Military Equipment and "Pneumonia"–
Gulf War II Syndrome?
To understand the official military
response to the mysterious "pneumonia" breaking out among
American troops in Iraq, we have to understand that troops are equipment.
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To the unremitting vexation of Donald Rumsfeld
and his "network-centric" techno-groupies,
troops are articles of equipment whose preparation and maintenance
prove troublesome. They have to be coaxed into "service" with
Army-of-One-style Madison Avenue pitches and educational bribes,
enculturated to discipline and punctuality, taught how to perform
their various functions, then kept in the job through a system of
economic and psychological rewards. Troops are the only part of the "tables
of organization and equipment" (TO&E is the military's
term to describe its units, not mine) that have to be indoctrinated.
There are a couple of troublesome aspects to this for the politicians
who control the military. First, troops are not equipment. Second,
indoctrination narratives are perishable as circumstances change.
I tend to harp about this, having been military for so long and now
being a very politically active leftist, but no member of the armed
forces is ever transformed into the unthinking, unfeeling, lethal
robot that thrills the right and haunts the left. These men and women
start and end as human beings exactly like all of us. They experience
the same range of emotions, desire the same outlets for their creativity,
seek the same human companionship, and are driven by the same intellectual
curiosity. They are not computers that can be programmed. They feel
loneliness, awe, pain, lust, confusion, mirth, dread, appetites,
and obsessions just like every last one of us, and they exist in
the same uncontrollable mix of potentially subversive facts that
we do. They are the same combination of goal-directed willfulness
and unmanaged acting-out as the rest of us. They are part of the
same system as you and me, in which Wal-Mart workers and soldiers
are both necessary and expendable. Like the rest of us, they can
also get mad when they find they've been had .... [CONTINUED: Read
the rest of this article at Counterpunch.]
by Stan Goff
06 august 2003
......
Don't Extend Them & Don't
Replace Them
Just Bring 'Em on Home Now!
On July 23rd, my son, who is assigned to the 82nd Airborne
Division, was told along with the rest of his company at morning
formation, to get his affairs in order. They are going to replace
the 3rd Infantry Division in Iraq.
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Jessie spent his first thirteen years around the military, from
which I retired just seven years ago right there in Ft. Bragg.
It's no surprise, then, that in the face of all my protests he
joined the army anyway. The military is 'normal' to him.
His mother and I have been scrupulously 'normal' for the last
few days, self-consciously so. We show great attention to detail
in our day-to-day activities. We stay busy.
I reassure her and myself that he is a light wheeled vehicle mechanic,
that he won't be participating in convoys when his unit goes to
Iraq in September, that Baghdad airport, where the motor pool probably
is, has by now been turned into an impregnable fortress, that perhaps
there wasn't as much depleted uranium fired there as in some Baghdad
neighborhoods, that he won't be obliged to take lives and lose
that little piece of his soul, that he won't fall into the habit
of calling Iraqis ragheads or hajjis, that he can just save some
money, do his job, and stay busy and out of harm's way. This is
what people say to each other who are in our position, because
there is no alternative way to think and still go to work, still
attend to the needs of other children, still manage relationships,
and still maintain some modicum of self-control.
On July 3rd, I wrote a piece for "Counterpunch" expressing
my reaction to George W. Bush's remark about "bring 'em on".
I went after this remark for its counterfeit courage, for its puerility,
for its utter hypocrisy and insensitivity. But now I am reminded,
now that my son is going to go there (at his age I was already
in Vietnam) that George W. Bush and his coterie are more than offensive.
They are obscenities with a lot of blood on their hands, and their
wretchedness is something far more terrifying and unspeakable—viewed
as a parent—than this bit of schoolyard mouth.
The "Counterpunch" column about this
Texas preppy's remark elicited a stunning reaction. My email
was hit by a tidal
wave, hundreds of responses an hour at first, reactions of empathy
and outrage that told me there is a vast reservoir of doubt, fear,
and rage filling up beyond the ken of the cringing institution
that calls itself the press. Around 40 percent of those responses
came from troops, military families, and veterans. There is a great
well of sullen anger smoldering out there against these pop-opera
generalissimos. Now, as parents facing our son's first combat tour,
we are even more part of that burning.... [CONTINUED: Read
the rest of this article at Counterpunch.]
by Stan Goff
28
july 2003
.....
OPTEMPO and Military Life
Any military family member over the age of six can
talk your ear off about the issues they face, the particular pressures
that come with being bound to the service. Deployment makes these
many times worse. One spouse is left to do all the work of keeping
the family going while worrying about the safety of the absent
loved one.
Even return from combat deployment produces new stresses.
