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One in Five Soldiers Disabled After Serving

By TChris, Section War In Iraq
Posted on Wed Oct 11, 2006 at 04:30:45 AM EST
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by TChris

A hidden cost of the war in Iraq, a cost you won't hear Republicans talk about as they run for reelection:

Nearly one in five soldiers leaving the military after serving in Iraq and Afghanistan has been at least partly disabled as a result of service, according to documents of the Department of Veterans Affairs obtained by a Washington research group. ...

"The trend is ominous," said Paul Sullivan, director of programs for Veterans for America, an advocacy group, and a former V.A. analyst. Mr. Sullivan said that if the current proportions held up over time, 400,000 returning service members could eventually apply for disability benefits when they retired.

Perhaps the president could explain how he intends to pay the war's hidden costs as he urges voters to vote Republican to save their tax cuts. The cost, of course, isn't solely borne by the taxpayer. The disabled soldiers and their families pay a price that can't be measured. Voting for "stay the course" Republicans assures that the number of disabled veterans will continue to climb.

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    One in Five Soldiers Disabled After Serving | 5 comments (5 topical)
    Re: One in Five Soldiers Disabled After Serving (none / 0) (#2)
    by marty on Wed Oct 11, 2006 at 08:46:18 AM EST
    "The disabled soldiers and their families pay a price that can't be measured." And all for a lie.....that's the true obscenity of Bush's phony war. He'll retire to his ranch a millionaire and live out his days in luxury while thousands of soldiers deal with their disabilites. Just like his whole life....others pay the consequences of his poor decisions.

    Re: One in Five Soldiers Disabled After Serving (none / 0) (#1)
    by cpinva on Wed Oct 11, 2006 at 10:35:13 AM EST
    this is the nasty economic bite in the butt, that no one talks about on capitol hill, with regards to both afghanistan & iraq. we'll be paying for this long after our troops finally come home for good.

    Re: One in Five Soldiers Disabled After Serving (none / 0) (#3)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Wed Oct 11, 2006 at 12:40:38 PM EST
    Well I think these disabled, quite a few, are just cowards. The really disabled are the ones with limbs missing or brain damage- quite a few but not 20%, maybe only 10%. The rest are the punks who freaked out when seeing real blood and guts everywhere. Gee, you'd think after seeing all those Texas Chain Saw Massacre movies and the like, they'd be inured to it. I guess our liberal mass media failed once again. It's obvious that Hollywood needs to ramp up the blood and guts horror and war movies.

    Re: One in Five Soldiers Disabled After Serving (none / 0) (#4)
    by kdog on Wed Oct 11, 2006 at 01:41:14 PM EST
    we'll be paying for this long after our troops finally come home for good.
    We should...but the govt. will probably just cut or totally eliminate VA benefits in favor of a tax cut in the future.

    Re: One in Five Soldiers Disabled After Serving (none / 0) (#5)
    by Ernesto Del Mundo on Wed Oct 11, 2006 at 03:50:11 PM EST
    Perhaps the president could explain how he intends to pay the war's hidden costs
    That's easy, he will just cut VA benefits.

    One in Five Soldiers Disabled After Serving | 5 comments (5 topical)