The president said something yesterday about the military with which I agree wholeheartedly.
“It is really important for the United States of America to have an all-volunteer Army. The best way to keep people volunteering in the Army is to make sure they got good pay, good training, good equipment and good housing for their loved ones.”
So true. What Bush neglected to mention is that he and his allies in Congress are not actually following his this approach at all.
* Body armor — Just this month we learned that a secret Pentagon study has found that as many as 80 percent of the marines who have been killed in Iraq from wounds to the upper body could have survived if they had had extra body armor. Such armor has been available since 2003, but until recently the Pentagon has largely declined to supply it to troops despite calls from the field for additional protection, according to military officials. (The administration was no better on armored humvees.)
* Compensation — In 2003, just five months after the invasion began, the Pentagon announced its intention to cut the pay of its 148,000 U.S. troops in Iraq, who are already contending with guerrilla-style attacks, homesickness and 120- degree-plus heat. Troops stood to lose a pay increase of $75 a month in “imminent danger pay” and $150 a month in “family separation allowances.” The Defense Department supported the cuts.
* Health care — Also in 2003, the administration announced that veterans who come home from Iraq will get health care from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs for two years, which used to be a lifetime guarantee. Hundreds of thousands of veterans of earlier U.S. military conflicts might also no longer qualify for VA health care or might be forced out by rules proposed by the Bush administration to relieve an overburdened system. The changes would increase veterans’ out-of-pocket costs by increasing co-payments for out-patient care and prescription drugs, as well as require many to pay a $250-a-year enrollment fee just to stay in the VA health-care system.
* Housing — Around the same time, President Bush cut $1 billion from the budget for military family housing. Rep. David Obey (D-Wis.) asked GOP lawmakers to restore the funding by scaling back some of the tax cuts for millionaires, but they rejected his measure.
* Education — Bush also proposed substantial cuts in the government’s Impact Aid program, which provides badly needed funds to school districts that have a significant number of students from military families.
Somehow, our “pro-military” president neglected to mention some of these minor details.