"My son will never come home," an angry Natalie Healy said of her son, Dan, who was killed in Afghanistan in June 2005. "He would be horrified and ashamed of this country for what it has done to the troops. You can take that back to Congress and tell every single one of those men and women."
From the top.
CONCORD – Family members of troops who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan poured out their anger and frustration at U.S. Rep. Paul Hodes yesterday, punctuated by emotional exchanges that illustrated the wars' divide on the homefront.
One woman stormed out of the session; several questioned Hodes' commitment to the troops while supporting a troop pullout deadline; and another woman chided the congressman's wife for picking up a pen to write down her e-mail address.
[...]
When Gerry Duncan of Nashua asked Hodes whether the bill would have passed if the non-war items weren't included, Hodes hesitated and said, "I don't know."
"I'm done," declared an angered Duncan, whose husband, Col. Richard Duncan, chief of staff of the New Hampshire Army National Guard, was injured in Afghanistan. She then walked out.
Sue Peterson of Weare, whose son Alex is a member of the 3643rd Security Force in the Army National Guard now in Iraq, said mixing money for the war with farm and other products was a disservice to the troops.
"I am so outraged and I'm trying to be calm listening to everybody," she said. But lumping everything into one bill was to "compare Alex and all the other soldiers to milk, peanuts, fish and spinach."
If you think I am exaggerating how annoyed these folks were...watch the video for yourself.
It is a 9 minute video and everyone should watch it and understand how the military and their families view our Congress and Senate and the political games they have been playing with our troops lives.
Then we have the Sixteen-Star Letter’ Calls for Supplemental Passage.
WASHINGTON, April 9, 2007 – In a “16-star letter” to Congress, the services’ uniformed leaders are urging a quick passage of the fiscal 2007 emergency supplemental request.
The four service chiefs, all four-star generals, signed the letter.
The request will fund operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and the Horn of Africa through the end of the fiscal year.
The letter, signed by Army Chief of Staff Gen. Peter J. Schoomaker, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Michael G. Mullen, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. T. Michael Moseley and Marine Commandant Gen. James T. Conway, asks Congress to “expeditiously complete its work” on the supplemental.
DoD requested $93.4 billion to fund operations in the combat zones. Both the Senate and House have passed bills that provide the funding but contain amendments that call for combat troops to be out of Iraq on a certain timetable. President Bush has vowed to veto any bill containing these provisions.
The Senate has come back from recess, but the House will remain out through April 13. House and Senate negotiators must meet to reconcile the different portions of their respective bills. If the bill contains the withdrawal provision, it is “dead on arrival” at the president’s desk, White House officials said.
“Without approval of the supplemental funds in April, the armed services will be forced to take increasingly disruptive measures in order to sustain combat operations,” the four general and flag officers wrote in their letter. “The impacts on readiness and quality of life could be profound. We will have to implement spending restrictions and reprogram billions of dollars.”
The uniformed leaders said such reprogramming is an inefficient solution that wastes money.
The spending restrictions could also slow or halt training for follow-on units. With no supplemental by April 15, the Army will be forced to consider curtailing and suspending home-station training for Army Reserve and National Guard units, DoD officials said. The service would slow the training of units slated to deploy next to Iraq and Afghanistan and would cut funding for the upgrade or renovation of barracks and other facilities that support quality of life for troops and their families. Leaders also would stop the repair of equipment necessary to support pre-deployment training, officials said.
If the supplemental funding is not passed by May 15, the Army would consider reducing depot repair work. The service also would delay or curtail the deployment of brigade combat teams for training rotations. This may force the service to extend units in Iraq or Afghanistan, officials said.
No supplemental funding would also delay forming new brigade combat teams, force the service to implement a civilian hiring freeze and prohibit new contracts and service orders, officials said.
Hat Tip to QandO where I see that the Veterans for the Foreign Wars of the United States, says that the New Reid proposal tantamount to surrender.
Also the National Commander of the American Legion has some harsh words for Congress.
The military, military families, our veterans....this time, they will be heard.
Faultline USA and Maggies Notebook are also discussing this.
Tracked back by:
Congressman Hodes: You're a Moron (From: Your Constituents) from Go Pundit Go...
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