Enough. Enough. Enough enough FUCKING ENOUGH.

[NuclearDem]

Enough of the goddamned deployments.

Washington needs to get off its collective ass and fix the goddamn VA health system and start taking the suicide, sexual assault, PTSD, and traumatic brain injury epidemics seriously before they get one more goddamned year in that war.

ENOUGH.

[marym625]

1. Absolutely!

[CaliforniaPeggy]

2. Damn right!

[Autumn]

3. More than fucking enough. What the fuck are we gaining?

ENOUGH is goddamn right. No more. Bring them home.

[Admiral Loinpresser]

4. KnR! n/t

[darkangel218]

5. I agree. And we should also talk about the unnecessary damage and lives we have taken overseas!!!!

Thousands of innocents killed in stupid money hungry wars!!!!! Fuck this shit!

FIX THE ROADS!! FIX OUT HEALTHCARE SYSTEM! FIX OUR SCHOOLS!!! FIX THE FEDERAL MINIMUM WAGE!!

Screw wars!!!! :'(

[RKP5637]

6. Some are making big $$$$$'s with the MIC with death, destruction and rebuilding. It's gross

and disgusting. If the US says we're here to help, it means your country is to be destroyed and lots of lives lost. The US has a consistent record of doing this. Now, it's just ongoing. President Eisenhower was soooo right! ... but those with $$$$'s in their hands just would/will not give it up.

[tularetom]

7. Why do you hate President Obama?

Next thing you know you'll be accusing him of reneging on his campaign promise of 2008 to get all our troops out of Afghanistan.

Oh wait...

[NuclearDem]

9. This isn't just about President Obama.

It's about the cowardly fucking Congress that has absolutely given up its role in deciding these matters, not to mention having to be cajoled into even passing the most basic protections for our veterans.

It's about the failure of the media, mainstream and independent, to even try to cover veterans issues. One weakass question in three debates doesn't cut it.

And finally it's about the 99.9% of people who just don't give a shit about us anymore. They're not the ones seeing their parents get sent off once a year for fourteen years and not being sure they'll ever come back. They're not the ones having homes destroyed by suicide and post-traumatic stress. They're not the ones watching their kids grow up from the other side of the world.

This is a problem everybody caused. Virtually nobody's hands are clean in this, and we all need to hold our heads in shame, sit in the corner, and don't send another unit overseas until we've thought about what we've done.

[tularetom]

13. Actually I could not agree more

Personally, I have had very good experience with the VA. They are a big part of the reason I have a college education and I was able to buy my first home with no money down thanks to the loan guarantee I got from them.

But that was over 50 years ago and the system is badly in need of repairs if not a complete overhaul.

I was only trying to point out the futility of taking seriously a campaign promise to end a war. I don't blame only the president for this, but he did tell us he would get everybody out of Afghanistan by the end of his term.

[Skittles]

17. I got your point, tularetom

I knew that "promise" was total bs

[2naSalit]

8. Probably not going to end until

we can convince all our young people to stop enlisting. If nobody joins, it will severely impact the numbers of available personnel. If conscription returns, everyone should refuse to comply. It's a big challenge given the promised incentives that rarely manifest in the ways promised but that could be a goal to work toward. We have to stop feeding the goddamned beast.

[global1]

14. I Like What You Are Saying About Young People Stopping To Enlist....

Let's explore that a little.

What is the profile of those that do enlist today? Would they buy into an enlistment stoppage?

What would the U.S. do if they were unable to resupply our armies if people stopped enlisting?

Would Congress reinstitute a 'draft' again?

If they did - even the kids of the 1% would have to be included. I'm not sure that it would fly because of that.

This would really present an interesting dilemma for our government. Wow - something to ponder.

[sorechasm]

23. A casualty of raising the minimum wage?

If the millions of underpaid minimum wage employees could actually support themselves on their salaries, they would be less inclined to 'Join the Army' to feed their families.

Sounds like a good plan to me.

[passiveporcupine]

25. I doubt it would work

What is the profile of those that do enlist today? Would they buy into an enlistment stoppage?

