillery, 223
• Motor transport, 178
• Communications, 97
• Intelligence, 95
• Military police, 21

In August, the Corps announced that it planned to mobilize up to 2,500 Marines in the IRR to stem a shortfall of 1,200 Marines. The Corps had been relying on volunteers from the IRR, but fewer Marines in the IRR had volunteered to be mobilized.

Since then, 150 Marines in the IRR have been notified they could deploy, of which 69 have received orders to go to Iraq, O’Connor said.

I am really perplexed that the supporters of the Republican Party allow the GOP to treat the military with such contempt. Republicans hem and haw about how they are such champions for our men and women in uniform, yet given the chance, they will throw them under the bus, faster than you can say “Attention!”, especially if it means saving face for the party. Now it is no secret that I have in a longstanding theory that the Republican Party as a whole detests the military personnel. Don't get me wrong they love the military-industrial complex, they love Halliburton, Lockheed Martin, and other defense contractors, but our men and women in uniform, screw them!

Case in point, yesterday the Armed Services Committee hearing on the scandal at Walter Reed medical center (a DOD facility, not a VA facility) the fine Republican Representative from the state of Georgia Phil Gingrey blamed the troops for the appalling conditions in Building 18. He said, “and, of course, if you leave food around a motel room or dorm room at college, you're going to get some mice showing up at some point in time”. You're right Representatives Gingrey it's the soldier with the brain injuries fault he left food around. It's not the IED that blew up in his face that causes his brain to smash against the skull rendering him functionally unable to tell you where he's at. It's not the US Army's fault, even though it is their job to take care of the wounded soldiers. No, according to the Republican Representative from the state of Georgia it's the soldiers fault and nothing more. Oh wait, there is other people to blame, mainly the Washington Post for reporting it.

The comments of this Republican, as well as many before him, make it clear to me, a veteran, most of the American people, and the world, that to the Republican Party the troops are a nameless faceless mass of people used and thrown away. The attitude the GOP shows towards our troops is sickening at best and treasonous at worse. Shame on you Representative Gingrey, and shame on you Republicans for allowing such treasonous words to ever fall from your mouth.

(I am trying out new voice recognition software to help you post some of my stories, so please bear with me if you see words that seemed out of place, as I'm still training the program. I do my best to prove this before I post)