Our two war-related national holidays, Veterans Day and Memorial Day, came and went this year.  Yet so much more needs to be done for our service members, veterans, and families during the other 363 days of the year, especially since we are fighting two brutal wars of occupation in Iraq and Afghanistan.  This week’s update focuses on news reported in the local or internet press usually overlooked by the national press, and therefore not part of the much larger picture describing the causes, conduct, and consequences of the two wars.

VCS Message: Care for Our Troops, Veterans, and Families

Our consistent message is that mental healthcare must remain a priority all year was featured in several editorials on Veterans Day. 

The Patriot News editorial board specifically mentioned our advocacy efforts for our service members and veterans.

Many veterans still face obstacles obtaining medical care and benefits, due in part to the lingering institutional opposition caused by a few highly placed Bush Administration officials.  Read about our VCS efforts to reveal the facts reported by Tara McKelvey in the Boston Review so new VA leaders can move forward.

Senator Tom Coburn, a Republican from Oklahoma, is actively fighting against urgently needed legislation intended to assist veterans and our families.  Read this editorial and then please pick up the phone and urge Senator Coburn to stand with our veterans.

Causes of War 

  Afghanistan: Retired CIA analyst Ray McGovern, always far ahead of the curve, reminds us again of the reasons the 9/11 attackers gave for their unconscionable violence eight years ago: U.S. foreign policy.  Ray’s essay at Consortium News uses the attackers’ own words, not the lies of professional neo-conservative propaganda artists here in the U.S. who recklessly fan the flames of fear and religious hatred.

  Iraq: A superb new essay by Antonia Juhasz at AlterNet details how the giant oil corporations struck liquid gold by supporting President George W. Bush and his plan to carve up Iraq in January 2001.  The historical record reveals that from the start through today, the battle for Baghdad was focused intently on oil. 

VCS: Conduct of War Undermines American Values

In heartless manner, the Army imprisoned a soldier and placed her child in protective services in order to meet the growing deployment demands of the Afghanistan War.  Local Associated Press reporter Russ Bynum writes about how the military recklessly ripped a family apart.  The silence of Congress and the Administration on this issue is deafening.

Investigative journalist Mark Benjamin at Salon Magazine uncovers how a civilian psychiatrist at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, raised warning flags and sounded alarms about the enormous psychological damage on Marines wrought by the two lost wars.  In a continuation of the military’s infamous “Don’t Look, Don’t Find” policy, the Marines and the mental health contractor fired the whistleblower rather than address the very real psychological needs of our Marines.

In a major national story, top executives at Blackwater / Xe stand accused of bribing top Iraqi officials with $1 million in cash in order to block an investigation into the murders of 17 innocent civilians.  These corporate mercenaries are also linked with far-right religious extremists here in America who fan the flames of fear and intolerance.

VCS FOIA Campaign Reveals Escalating Consequences of Wars

Our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan are far more likely to survive the bombs, blasts, bullets, and horror of war than previous wars due to the heroic efforts of medical professionals on the battlefield. VCS asks you to share the facts: The military officially confirms 90,000 battlefield casualties, and VA officially reports more than 454,000 veteran patients – information obtained exclusively by Veterans for Common Sense using the Freedom of Information Act and then reported by Kelley Vlahos.

Gettysburg Address

Thankfully, we have a new President who honors our fallen, both at Fort Hood and at Dover Air Force Base.  Our prior President never went to a funeral and never met our fallen returning home. Yet, in the days after Veterans Day, we are left with the cold, harsh reminder the two wars continue abroad and at home.

More than 146 years after Gettysburg, the turning point in our Nation’s war to promote equality and end the barbarity of slavery, VCS asks you to take a minute and read President Abraham Lincoln’s poignant Gettysburg Address, given on November 19, 1863.  Please share it with friends, families, religious congregations, schools, and community groups so more of us possess a fuller understanding of both Veterans Day and Memorial Day all year long.

Thank You for Your Support, Veterans for Common Sense