Most of the enlistees today are doing it for the bennies. It's the only way a lot of them can see to get an education. Many of them are from poorer rural areas. It's their one shot at having a life better than their parents.

How might this change if Bernie were able to push through free college for all.

[2naSalit]

33. I do ponder this

especially when I have a niece who is in the military and not intending to leave any time soon, my father was a lifer as was my step dad and a step brother ( who was drafted in the VNW and got a medical discharge after he went nuts. He was sent to duty on a swift boat straight out of boot camp.)

I saw a lot of friends and older brothers of friends shipped off to war there and returned in body bags...

I started school in Key West during the Cuban Missile crisis and lived in military housing for a good part of my childhood, I wouldn't wish that on anyone.

I am greatly disturbed by what this country's military is doing in my name and giving me no voice to object. And I would emigrate but where could I go, aside from the fact that I can't afford to leave the neighborhood let alone move to some other country. There is no safe place anymore, no matter where you go, the US is there and ready to "off" anyone who isn't on board with the agenda for the new amurikin century.

My best weapon is knowledge to impart to those willing to listen and understand what we have become and consider ways to change our path. It's all I've got until I fall silent due to loss of life or ability to communicate.

[Volaris]

48. Tuition-free college will be a big driver in lowering enlistment numbers..

As a paid-for college education (if u live) is one of the main recruiting tools for the USArmedForces.

[HughBeaumont]

52. College is too expensive and there are no more blue-collar jobs to go to.

This is by design, make no mistake about it. More to "Military Industial Complex" than meets the eye.

[bvar22]

62. I don't believe that would do it.

Last edited Fri Oct 16, 2015, 04:47 PM - Edit history (1)

TPTB have been working toward a "Privatized" military built of well paid Mercenaries
with NO ACCOUNTABILITY to The People or our government.
They kill at will with no consequences.

If enlistments drop, we will see an increase of mercenaries and armed "contractors" of all sorts... a situation many in our current Congress would applaud since it absolves them of accountability too.

[Roy Rolling]

71. The draft link

Neocons learned they could not wage war with drafted soldiers because soldiers coming home in a box was too distasteful for the American public. So they made the whole army a bunch of low-paid mercenaries and tried to advertise for soldiers. And then they hired high-paid mercenaries like Halliburton to further swindle the American taxpayer.

A private army---the right wing dream that is so disastrous in real life.

[Rex]

10. I approve of this message.

Way past time!

[kentuck]

11. I think it may be a counter ploy to the Russian move in Syria.

We are not usually told the truth about why decisions like this happen. I would say almost never.

Just my opinion.

[panader0]

18. Or because if the "situation" in Afghanistan goes any further downhill,

it could negatively affect the elections for the Dems.
For myself, I say get out now.

[hopemountain]

30. reasoned the same, kentuck

if we pull out completely from afghanistan - which is even closer to russia - putin will use this as an opportunity to move in as he as done in syria. our military maintaining a presence on the request of their government is a way to keep a greater peace.

further, yes, many innocent civilians and our own family members have lost their lives in the middle east. but, if we walk away now - the entire middle east will erupt and all of those lives will have been for naught and then .... there will be even greater losses.

we must not forget, putin is not helping assad out of the "kindness" in his "heart" and a quest for true peace.

[jwirr]

40. If it were left to me I would let Russia see if they can handle

the ME. The last time they tried to go into Afghanistan their country collapsed. I doubt they are any stronger now.

However, supposedly we are fighting this war to stop these terrible rulers from abusing their people. We have told the whole world that is the case so what we are doing over there now is saving face.

And I know we are not going to get out because the ME is in such a terrible mess now that no one has the answers.

[bvar22]

65. ...and we have done so well in the Middle East.

EVERYTHING we touch over there goes to shit in a hurry.
What makes you believe that if we stay longer things will get better?
You have absolutely NO evidence to support your claim.

Insanity= doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results.

Sanity= Knowing when to quit.

