It was approximately three years
ago the GAO (General Accounting Office) attempted to do what
congress requested: an audit of the DoD/Pentagon. After a solid
year, the GAO had to report back to congress that they could not
complete the audit as there was no supporting documentation to
account for what had happened to a little over $1.4 Trillion, yes
Trillion with a capital “T” that was MISSING!
Now today we learn that even
more money is missing. The GAO (Government Accounting Office) has
reported that the DoD has lost another
$3.5 billion of taxpayer money—money and equipment have just
disappeared and no one knows where. SEE:
DoD Management Control Breakdowns Result in
Substantial Waste and Inefficiency:
http://www.democrats.reform.house.gov/Documents/20050607144812-61562.pdf
Right now, with more people being sent off
to war, on any given day there are between 300,000 to 500,000
veterans living on the streets of this nation. Congress sees fit
to acquiesce to the DoD/Pentagon and White House demands for more
money and they get a budget of $491 billion, which includes the
$82 billion the senate recently voted 100-0 for; and at the same
time veterans are being turned away from the V.A. due to
substantial under funding.
That
brings the grand total to right at $300 billion in less, that’s
less, than three years; and all of it “borrowed” money. Since
being lied into invading Iraq BushCo is averaging $125 billion a
year just in Iraq alone.
Of the little over 360,000 veterans of this
BushCo war of choice in Iraq,
85,000 have applied for care at the V.A.
To date, right at 350,000 veterans of the first war in the Gulf
are receiving disability from the V.A. and I’ve seen numbers as
high as 150,000 that have been essentially told, “no more room at
the Inn.” There are
Vietnam
veterans that have fought for 30, 35 and 36 years for that which
had been promised, which to paraphrase says, “to care for those
who have borne the brunt of battle”
There are veterans from WWll and the Korean
War that are still fighting for their rights as veterans as V.A.
facilities are being closed forcing some of these veterans in
their mid to late 70’s and early 80’s out of the V.A. nursing
homes they currently are residents of—next stop, living on the
streets.
We must all remember what David Cho at the
Pentagon had to say about payments to veterans,
“The amounts have
gotten to the point where they are hurtful. They are
taking away from the nation's ability to defend itself.”
Translation—“disability
payments to
veterans are a threat to our national security.” Takes money away
from those who started the very war that is creating more veterans
needing V.A. healthcare—but then as Cho said, they [we] are now a
threat to our national security.
Maybe that is why the head of the V.A. just
recently announced the V.A. will review ALL of the veterans that
have been given disability ratings and payments due to PTSD—Post
Traumatic Stress Syndrome—between
1999 to 2005. The single biggest reason this nation has never
admitted to the harm caused by the
Agent Orange used in Vietnam
is primarily because of the money that would have to be paid out.
That is also the primary reason this nation is doing the very same
thing to those who have been exposed to
Depleted Uranium in the first
Gulf War and the current invasion/occupation of
Iraq. It’s all about the money. There
is enough money to start wars, to send people to fight the wars,
but there is not enough money to take care of those sent to fight
the wars.
The amount of money Rumsfeld’s Department
of War “loses” every few months would be more than enough to
properly fund the V.A--instead veterans of this nation’s wars are
being denied access on a daily basis; others wait for months to
get appointments for even basic medical services; specialized care
is even worse—all due primarily to under funding. SEE:
From Vietnam to Iraq: Ignoring the Veteran Healthcare Crisis
http://americansforsharedsacrifice.org/VetCrisisReport4-HR.pdf
GAO: Pentagon Squandering Billions on Excess Property
Tuesday, June 07, 2005 -- The
Government Reform Committee National Security Subcommittee
holds a hearing to examine a new GAO study on waste and
inefficiency in the Defense Department. The report finds that the
Department has improperly disposed of valuable equipment at a cost
to taxpayers of more than $3.5 billion.
“The litany of Administration mismanagement
of federal contracts is long and costly. The value of no-bid
contracts has skyrocketed under the Bush Administration. Oversight
of federal contracts has been turned over to private companies
with blatant conflicts of interest. And when government auditors
do find abuses, their recommendations are ignored.
