At the request of Steve, I posted the rough outline of my speech for the MAPC event in Madison below with references to my quotes and numbers.
One year before he was killed, Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. said that: "A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death." Forty-three years later we would be wise to recall his words, living in a country that spends over 50% of the budget on military spending according to the War Resisters League budget pie chart.
4973, 4973, 4973, 4973 what is that number? That is the number of U.S. military deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan. There are also over 400 civilian contractor deaths in Iraq and an untold number in Afghanistan, not including the hundreds of thousands of civilians killed in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.
What does it mean to be a veteran?
Since October 2001 over 1.8 million military members have served in Iraq and/or Afghanistan, nearly 20 per cent of them have Post Traumatic Stress. Only about half of those who seek treatment from the VA receive adequate care for Post Traumatic Stress according to a RAND Corporation study.
Recently the news has focused on the nationwide unemployment being at its highest level in 25 years at 8.5%. However, veteran unemployment is around 11.2%.
What does it mean to be Iraqi?
According to a recent ABC poll, barely over a third think the election of Barack Obama will help their country, read the whole report here (pdf). Access to electricity, clean water, and medical care still are big concerns for a majority of Iraq's citizens.
From the President's recent budget summary (in italics), with some questions:
- The line between economic policy and foreign policy is now very hard to draw.
- When has this line been clear? The U.S. waited to enter WWII until it was attacked while U.S. businesses like IBM and Coca-Cola (Fanta) profited in Germany, shunned those who fought against the fascist regime in Spain, and has consistently used the Carter Doctrine to justify military intervention for the past 30 years.
- He wants to improve the medical treatment of wounded servicemembers.
- DOD will fully implement a comprehensive TBI registry including a single point of responsibility to track incidents and recovery. The military will expand the number of mental health professionals with deployed units to better channel medical attention to those who need help quickly.
- The Budget expands the mental health screening and treatment services offered by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and focuses on reaching veterans in rural areas. The VA also will increase the number of Vet Centers and mobile health clinics to expand access to mental health screening and treatment in rural areas. In addition, new funding ensures that veterans and their families are informed of these resources and are encouraged to pursue needed care.
- Through improved electronic medical records, VA will more efficiently retrieve active duty health records from DOD and enable all VA care sites to access the records of veterans needing care.
- Why is the budget not calling for electronic records which will automatically enter a veteran into the VA system upon discharge from the military and automatic intake appointments to ensure that they are taken care of and don't have to go out of their way to get into the VA system and prove that they need help because of the situation(s) they were exposed to?
- This Budget supports VA's prompt, accurate, and efficient implementation of the Post-9/11 GI Bill-providing unprecedented levels of educational assistance to the men and women who have served our country through active military duty.
- Will this fall be like most falls, where veterans have to wait months to get their GI Bill payments? I have heard from numerous veterans who had to take out loans to pay bills, buy books, and not end up on the street because the GI Bill payments they were supposed to receive took over three months to arrive. I had to wait months to get my first payments when I started college. The testimony for the Veterans Affairs portion of the budget aired in the middle of the night and none of the veterans organizations questioned if the government was doing enough to ensure that payments were received.
Where is the change that we were promised on the campaign trail?
- Yesterday it was announced that another 10,000 troops are most likely going to Afghanistan, after an additional 4,000 was announced last week. That means that Obama will be sending not 17,000 not 21,000 but 31,000 troops to Afghanistan within a year, the majority of which before any drawdown of troops levels from Iraq. These troops are being deployed into what numerous scholarly articles have described as a situation that cannot be won militarily and those same articles have called for a reduction in troop numbers combined with humanitarian assistance to the Afghan people who have suffered through seven and a half years of occupation. Of the 4,000 troops, two units were mentioned as being involved in that deployment, the 10th Mountain Division based out of Fort Drum, NY and the 82nd Airborne Division based out of Fort Bragg, North Carolina. The 10th Mountain is the most heavily deployed unit in the U.S. military and the 82nd Airborne is not far behind having participated in the invasion of both Afghanistan and Iraq and numerous other deployments since 2001.
We are here today to say that this abuse of the military, the continued wars of aggression, and the increase in military deployments are not the change that the citizens of the United States of America asked for. We need to bring the troops home from Iraq and Afghanistan and take care of them when they return. We must also support the Afghan and Iraqi people with reparations to rebuild their war-torn countries as they see fit.
Christina spoke first and outlined IVAW and what we stand for:
Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) was founded by Iraq war veterans in July 2004 at the annual convention of Veterans for Peace (VFP) in Boston to give a voice to the large number of active duty service people and veterans who are against this war, but are under various pressures to remain silent.
From its inception, IVAW has called for:
- Immediate withdrawal of all occupying forces in Iraq;
- Reparations for the human and structural damages Iraq has suffered, and stopping the corporate pillaging of Iraq so that their people can control their own lives and future; and
- Full benefits, adequate healthcare (including mental health), and other supports for returning servicemen and women.
Our membership includes recent veterans and active duty servicemen and women from all branches of military service, National Guard members, and reservists who have served in the United States military since September 11, 2001.
IVAW's strategy is to mobilize the military community to withdraw its support for the war and occupation in Iraq. Therefore, IVAW is leading the movement of veterans and GIs who are working to bring the troops home now.
Today, IVAW members are in 48 states, Washington, D.C., Canada, and on numerous bases overseas, including Iraq. IVAW has chapters around the country and in Canada. IVAW members educate the public about the realities of the Iraq war by speaking in communities and to the media about their experiences. Members also dialogue with youth in classrooms about the realities of military service. IVAW supports all those resisting the war, including Conscientious Objectors and others facing military prosecution for their refusal to fight. IVAW advocates for full funding for the Veterans Administration, and full quality health treatment (including mental health) and benefits for veterans when they return from duty.
IVAW Attends First Iraqi Labor Conference - Iraqi Unions Announce New Confederation
: In solidarity with the Iraqi people and our goal of helping them attain self-determination, two members of IVAW recently attended the first International Labour conference ever held in Iraq. The conference, held on March 13-14 in Erbil in the Kurdish Region of Iraq, drew more than 200 delegates from unions and federations across Iraq and solidarity delegations from the U.S., the United Kingdom, South Africa, Japan, Australia, and Iran. You can read more about this on our website IVAW.org.
Todd Dennis is a U.S. Submarine Service veteran, a board member of the Clarence Kailin Chapter of Veterans For Peace and the President of the Madison Chapter of Iraq Veterans Against the War. He has B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin, will be receiving a B.S. in Physics in May.
No comments:
Post a Comment