[hopemountain]

70. <10k soldiers IS

a far cry from a full military presence. it is more like a hand on the shoulder of the afghani people. bvar, "evidence"? graphs, numbers, etc.? my evidence comes from knowing & understanding something about the history, culture and people of afghanistan along with first hand stories and reports from returning vets.

the afghanistan wars have a unique history of their own. they are a tribal people who have been thrust into a global perspective. situations are constantly changing and there is not one scrap of evidence that supports any specific or exact guaranteed acts and/or outcomes. as outsiders, we can really only hope and provide limited respectful support when requested. the afghans will find their way - hopefully to the betterment of the people and no matter what or how. at this time it seems if we walk away, now, we would be mean spirited by turning our backs on the people of afghanistan who want & deserve to live their lives without the constant threat of terror.

it seems a continued limited presence at this time goes a far way to keeping things from boiling over to more detriment of the innocent and their sovereignty.

[bvar22]

72. Since you claim to "know" the history of Afghanistan,

maybe you can tell us of all the successful invasions and occupations of this region we have named "Afghanistan" in the last two centuries.

I would be really interested in THAT kind of fact, not the charts and numbers we see so often from the Pentagon.

I'll wait for your list of successful occupations of "Afghanistan" by a foreign nation.


STOP. THE. KILLING!!!
No one in Afghanistan attacked the WTC.
Those guys are GONE....so WHY are we still killing people and blowing apart families in Afghanistan?
The ONLY justification we might have had died the day they threw Bin Laden out of that helicopter.
Every day we stay in Afghanistan is a War Crime.

[hopemountain]

73. none that i know of.

the us has neither invaded nor occupied their government. i rally & respect the afghani people. you do not need to attack me. i am against killing innocents. you are yelling at the wrong person.

[bvar22]

74. "the us has neither invaded nor occupied their government"...???!!!!

What?

Meet Hamid Karzai
or as Obama calls him, "The Government of Afghanistan".

He was appointed by Bush the Lesser to run Afghanistan.
He is one of the most despicable criminals in The World,
But NOW we like him so much
that our children fighting and dying in the deserts of Afghanistan to keep him in power.

[EX500rider]

75. Mohammad Ashraf Ghani is the elected President of Afghanistan...

....Hamid Karzai was the man elected by the people of Afghanistan before him. Who stepped down due to term limits.
The election was the first time in Afghanistan's history that power was democratically transferred.

[bvar22]

77. We WERE talking history.

Karzai was a well financed puppet of the USA who only remained in power thanks to the US Military and the BILLIONS we gave him......
AND...you KNOW that.
To deny that would be absurd.

As long as American soldiers & Tanks remain in Afghanistan,
there will be no such thing as a "democratic" election.


Would you believe in a free democratic election if Russian soldiers & tanks were in your town square?
Your suggestion that Afghanistan has had democratic elections is equally as absurd.

[EX500rider]

78. 7,947,527 people voted...the guy they selected won...sounds like a democracy to me.

I don't see any "US tanks" making people vote any certain way:






https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afghan_presidential_election,_2014

[bvar22]

80. Yeah...there are no US Tanks in Afghanistan,

and the US military presence and the BILLIONS of US Dollars has no effect on elections either!!!!

Your photos remind me of Iraq's Purple Finger election.
That election was a propaganda festival too.

The last time I looked,
the population of Afghanistan was over 32 million people,
and you say 7 Million voted?

[EX500rider]

81. "High turnout in Afghanistan elections."

Despite the Taliban threat, turnout was seven million out of 12 million eligible voters, or about 58 percent, according to preliminary estimates, election commission Chief Ahmad Yousuf Nuristani said. That was well above the 4.5 million who voted at the last election in 2009, as voters this time refused to be cowed by the armed group.

http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/4/5/afghan-election.html

[bvar22]

82. Well GOOD!!!

If what you say is true, then there is no need for additional troops or additional Billions wasted in a country that already has free and democratic elections. (I wish we had those here.)

You and I can now join together and declare VICTORY,
and demand that ALL US Troops leave this wonderful, democratic country to themselves
to figure out their own democracy!!!!