Nearly every week, the papers are of
full of stories of contract abuse. The Department of Homeland
Security has wasted hundreds of millions of dollars on security
contracts that have produced virtually no results. The FBI has
spent $170 million on “Virtual Case File” software that doesn’t
work. And in Iraq, Halliburton has overcharged by hundreds of
millions of dollars, yet the Administration continues to shower
the company with federal funds, bonuses, and special treatment.”
Rep Henry Waxman
While I may have missed the June 8th
“Million
Veteran March” on Washington,
whatever it takes I will be at the
march on Washington this September 24th.
I hope that a lot of people make the plans and set aside that time
to come to
Washington.
The one thing the people who keep creating these wars fear the
most is an informed and mobilized public.
The people who run this country currently
are destroying the nation’s ability to pay for anything but war;
while at the same time creating more veterans to toss aside. If
for no other reason than the lack of fair and just treatment for
veterans by this nations governing body, this alone is more than
enough to march on Washington—something I will be doing, bad
health, wheelchair and all! I hope to see many of you there—start
making plans while there is still plenty of time.
The majority of the “advisors” and
department heads Bush has surrounded himself with all come from
the state of Texas. They have set the policies that have led us
into this current war. They have set the policies that have us on
the road to economic ruin. They have turned this nation into a
military juggernaut the likes of which the world has never before
seen. It would be good to remember the words of Dwight D
Eisenhower as he saw this coming a long time ago: “Should
any political party attempt to abolish social security,
unemployment insurance, and eliminate labor laws and farm
programs, you would not hear of that party again in our political
history. There is a tiny splinter group, of course, that believes
that you can do these things. Among them are a few Texas oil
millionaires, and an occasional politician or businessman from
other areas. Their number is negligible and they are stupid."
President Dwight Eisenhower, l952.
Unfortunately for us, the nation, and the rest of the world, the
people Eisenhower called “stupid” in 1952 are now the one’s
running the country (over a cliff.) These people that were called
“stupid” and the “crazies” regardless of whether they call
themselves Democrats or Republicans are essentially two ends of
the same “party” the way I see it. The
illusion of two parties is what we are faced with. In
fact, just recently
the GOP stated it is out to completely restructure the federal
government in their own image.
A $491 billion bloated War
Department budget is helping to create deficits so high that the
Newt Gingrich and
Grover
Norquist “policy” of “Starve
the Beast” so as to eliminate all social spending by
breaking the bank, is well under way—and this definitely includes
eliminating spending for and on veterans!
“The time has long since
passed for ALL military veterans - especially career military
retirees - to take up our arms and join in the struggle to restore
ALL promised military pay and benefits...... “James Nolan
Campbell, Senior MasterSergeant, United States Air Force Retired—military.com
”IT IS NOT 'UP TO SOMEONE ELSE' - IT'S UP TO US!”
Mass March on Washington, September
24, 2005
http://answer.pephost.org/site/PageServer?pagename=ANS_S24index&JServSessionIdr004=fhcjnwieo1.app6a#call
1 in 4 Iraq and Afghan War Veterans
Seek VA Medical Care
http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/index.cfm?Page=Article&id=3281&NoMenu=1
Depleted Uranium
Education Project
http://www.iacenter.org/depleted/du.htm
IAMB Report on Iraq
funds
http://www.iamb.info/pr/pr052305.htm
Agent Orange Website
http://www.lewispublishing.com/orange.htm
Vietnam Veterans of
America Guide on PTSD
http://www.vva.org/benefits/ptsd.htm
$69 million gone
http://admin.corisweb.org/index.php?fuseaction=news.view&id=117491&src=dcn
Smedly Butler: War is
a Racket
http://lexrex.com/enlightened/articles/warisaracket.htm
GOP Out to Restructure
the Federal Government
http://www.ombwatch.org/article/articleprint/2864/-1/344/
Analysists
Warn DoD Budget “Train-Wreck” Coming
http://www.terradaily.com/upi/2005/WWN-UPI-20050523-17144100-bc-us-defense-budget.html
Senate Silent on
Halliburton
http://www.corpwatch.org/print_article.php?&id=12291
………………………………………………………………………………………………
Jack
Dalton is a disabled Vietnam veteran, activist for veteran’s
rights, and writer who lives in Portland, OR. He is a columnist
for the
POAC
as well as many other publications. He may be contacted thru his
blog,
Jack’s Straight-Speak
