David Lynch

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Both the pro- and anti-war activists agree we need to support our soldiers. However, the two sides disagree on the best way to do so.

To determine the answer, I think it's important to look at what kind of support our soldiers' bosses (the Bush Administration and the Department of Defense) have offered them past and present:

Bush violated his campaign pledge to veterans of, "a promise made is a promise kept". He vowed to restore lifetime health care as had been promised between 1941 and 1956 to 20-year World War II and Korean War veterans and their dependents. Bush has refused to restore their health care.*

That's not the only wrong Bush refuses to right: for the past 100 years, disabled military retirees have been forced to pay their disability benefits out of their own retirement pay. Late last year, 402 House Members and 85 Senators voted to correct this inequity. Bush then vetoed the legislation**.

The Bush administration's 2003 budget falls 1.5 billion dollars short of adequately funding veterans care-1.5 BILLION dollars under the amount required to maintain a humane level of health care. Consequently, 300,000 veterans are waiting an average of 7 months for an appointment with a primary care physician-and those are the lucky vets who haven't been denied PCP care for their ailments.

Many of those needing care fought in the first Gulf War. 207,000 (30%), of Gulf War vets suffer from a melange of chronic health problems known as Gulf War Syndrome***. Evidence strongly indicates some symptoms are indicative of exposure to radioactivity, (assuredly from depleted uranium used in our own weaponry). Other symptoms could very well have been caused by the concoction of drugs administered to soldiers "for their protection", and/or exposure to other chemical and biological toxins on the battlefield.

After a $200 million study, the Department of Defense came to the ridiculous conclusion that these extremely unusual ailments were simply caused by "stress"****. To suggest that stress could have lead to dramatically-increased incidences of ALS (Lou Gherig's disease), Epstein-Barr, Chronic Fatigue and Fibromyalgia*** is irresponsible at best, criminal at worst.

The US government's support for veterans of past conflicts has been inadequate and neglectful, and there's no evidence to suggest our current troops will be treated any better.

Last October, an Army audit discovered that over 60% of gas masks and over 90% of the machines used to detect invisible chemical arms attacks are defective.† Worse, the Army isn't confident about the condition of most of the equipment our troops will use in a possible war with Iraq.

The current trend of the Army is to focus on technology while neglecting human resources. The Army's modern personnel system functions more like Enron than a military institution, fostering a sort of "social Darwinism" where officers are more motivated to spend time advancing themselves than working with soldiers. This has produced a poorly-equipped infantry at less than half of its Vietnam-era strength.

In his last, highly-staged press conference, Bush claimed if there was a war with Iraq, casualties would be minimized. This is in conflict with the Pentagon's shipment of 100,000 body bags and 6,000 coffins to a military base in Sicily††—and with national Navy advertisements offering a $6,000 signing bonus for morticians‡.

Our government also disregards the emotional toll an Iraq war will take on our troops. Ground troops waging assaults and mopping up bombing runs will discover that half of those slaughtered are children, as 50% of the Iraqi population is under the age of 15‡‡. Soldiers fortunate enough to fight and return home physically unscathed will inevitably have to confront these truths: that they fought a war killing thousands of innocents to protect our nation from a nonexistent threat; that rather than paving the way for an Iraqi democracy, they increased the suffering and death in that country while facilitating a greedy, immoral elite's quest for more power and money.

The answer is obvious: there is only one way to truly support our soldiers, and that's to BRING THEM HOME!

David Lynch is a graphic designer, writer, political activist and Appalachian fiddler. David lives and works in Western North Carolina and can be found at www.lynchgraphics.com

*Frustrated Veterans Accuse Bush of Breaking Promises
© 2002, Boston Globe By Wayne Washington

**American Legion: Billions for Baghdad, Nothing for Veterans
© 2002, U.S. Newswire Document Dated: Oct-31-2002

***Gulf War Casualties Higher Than You Would Think
© 2003, Viacom Internet Services Inc. Document Dated: Feb-12-2003

****Doctors Seek Cause of Gulf War Illness
© 2002, The Associated Press By Matt Crenson Document Dated: May-11-2002

†Army Audit: 62% of Gas Masks & 90% of Monitors Defective
© 2002, Deseret News By Lee Davidson Document Dated: Oct-13-2002

††AMERICA ORDERS 100,000 BODY BAGS
Feb 10 2003 By Stephen White and Paul Gilfeather -- from mirror.co.uk

‡Military recruiters refine strategies to draw youths

By J. Michael Kennedy Los Angeles Times Saturday, March 01, 2003 - 12:00 a.m. Pacific

‡‡Know your enemy Kevin Clarke
from www.uscatholic.org - This article appeared in the April 2003 issue of U.S. Catholic