VICTORY!!!
Bring the Troops HOME NOW!

[ruffburr]

12. ENOUGH-

Of not caring about the costs of Empire building for corporations and pay offs, While abandoning our vets, Undermining the reputation of America, and the untold damage to all the civilian population of the countries that have been invaded.

[lpbk2713]

15. Agreed

Enough of looking the other way while hoping the problems will take care of themselves.

[Cosmic Kitten]

16. Hillary would certainly continue playing USA as "World Policeman"

She's a tough talking war-hawk.
She thinks Iraq is our enemy.
She advocates regime change
along with her PNAC neo-cons

If you want less deployments
vote for Bernie.

[Plucketeer]

19. I posted this to another thread.

In said thread I was trying to make the point that the folks we carelessly call "representatives" are not. In fact, they're the ones responsible for the hospital demolishing in Afghanistan. And WE all share the blame. I wrote:


"It's the fault of each and every American who has set on their hands rather than hold government accountable. WOULD any of us here (on DU at the very least) have given the nod for those gunships to devastate the place? Of course not. But that said, we're complicit just the same. Ignorance is no defense. National security is no defense. Chain of command and sense of duty are not defenses either.

WE foot the bill, and WE cast the votes and then go back to our stupid fucking fantasy football bullshit (I don't, BTW) and figure we'll just leave it up to the "Commisar-in-Chief" and all will be well! NOT! And he's just the tip of the dirty iceberg.

You can laud this president if you want - you can laud all those in DC who supposedly speak for you. I don't laud them. They don't speak for me. We've got our fingers stuck in so many holes in the Middle East that we need two more hands. And now we're going into MORE theaters of conflict. But hey - what custom touch is it that you want to your Starbucks? What was that cool new game app your so entrenched in? And when was it that you last wrote or called your reps about the American kids offering themselves as shrapnel sponges a world away? What's that? You don't know those kids personally. Wellllllllllllllllllll then - YOU get a pass.

What happened to this hospital - and many MANY more places like it - leaves us ALL with blood on our hands.
I can't go to DC - tho I'd love to. But I'm certain I've spent a hundred bucks or more this year alone - sending post cards to folks who've never met me nor care to. But they DO know (or their staff knows) of my displeasure when they stand silent about shit like this massacre - or even stand FOR such."

We elect these supposed reps and we readily pay them to go and act on our behalf. How is it we can't stop them? Of course, it's powers like Israel and the MIC that REALLY twiddle the strings. But hey! We can request an American flag if we decide to visit all the memorials to the sacrificed on the mall!

[Enthusiast]

20. Kicked and recommended to the Max!

Enough!

[stage left]

21. K&Rnt

[Brother Buzz]

22. "People are fungible. You can have them here or there." - Rummy

[sorechasm]

29. Where did you dig up that 'Skelator' as Rumsfeld photo?

Very frightful indeed. Thank you for reminding me what we have (not) missed since Dubya's days of the death march.

[SammyWinstonJack]

24. KnR

[Dont call me Shirley]

26. Stop the war machine. Start waging peace.

[Warpy]

27. Enough with the deployments, enough with the wars of corporate convenience,

enough with the bloated military budget that makes billionaires feel a little safer tucked into their beddy-byes, and yes, enough with the VA idiocy of having separate budgets for every little thing and unable to borrow from less necessary budgets in time of war.

And enough with the fucking Republicans thinking they can short change vets who put their asses on the line and came back damaged.

[arcane1]

28. But... but Cameroon has oil and "substantial mineral resources"

Funny how that works.

[smirkymonkey]

31. +1000

[Gonzalo]

32. First Home

First Home and then fix the outside.

[retrowire]

34. Exactly what you just said.

[img][/img]

[Thespian2]

35. Ab-so-lutely...

remember that most of the leadership suffers from one serious problem...psychopathy...

[midnight]

36. kick

[Blue_In_AK]

37. Institute a draft and the war will end.

Not that I'm in favor, but since so few people have skin in the game, the issue of the wars is back-burnered. It was a lot different in the Vietnam days.

