No, that headline is not a misprint. Bush misled the world to lead us to a war in Iraq and put thousands of troops in harm’s way. Since the invasion began, hundreds have been killed and thousands have been injured. Bush may have declared the end of “major military operations” in May, but a U.S. soldier has died, on average, almost every day since.
And now, according to a report in the San Francisco Chronicle, “The Pentagon wants 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.”
I’ll just quote a few paragraphs from the article directly.
“Unless Congress and President Bush take quick action when Congress returns after Labor Day, the uniformed Americans in Iraq and the 9,000 in Afghanistan will lose a pay increase approved last April of $75 a month in ‘imminent danger pay’ and $150 a month in ‘family separation allowances.’
“The Defense Department supports the cuts, saying its budget can’t sustain the higher payments amid a host of other priorities.”
Later, the article adds this gem: “A White House spokesman referred questions about the administration’s view on the pay cut to the Pentagon report.”
Anyone who argues that Republican presidents are better for the military should have their head examined.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: If Dems nominate the right presidential candidate, the “military vote” is well within reach.
While the Bush White House is willing to fight relentlessly for obscenely-large tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires, they’re cutting pay for troops in combat, cutting family-separation allowance, cutting funding for military housing, cutting the military’s construction budget, cutting veterans’ health benefits, and cutting funds to schools for children of soldiers. And let’s not forget that when the Republican White House and the Republican Congress limited the expansion of the child tax credit for low-income families, it meant almost 200,000 low-income troops got just as much as the other families in their income bracket — nothing.
As John Kerry said in June, “The real test of patriotism is how you treat veterans and keep promises to people who wore the uniform.”
And would this be an inconvenient time to remind folks that when it was Bush’s time to serve, Bush used family connections to dodge the draft and even skipped out on his National Guard duty?