After the initial euphoria of homecoming, the changes
each partner has gone through too often produces quarreling,
domestic abuse, substance abuse, mental or emotional
problems, and break-ups.
These problems get worse as the military's OPTEMPO
increases.
Operational Tempo - A military
term meaning "rate
of usage" of troops and equipment. Acronym: OPTEMPO.
OPTEMPO is increased by increasing the number, the
pace and the scope of operations in a given time. The
United States Armed Forces by 2000 had already increased
their OPTEMPO by more than 300% over 1991 by Department
of Defense calculations. There has been no update of
this statistic since the Bush administration launched
the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq. It is a no-brainer,
however, that the OPTEMPO has again increased dramatically.
New military personnel and their families may regard
the current OPTEMPO as normal and even sustainable.
It is not. Reserves have been extensively mobilized.
Stop-loss programs hold troops on active duty beyond
their projected ETS dates. And it is now apparent that
148,000 troops are not going to be adequate to maintain
the occupation of Iraq without a continuing stream
of US casualties.
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An unsustainable OPTEMPO has one other long term consequence:
Large numbers of troops will simply not re-enlist under
these conditions. If large numbers of junior officers
and junior NCOs decide to get out and stay out, it
will create a serious disruption in continuity, degrading
the overall proficiency and readiness of the force.
This becomes an issue for senior military officials
who have already questioned many of the changes implemented
in the Department of Defense by Secretary Rumsfeld,
who fancies himself a gifted military innovator, and
who has developed a reputation of dismissive arrogance
toward his generals (who actually have battlefield
experience).
There is one sure way to reduce the OPTEMPO of today's
US military, and the dire impact it is having on real
troops and their families.
Bring the troops home now.
by Stan Goff
26 july 2003
.....
VA Funding–What's Up?
On March 21, House Republicans passed legislation
mandating $265 billion in cuts over the next 10 years in Medicaid
($92 billion), veterans programs ($14 billion), food stamps ($13
billion), small farm programs ($7 billion) and state children's
health insurance ($2 billion). The cuts were supposed to be 1%
per year over 10 years.
For veterans, these cuts were both in the "discretionary" VA
budget and "mandatory" disability compensation and treatment.
Some maintain that instead of $14 billion in cuts over 10 years,
this Republican plan would actually add up to $25 billion.
On March 25, after veterans service organizations (AL, VFW, DAV,
VVA, Amvets, PVA etc.) protested, House Vets Affairs Chair Chris
Smith and Budget Committee Chair Jim Nussle (both Republicans)
agreed to an increase of $3 billion for veterans health care for
2004 as well as maintaining mandatory spending for veterans compensation
and benefits. The Senate had already approved an increase in this
$ range.
These cuts are a result of the Bush Tax Cuts
(mainly to the rich) and were mandated by House Republicans late
in the night of the
very same day that Congress had passed a "Support the Troops" resolution.
Veterans service organization lobbying and the obvious hypocrisy
of these cuts while pledging "support" were what turned
them around–for now.
But what about next year and what about the other social programs
under attack? Also remember the VA has been underfunded and understaffed
since the Clinton years. There is still a massive backlog of disability
claims and vets wait up to 6 months to see doctors.
There is an Independent
Budget that is prepared annually by some of the VSO's to address the needs
of veterans. Sometimes it's technical but worth checking out.
This will be an ongoing fight and like the
cadence says, "They
wave the flag when you attack, when you come home they turn their
back". We have to organize and fight for our rights.
by Dave Cline
24 july 2003
......
Local Papers
Highlight Troops' Plight
In the last
three weeks, there has been a sudden eruption of reporting
on "the morale factor"—the fact
that marines, soldiers and other troops are disgusted with the
way they've been jerked
around by the brass and the administration so far. And that's not
to mention the prospect of an indefinite stay in Iraq as the population
there grows increasingly hostile to the occupation.
Time and Newsweek, the t.v. networks, and all the big papers have
checked in, filing articles from Baghdad and Fallujah. But some
of the most interesting news comes from local newspapers that don't
have the resources to have a reporter in Iraq. Where do they get
their stories? From local residents whose spouses or children have
been sending back letters and email from the front!
Three recent examples are in:
BringThemHomeNow.org wants to see more of these stories. If they
have appeared in your local paper, email or send them to us. If
there hasn't been anything yet, and you have first-hand information
from the Middle East, consider writing a letter to the editor or
calling a reporter to share what you know. Many people still don't
know know the real situation over there. The more people who do
learn it, the greater the pressure will get on the politicians
to bring them home. Now.
by Dennis O'Neil
23
july 2003
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