[MisterP]

42. well the last war "ended" by the draft took 58K

[Blue_In_AK]

43. I understand that,

which is why I don't think the American people would let it go that long.

I could be wrong, though. I often am.

[Enthusiast]

58. We would be less likely to go to war on a whim as we do now.

Additionally the contractors are making a fortune doing things G.I.s used to do like food and laundry.

If the nation is actually under a true threat great enough to warrant fighting a war, a draft is justified.

[Sunlei]

38. we went from 100,000 troops to 10,000 today. Now plan is down to 5k instead of 1k

I want peace and no wars. No new deployments and no more ground troops.

Yes, we have to take care of our Vets. They all should have no hassle Gov. insurance for life. Last I read the Vets need about 60 billion a year for care. Doesn't seem to be enough.

[Punx]

39. CNN

Was all war/terror the whole time I was at the gym this afternoon. Iranian missiles, Syria, the Afghan deployment, Jihadi John, Palestinian terrorists...No balance, just fear, fear, fear.

Part of the problem is that we have one party in Washington now that has never seen a war they didn't like or wouldn't profit from and enough hawks on the other side to get us into trouble.

[avaistheone1]

41. k&r

[JDPriestly]

44. K&R.

[flamingdem]

45. Correct

Half the homeless on the streets around here were are Vets, so they say.

[KentuckyWoman]

46. Fund the schools and the soldiers but let the military contractors do bake sales.

We should be supporting the soldier but not the war.

As usual we have it ass backwards. War profits before people.

[Enthusiast]

59. +1

[Spitfire of ATJ]

47. The only reason they hate us is because we are propping up oppressive regimes....

That's Putin's job.

[Demeter]

49. Putin wouldn't do that--unlike American hacks, Russians learn their history

They had Afghanistan; we had Vietnam.

Since then, Russia wins if it fights, and it fights to defend itself only. Russia gave up Empire-building. Russia would let the Afghans sit in their misogynistic self-imprisonment, drug themselves to death on opium, and die of drought. There's no desire to save the world from itself in Russian culture...and no great desire to loot and pillage, either. Russia has enough untapped resources to happily ignore the rest of the world. Russia is where the US was, after the Civil War, on the verge of great things.

The US is still fighting wars of aggression, for the resources its corporations can steal from 3rd world nations...and it's losing every single one of them. We never learn (at least, our 1% puppet-masters never learn. They just scoop out the public till while supplying the war machines, and loot whatever they can, whenever they can).

[randome]

50. Is this satire?

Last edited Fri Oct 16, 2015, 08:59 AM - Edit history (1)

Russia has invaded the Ukraine and has now invaded Syria. This is "fighting to defend themselves"? You're kidding, right?
[hr][font color="blue"][center]The truth doesn’t always set you free.
Sometimes it builds a bigger cage around the one you’re already in.[/center][/font][hr]

[NuclearDem]

54. Syria attacked Russia? I must've missed that headline.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

55. Tell the people in Crimea that Putin isn't empire building.

[Demeter]

56. The People of Crimea told you so, themselves

Maybe you might want to take their word for it.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

57. The ones he's killed?

[Demeter]

61. Have you verification? A link?

I'll show you mine:

Crimean status referendum, 2014
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Crimean status referendum, 2014 was a referendum on the status of Crimea held on March 16, 2014, by the legislature of Autonomous Republic of Crimea as well as by the local government of Sevastopol, both subdivisions of Ukraine at the time. The referendum asked the people of Crimea whether they wanted to join Russia as a federal subject, or if they wanted to restore the 1992 Crimean constitution and Crimea's status as a part of Ukraine.

The available choices did not include keeping the status quo of Crimea and Sevastopol as they were at the time the referendum was held. The 1992 constitution accords greater powers to the Crimean parliament including full sovereign powers to establish relations with other states, therefore many commentators argued that both provided referendum choices would result in de facto separation from Ukraine.

