A culture of war and maltreatment of those who

served. (self.EndlessWar)
submitted 1 year ago by joeyspencer71

War has become an integral part of the American way of life. At any
one time there is no less than 130 conflicts ie; (wars) going on in
every corner of the globe. American interests are represented in
nearly two thirds of these. On a daily basis the mainstream news
media inundates us with the talking points that (it seems) are being
directed at us to discuss at length, while simultaneously providing us
with as little actual information as possible.
As long as these skirmishes are a safe continent away, we go on about
our lives with seldom more attention paid to the ever mounting death
tolls, as we would pay to the chatter of a low volume talk show
buzzing in the background on our T.V.'s. And this has been the way of
it for years, since CNN played non-stop coverage of the first Iraq war.
Remember that one? In the wake of recent news casters like Brian
Williams who lied about the events he was not involved in during the
Iraq war, to Bill O'Reilly lying about events in his coverage of the
Falkland Islands reporting, it is evident that our consolidated and
biased news media has a direct hand in the glorification of war. The
real face of war has been white washed and sanitized so that it is more
palatable for the American consumer. Most corporate news media are
in fact, no more than propaganda machines. Not that every news cast
you see is false, or that there is a conspiracy behind mainstream news
media, however when you have 5 huge corporations controlling
everything see, read, and hear, it is much easier for certain stories to
be cast aside for political reasons.
More recent evidence shows that it may be just 4 companies
When there is such a concentration of ownership in the media,
government pressure to suppress stories is much more prevalent and
easier to accomplish. If the U.S. Government were to allow the true
face of war where 90% of the casualties are innocent civilians, a third
of which are children, it would never be tolerated.
There are some who can never forget the wars that have been foisted
on innocent civilians in foreign countries and our service members
here at home The lucky ones, who came back, body intact, still have
the acrid smell of burning flesh lodged in their nostrils. The sight of

charred bodies still haunt their dreams, sure they act like they are fine
when they are around people like you and I, people who weren't there.
But when they get together with fellow Vets, the look in their eyes is
that of someone who has seen, and maybe who did, way more than
any human being should have to. The ones who parish in combat, they
are hero's for taking the mantle of service. However, the politicians
who put our best and brightest in a war zone, do so not for god and
country. Would your God really want to see us killing each other for the
whims of old men in power? Do you really want your children in a war
where the outcome is always death, and destruction to both sides, I
would wager the answer is no, unless it is absolutely necessary?
The wounds of war are all consuming, they effect such a vast section
of our society that they are on a scale that encompasses millions.
These wounds are not the ones talked about at dinner parties, and
neither are the more visible scares of some of today's veterans.
Although deservedly touted as heros in the media, it is more for the
tug at the heartstrings, and those precious ratings numbers, than for
actual actionable efforts to ensure that these men and women who
have sacrificed so much, receive the medical, financial, and social
integration care that should be free of charge and open to all service
members.
According to Cost Of War.org The true count of Americans injured or
sickened in the war is much larger by orders of magnitude than
the figures given on the official Department of Defense casualty
website. That official total over 52,000 includes only those
wounded in action. Not included are those suffering what are
categorized as non-hostile injuries and other medical problems,
which include heat stroke, suicide attempts, respiratory problems, and
vehicle crashes. While some baseline number of injuries and illnesses
would have occurred in any case, many of the latter should be
considered a result of the wars, and therefore as much a combat
injury, broadly speaking, as IED (improvised explosive device) injuries.
The true numbers of the injured are significantly higher even than this,
given that many problems are not diagnosed and treated until the
injured return home. Toxic dust exposure and resulting respiratory,
cardiac, and neurological disease represent another large segment of
war zone-induced illness that has yet to be fully recognized. Traumatic

brain injury and PTSD are major issues among returning Iraq and
Afghanistan veterans. For example, 15 percent of all Iraq and
Afghanistan combat veterans were found to have suffered a traumatic
brain injury [1]. According to the most recent data from the VA,
approximately 30 percent of Iraq and Afghanistan vets accessing care
were diagnosed with PTSD
The current budget for the Department of Defense is around a
staggering ($525,000,000,000), lets put that into perspective. Even at
the staggering assumption that each individual veteran needed
$100,000 in care, that amounts $52,000,000,000. Out of 525 Billion
dollar budget for defense 52 billion (1/10th of the budget) isn't a lot to
ask for the health of those who fought to forward Washington's
Political agenda. Yet, we have scores of homeless vets throughout the
country, whom many have died or are dying on waiting lists for
Veteran Affairs to do their job.
With new head of Veterans Affairs Robert McDonald exaggerating his
service and blatantly lying about the scope of firings in the Veterans
Affairs with claims that he fired 900 employees from the VA and the
truth being that of a much lower number, roughly 160 employees
being fired or resigning to skirt an investigation. It is unlikely that
anything will change for these men and women that served in our
armed forces. It will take a monumental change in the American
culture, a movement the likes of Occupy, or the Vietnam war protests
to bring this issue to immediate attention
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Joey Spencer Watertown Peace and Freedom Party Examiner Read Bio
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