Ya' can't make this stuff up . . .

[flamin lib]

About a year ago I wrote a piece about the Pentagon charging soldiers for equipment lost on the battlefield. That equipment included body armor cut away by medics treating wounds. I’m not sure if they billed for the pants that held those two legs blown off by an IED but it got so bad the estates of dead soldiers were being billed for lost equipment before Congress slapped the civilian leaders at the Pentagon around and made them stop.

Well, they’re at it again.

In order to make enlistment quota the Army has been offering a $10,000 enlistment bonus and in August a “quick ship” bonus of $20,000 to ship out immediately. Bet that really irritated the guys who signed up in July. There’s a catch though. Seems if you get shot up so badly that you can’t serve out your full enlistment they bill you for the bonus. To be fair it’s pro-rated for time served, so if you’re wounded in the first six months of your enlistment they only bill you $8,300, or $16,600 if you got the quick ship money. I’m not sure how they handle it if a soldier is killed outright but I assume they take it out of death benefits.

Right after Veteran’s day I published a piece about veterans and pointed out that 120 veterans commit suicide every week, twice the rate of non-veterans. When CBS asked the VA if there was a problem Dr. Ira Katz, head of VA mental health, said they didn’t have statistics but assured the reporter that there wasn’t an “epidemic”. So CBS did their own survey and guess what? If you limit the data to veterans between 22 and 24 years of age the suicide rate is four times that of non-veterans. It’s only a short-term problem though because Mr. Bush has assured the world that the United States has no plans for permanent bases in Iraq and we’ll leave as soon as the job is done. Besides, the UN mandate for military action in Iraq expires Dec. 31, 2008.

Well, not so much.

Mr. Bush and Prime Minister Maliki have agreed to formalize an “accord” before July 2008 that will create “economic, political and security ties” between the two countries. Translation: permanent bases and US soldiers on the ground forever. It’s important to note the word “accord”. Usually this is done through a reciprocal treaty but treaties require Congressional aproval. With this “accord” Mr. Bush has saddled the United States with an open-ended commitment to a military presence in Iraq forever. That kinda’ kills the argument about how the next Democratic President will get us out of this civil war, doesn’t it?

And then there’s Blackwater. Remember when that bunch of cowboys shot a dozen or so civilians in front of Iraqi police and local politicians? Remember that the Pentagon outsourced the investigation . . . to Blackwater? Remember how Rep. Waxman got all bent out of shape and demanded an inspector general investigation of the incident? Things aren’t moving too fast in that investigation. It seems that the head honcho at the IG’s office is a fella’ named “Cookie” Krongard. It also seems that his brother, “Buzzy” Krongard is on Blackwater’s board of directors. That’s okay though because Buzzy’s lawyer said they don’t get along with each other and the government should just stay out of family squabbles. Really, he said that. So after almost a year with no progress in the investigation Cookie has recused himself, Buzzy has resigned from the Blackwater board and the Justice Department will conduct an investigation. Hope it turns out better than Fredo’s investigation of Abu Ghraib.

Ya’ just can’t make this stuff up.

http://www.northjersey.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjczN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXk1JmZnYmVsN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXk3MjI2MzExJnlyaXJ5N2Y3MTdmN3ZxZWVFRXl5Mg== wounded vets charged for enlistment bonus

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/26/AR2007082601266.html quick ship bonus

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/11/13/cbsnews_investigates/main3496471.shtml suicide epidemic among vets

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5iSM7vHKwA2jXdCvhrXUoFgsLkvbw Bush, Maliki sign deal for permanent bases

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071126/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/state_vs_justice_blackwater Blackwater investigation

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119525504613896250.html?mod=googlenews_wsj Buzzy Krongard quits Blackwater