The Supreme Council of Crimea considered the ousting of Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych in the 2014 Ukrainian revolution as a coup and the new interim government in Kiev as illegitimate and stated that the referendum is a response to these developments. The final date and ballot choices were set only ten days before the plebiscite was held. The referendum was regarded as illegitimate by most countries including all European Union members, the United States and Canada because of the events surrounding it including the plebiscite being held while the peninsula was occupied by Russian soldiers. Thirteen members of the United Nations Security Council voted in favor of a resolution declaring the referendum invalid, but Russia vetoed it and China abstained. A United Nations General Assembly resolution was later adopted, by a vote of 100 in favor vs. 11 against with 58 abstentions, which declared the referendum invalid and affirmed Ukraine's territorial integrity. The Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People called for a boycott of the referendum.

Russia officially recognized the results of the Crimean referendum and claims that unilateral Kosovo declaration of independence has set a precedent, which allows secession of Crimea from Ukraine. Such parallels are disputed by legal scholars, however.

The official result from the Autonomous Republic of Crimea was a 96.77 percent vote for integration of the region into the Russian Federation with an 83.1 percent voter turnout. The Mejlis Deputy Chairman Akhtem Chiygoz stated that the actual turnout could not have exceeded 30–40 percent. In an interview on 22 January 2015 Igor Strelkov admitted that his militia group coerced Crimean deputies to vote in favor of secession from Ukraine.

Following the referendum, The Supreme Council of Crimea and Sevastopol City Council declared independence of Crimea from Ukraine and requested to join the Russian Federation. On the same day, Russia recognized Crimea as a sovereign state.

It's one of those "fair and balanced" accounts....with lots of kibitzing from people who don't have to live with the results, but wish to ingratiate themselves with the US State Dept. (or avoid similar foreign-ignited uprisings as afflicted Ukraine, Syria, Libya, and other victims of American "regime-changing" imperialism).

I offer the following proofs that it was in fact a free and popular referendum that passed overwhelmingly:

1. No fighting, no bombing, no terrorism
2. No disorderly mass flights of refugees*
3. No reports of starvation, disease, or other hardship
4. The intense and publicly-stated desire of Donbass and other eastern regions to join Crimea. Russia has declined to admit them to its Federation.

*AFTER annexing Crimea, Russia has given residents of the peninsula one month to opt out of Russian citizenship. Thousands of them, predominantly Ukrainian speakers and Crimean Tatars, who make up about 12% of the local population, are leaving. Arseniy Yatsenyuk, the prime minister of Ukraine, has said that the rest of Ukraine can accommodate 23,000 Crimeans and the government has set up a hotline for locals hoping to leave the peninsula.

Many of those leaving Crimea are seeking refuge in the west of Ukraine. Over 2,000 have already contacted the regional authorities in Lviv, a town in western Ukraine, about temporary residence. They arrive by car or on the daily train from Simferopol, which takes about 24 hours. Some have gone further afield. Last week, a group of 32 people from Yevpatoria, on the western coast of Crimea, crossed the Ukrainian border with Poland and applied for asylum.

Let's see if we can find anything to support YOUR propaganda:

Crimean crisis


During the Crimean crisis from 23 February through 19 March 2014, six people were killed. The dead included: three protesters (two pro-Russian and one pro-Ukrainian), two soldiers and one Crimean SDF trooper. The two Ukrainian soldiers who were killed are regularly included in the military death toll from the War in Donbass.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casualties_of_the_Ukrainian_crisis

So much for your "killed by Putin" garbage.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

64. Okay, I see, you're going to go THERE.

[HughBeaumont]

51. Proud to be the 200th like.

Our sacred duty to be the world's cop is an embarrasing anachronism from the stench Bewsh era.

We're better than this. We need to kick our addiction to militarism before it consumes us like it did Japan.

[deutsey]

53. To them we're expendible

By and large, their kids aren't going over there and suffering the same consequences ours do.

In their cozy, hermetically sealed little world (the kind that only money can buy) it's: Out of sight, out of mind.

[Demeter]

63. You know the irony? Joe Biden's son Beau went

and he developed brain cancer and died, after breathing the fumes of the burning pits in Iraq....

