The Florida Veterans for Common Sense and the Florida Consumer Action Network present author and University of Michigan professor Juan Cole (Napoleon's Egypt: Invading the Middle East) speaking on "National Security: Iraq, Iran and the Middle East." Cole speaks at 7 p.m. Saturday at the Potter Building, 2896 Ringling Blvd., Sarasota.
http://www.tampabay.com/features/books/article827226.ece
Last night I attended this and was very impressed. Paul Sullivan of Veterans For Common Sense and I have been communicating with each other for a few years now, but we had not met face to face. When I heard he was coming to Florida, I told him there was no way I would let him come here without having the opportunity to give him a big hug. Living just outside Orlando and this event in Sarasota was not an easy trip to make, but well worth the drive.
Paul impressed me when he began Veterans For Common Sense. He has been one of the greatest forces in this country for the sake of veterans. Tireless and tenacious are the first words that come to mind when I think about Paul and all the work he's done. He even took on the government in a law suit against the VA. The goal was to simply have veterans treated for PTSD and save their lives instead of seeing them turned away from the VA. Like me, he was tired of seeing more die after war than we lose during it. I saw it after Vietnam and Paul saw it after the Gulf War. The strongest advocates for veterans have skin in the game because we've walked the walk and suffered or had someone we love suffer. Paul is a Gulf War vet and worked for the VA. You all know I'm the wife of a Vietnam vet and that's how I got involved 26 years ago. It is for this reason, Paul is at the top of my list for advocates. I've seen plenty in all these years come and go. Paul is a gem!
I walked into the hall and Paul walked toward me as if he was trying to figure out who I was. I had on my chaplain uniform (which makes me look like a cop) suddenly he smiled and said "I know you" but he couldn't place me until I said my name. Hugs started! He introduced me to a couple of people praising my work but standing next to him, I felt as if there really isn't that much I've accomplished in all these years.
Sitting in the hall, listening to him speak with passion about what is happening to veterans as the people were shocked to hear what's been going on brought us one step closer toward taking care of our veterans. After listening to him, I'm sure many went home and got to work contacting their local officials.
Professor Juan Cole's site
http://www.juancole.com/
http://www-personal.umich.edu/~jrcole/
Professor Juan Cole spoke after. He's been on several news programs including Countdown with Keith Olbermann on MSNBC. People like Professor Cole are the reason so many in this country are informed on what is wrong with the claims against Iraq that simply were not true. Cole hit every point, from the history of Iraq, the difference between the Baath Party, the Sunni and the Shia and what was reality instead of what we, the American people were told. (It's also on the biggest reasons why I find it so offensive for people like me to be called "anti-war" when it comes to Iraq because some want to label people paying attention something while avoiding the fact no one argues about Afghanistan is a tactic to divide us.)
The audience was shocked with most of what they heard. Only two things were missed by Cole's presentation. One was the fact that China cut a deal with billions with Iraq for their oil and part of the deal requires Iraq to provide security for the Chinese workers, which means that American troops, while they are there in Iraq, will have to end up risking their lives for the sake of the Chinese government making a bundle off the oil. Not a good thing especially considering that while this is going on, it's costing the American taxpayers our money. The other point missed was that experts are still saying that what happened after the invasion of Iraq was not known but history proves that wrong.
It infuriates me that knowing what would come, how long this would go on, no one in the government bothered to remember any of it. The troops paid for it. If you look back in the achieves of speeches given defending the decision to not take over Iraq after the Gulf War, you will clearly see that it was known what would come if they did this. Experts addressed the sectarian conflict along with how it would take years of blood and treasury. They were right. From President Bush 41, to then Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney, to Gen, (Stormin Norman)Schwarzkopf, who had this to say,
In the Gulf War we had great international legitimacy in the form of eight United Nations Resolutions, every one of which said "Kick Iraq out of Kuwait", did not say one word about going into Iraq, taking Baghdad, conquering the whole country and hanging Saddam Hussein. That's point number one.
Point number two, had we gone on to Baghdad, I don't believe the French would have gone and I'm quite sure that the Arab coalition would not have gone, the coalition would have ruptured and the only people that would have gone would have been the United Kingdom and the United States of America.
And, oh by the way, I think we'd still be there, we'd be like a dinosaur in a tar pit, we could not have gotten out and we'd still be the occupying power and we'd be paying one hundred percent of all the costs to administer all of Iraq.
,,,,,,Saddam Hussein portrayed that war from the very beginning as "This is not a war against Iraqi aggression against Kuwait. This is the Western colonial lackey friends of Israel coming in to destroy the only nation that dare stand up to Israel, that is Iraq".
Had we proceeded to go on into Iraq and take all of Iraq, I think that you would have millions of people in that part of the world who would say Saddam was right, that that was the objective.
http://woundedtimes.blogspot.com/2008/01/richard-stengel-exactly-what-part-of.html
It was all known but no one seemed bothered enough to first; not do it, second; plan for the wounded because they did do it. In 2005, there were less doctors and nurses working for the VA than there were after the Gulf War. The VA budget was cut, thanks to Republican control of the congress and White House. No one seemed to care and what is worse about all of this is the media continues to avoid the facts they reported after the Gulf War in order to portray all of this for exactly what it is. The men and women of the military are seen as expendable and not worthy of plaining to take care of them when they get wounded or taking care of their families if they die. The fact that this would not be easy or quick did not factor into anything. The National Guards and Reservists have suffered along with the regular military and the fact they would have to live on combat pay instead of their regular incomes was insignificant. Nothing mattered to these people. They did know but didn't care. This I find the most deplorable statement of all.
I would love to know why lies get supported in this country and facts have become something we attack. How is it that accountability is unpatriotic? When it comes to the men and women who serve this nation, they should be our priority and an obligation we pay without reservation or excuses.
All in all we owe a debt of gratitude to people like Professor Cole and Paul Sullivan who have the national interests to speak the truth. They are American patriots because truth and what is right matter to them.
After it was over I made the trip back to the Orlando area and stopped at Waffle House on I-4 to get some coffee and something to eat. I was afraid I would fall asleep on the long drive back. I talked to some of the waitresses and two of them had problems because of service. One was the wife of a Vietnam Vet who couldn't get a copy of his DD214 no matter what they did. He was in Thailand. The other was a young woman who served and had to be discharged because of PTSD. The suffering across this country is appalling. No matter where I go, which state I'm in, there are veterans suffering. The assumption that we are a grateful nation does not hold true when you talk to the men and women who serve or read this blog. The great thing is there are also people all across this country who do care enough to want to do something about it.
After reading this, if you still can't find the time to contract your local official to change what is wrong, then you need to actually speak to those who serve to find out what they need. I'm sure you'd write a letter then or at least make a phone call.
Senior Chaplain Kathie Costos
Namguardianangel@aol.comhttp://www.namguardianangel.org/http://www.woundedtimes.blogspot.com/"The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive veterans of early wars were treated and appreciated by our nation." - George Washington
