Author Colby Buzzell Being Sent Back to Iraq

Mark your calendars, History on our Military Occupations will, sadly, be made once again, as the Conflict Rages, the Truth be told!

Below you will find cuts from an IVAW Newsletter along with some well deserved recognition on the airing of the 'Winter Soldier Testimony' on March 14th to the 16th 2008.

Lets see, we've been in this Growing Technology Age for How Long?

VA warns of problems with GI Bill upgrades

The Department of Veterans Affairs seemed to be standing in front of a fast-moving train Wednesday when a top official said VA would need two years of preparation to come up with a payment system for a proposed overhaul of GI Bill education benefits.

These documents were released to the New York Times regarding the Pentagon's Military Analyst program.

Much more in Backtrack can be found at this link at PR Watch.org!

I posted this a few days ago without the update.

Visiting CBS last night looking for another report I found a followup with another 'Gold Star Mom' still questioning her sons death in Iraq and still getting no answers!

First the original:

What's the truth about War, the Real Truth, it's the prolific growth of the needed propaganda.

The propaganda that solidifies the needed support and fear instilled to continue.

Especially for the Wars of Choice, for they would quickly fall apart, or not fought at all, if the propaganda wasn't set forward and grown to justify.

Tonight on 60min they visited once again with a 'Gold Star Mother' who, along with her family, didn't buy the story of her sons death in Afganistan, a son who was a High Profile Figure for the powers that were that needed the growth of their Propaganda to Justify their wanted Wars of Choice!

A 'Gold Star Mother' who has been extremely tenacious in her search of the truth, not for her or her family but for the country of her son, Pat Tillmans, death!

There have been 4,373 coalition deaths -- 4,065 Americans, two Australians, 176 Britons, 13 Bulgarians, one Czech, seven Danes, two Dutch, two Estonians, one Fijian, one Hungarian, 33 Italians, one Kazakh, one Korean, three Latvian, 22 Poles, three Romanians, five Salvadoran, four Slovaks, 11 Spaniards, two Thai and 18 Ukrainians -- in the war in Iraq as of May 2, 2008, according to a CNN count. { Graphical breakdown of casualties }. The list below is the names of the soldiers, Marines, airmen, sailors and Coast Guardsmen whose deaths have been reported by their country's governments. The list also includes seven employees of the U.S. Defense Department. At least 29,911 U.S. troops have been wounded in action, according to the Pentagon. View casualties in the war in Afghanistan.

Just a quick diary, as I'm off to work in a minute.

Finally more is being done, understanding still not complete!

If PTSD had been taken more seriously and studied by more, after Vietnam when it was Finally recognized and Labeled, it's effects would have been understood much better today, especially as to Combat and Occupation PTSD, but also in any Personal Trauma's!!

Seven veterans under VA's care commit suicide

They served their country honorably but after risking their life in combat abroad, coping with coming home was too much. In the last three months seven servicemen being treated by Spokane's VA Hospital have committed suicide.

Back in January Ilona Meagher, of PTSD Combat-Winning The War Within posted about a Justice Court being set up in Buffalo NY to help Veterans who get into legal trouble you can read her post Here

This Court came together with the help of the local Buffalo chapter membership of Vietnam Veterans of America:

Iraq

Contractors operate equipment under the crackle of automatic weapon fire and with the protection of M-1 tanks, Stryker vehicles and Apache helicopters. The workers in this case are constructing a series of walls to block certain areas of Sadr City, the vast Shi'ite slum in Baghdad.

Dozens of walls have already been built around Baghdad, the southern city of Basra and other Iraqi cities, creating segregated ethnic Sunni and Shi'ite neighborhoods ringed with checkpoints and command posts. The latest flurry of construction activity has little to do with nation building, but rather is more related to a deteriorating security environment.

The News & Observer has a good report on the returning OIF and OEF Veterans as some transition to Students in Colleges and Universities around the country, reporting on some of the problems they face in that transition from combat soldier to student.

This could have been expanded, as many already have found out as others before you went through the same, to the transition from In-Theater Soldiers to Civilian life not just as Students

.

As tens of thousands of veterans of the fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq try to collect on their promised college benefits, McKinnon and others are finding that their combat experience complicates the transition from soldier to student.

The following came in on a google news alert I have on Nadia McCaffery who's son, Sgt. Patrick McCaffrey, was killed nearly five years ago in Iraq. The reason I use the alert is that Nadia, and her Daughter-in-Law have been slowly growing the dream of helping other Veterans returning from the Theaters of War suffering from PTSD and TBI, her son was a medic. Their dream, in her sons honor, is called Veterans Village

This report doesn't cover 'Veterans Village' but Nadia was asked about her thoughts on this Congressional Bill.

A group of Marines ogling a pinup girl outside their bunkers in Khe Sanh, South Vietnam, in January 1968

Targetting Congressional Pages or Toe Tapping in public bathroom stalls is just fine and dandy, as well as giving male prostitutes seemingly unlimitted access to the White House Press Room and only rove knows where else, and the other numorous sex related adventures of mostly republican congressmen, bet the women have a few little secrets themselves.

But shockingly, once again, after being the Lead Cheerleaders, along with their equally sex confused talking heads, o'really are you listening, you to fatboy cyst, to the extremely failed policy of Wars/Occupations Of Choice we get this:

I don't need to add anything to the below, one: I'm not there, two: what's below says it all, three: this Country put it's Military Through All This Before to my Brother 'Nam Vets and followed up with Every Deployment Since!

How many know what's happening with the Gulf War I Vets!

For both candidates!

How can Obama, Clinton not be tired?

Both are showing the Stamina needed to Hold the Office of the President of These United States!

God that's a great title, with an election comin!

But alas not from my simple mind but from  Joe Conason over at The New York Observer
posted up on the 15th.

He starts it out with this:

DeJa-Vu Vietnam Era All Over Again!!

For an Arrogant, Apathedic, Wealthy country, that loves it's Conflicts and Occupations, we truely show our colors with our short term memories.

This all went on before, We Didn't Learn.