The exact type of brain cancer that took Beau Biden’s life has not been publicly named. But from the reported timeline of his illness and other known factors, some claim it was most likely Glioblastoma Mutliforme, an incredibly aggressive cancer believed to be on the rise, particularly among those with exposure to burn pits like the one at Camp Victory in Iraq. The biggest reason this increase is believed to be on the rise and not proven is due to the intentional hiding of data on the part of the Veteran's Administration.

Some say the proof that Beau Biden’s brain cancer was related to his military service is the fact that he was admitted to Walter Reed for treatment. Walter Reed National Military Medical Center is the nation’s premier facility for the care of active and retired personnel. There are reports of several classified studies being done there on brain and other cancers related to exposure to burn pits. The reason these studies are classified is the VA is desperately trying to deny any causative link between previously rare and aggressive cancers and service at bases where burn pits were used.

It is a curiosity that the White House has not countered the accusation that the son of the Vice President received special treatment an ordinary civilian would not, even one with presumably the best insurance money can buy. There hasn’t even been push back trying to claim Beau Biden is entitled to care at a military hospital because of his military service. Perhaps that is because one doesn’t get treatment at a military hospital unless you are either active duty or retired military, which he was not.

The closest to an answer we get is from Walter Reed spokeswoman Sandy Dean, who said the hospital “…often admits individuals as a matter of security precaution...”, referring to the need for higher security required in anticipation of frequent visits of Vice President Biden. This argument seems specious at best as George Washington University Hospital has been the treatment center of choice for Presidents and certainly is accustomed to and practiced at the security precautions necessary to care for the President of the United States.

The location of Walter Reed can't be the reason Biden was admitted there either. George Washington University Hospital is five minutes from the Vice President’s residence on the White House grounds, and that is for normal drivers. In a motorcade with Secret Service escort, stop lights and traffic would make the trip no more than two or three minutes. Walter Reed, on the other hand is more than twenty miles away. Even in a helicopter, it would take more than two or three minutes.

Whatever the reason for Beau Biden’s admittance and treatment at Walter Reed, the speculation continues that Biden’s cancer was related to exposure to the burn pits of Camp Victory. Further, the speculation is that while the VA is working very hard to find ways to deny care to those exposed, medical science, even within the military, is working on treatments for these cancers which are no longer so rare, at least among veterans of our most recent and current wars.

Those who are fighting the burn pit denials are both discouraged and encouraged by two recent events. For years, our government denied our troops were exposed to chemical agents during the first Gulf war. Finally, it was proven some were exposed to Sarin, the deadly nerve gas, when a munitions plant was bombed. This is in keeping with the VA’s continued refusal to acknowledge any connection between military service and brain cancer, even in specific situations where our troops were exposed to Sarin, the deadly nerve gas, during the first Gulf War...

http://www.chicagonow.com/uncommon-sense/2015/06/was-beau-bidens-brain-cancer-caused-burn-pit-exposure-20150607/

[deutsey]

67. I actually thought of him when I wrote this

which is why I added the "by and large" part (which I didn't have in my original draft).

[bigwillq]

60. K and R

[bvar22]

66. The entire World would breathe a sigh of relief...

..if the US Military were put on Time Out for 10 years.

STOP. THE. KILLING!

[Demeter]

68. More than 10 years--at least 150!

It will take a couple of generations to cool the blood. Look at Japan--70 years under a constitution that prohibited war and army, and now they got it back in return for that TPP treaty which will kill us all....it wasn't long enough to break the syndrome (and Japan had the constant US military presence to irritate it, and Japan is profoundly corrupt in ways we cannot imagine, although there are 1%ers willing to try).

[DocMac]

69. It's crazy that

Afghanistan beat the Russians, but can defend themselves against these Taliban.

This stuff gets so tiresome.

[Kalidurga]

76. We need to take the lead in things like creating peace rather than war...

PS I thought this was going to be a funny email thread. But, this issue is way more important, it gave me a sad though. Thoughts with all our wounded vets and those who bear the inner turmoil that is PTSD.

[Glassunion]

79. We have always been at war with Eastasia.