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POPSHoliday Surge Report No thanks to skippy for this "turkey". I'm positive he's just re-gifting that crap that GWB was passing around last summer.
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POPSUS Army reiterates Waterboarding is prohibited "However, at Senate confirmation hearings last month, then-attorney general nominee Michael Mukasey repeatedly refused to say whether he considers waterboarding a form of torture, as claimed by an unlikely coalition of military officials, doctors and humans rights groups" Who listens to doctors anyway?
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POPSMentally ill soldiers being sent back to war Dr. Judith Herman is a psychiatrist who specializes in PTSD. She said she does not think it is safe to send a mentally ill soldier back to war. "Personally I'm appalled by the practice," Herman said. "I don't think it's safe for the individual soldier. I don't think it's safe for his unit either to send someone who is so impaired back into a situation of danger."
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POPSSoldiers families Suffer Rates of neglect and abuse of the children of servicemen and women rose 42% within the family when the enlisted parent was deployed on a combat mission, according to a new study led by senior health analyst Deborah Gibbs of RTI International, a research institute in North Carolina. Previous studies have shown an association between combat-related deployments and higher levels of stress in the family, and it is this stress that is thought to play a major role in the maltreatment of children by the parent who stays home.
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POPSThe Latest Must-Have For Your Purse? Pack it along side your tampons/pads in your purse for "that time of the month"! I wish I'd thought of that. Instead, I'll just benefit from someone else's creativity.
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POPSBlacks To The Military: "Hell No, We Won't Go!" Most African-Americans do not support the war in Iraq. Even when young black people want to join, the ask their families before signing on the dotted line. Their families are convincing them that they have other options. My own first-born is old enough to join and his step-father is in the Army and has been to Iraq 2x. We are both encouraging him to stay out of the military.
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POPSA tangled web we weave, when practice to deceive! How sad is this... Our mainstream news would probably spin this like a benevolent story of HELP for the families who are struggling to become American citizens in this wonderful land of opportunity and advantages for the few. But the truth of the matter is... THEY NEED MORE BOOTS TO CONTINUE THIS OUTRAGEOUS WAR IN THE HOPE TO SAVE FACE!! It's hard to believe, all the efforts to continue sending troops to Iraq are only to help this president's place in history because of a war that never should have been waged. A war of lies, no matter the spin, it seems this is the only truth. "Oh what a tangled web we weave, When first we practice to deceive!" - Sir Walter Scott Once again, how sad. thinkingblue.blogspot.com
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POPSLooks Like Dr. Laura's Glass House Is Cracked The other day, Dr. Laura told us milspouses that we needed to STFU about whining about our husbands serving in the illegal war in Iraq. In the article I linked, it did mention that her son was in the military but she refused to state where he was serving. Maybe this explains her lack of comment.
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POPSMilitary Wife Contronts War Hawk on C-Span
I would like to add that I agree with what the caller said (you can read the transcript or watch the exchange at the link). I have to tell my friends to use the back door when they stop by, so I know if visitors are wanted or unwanted. My kids don't always remember to tell that to their friends or when the UPS man drops by, it freaks the hell out of me. My heart skips a beat wondering if it's THE visit. I sleep with a land phone and a cell phone right next to my head, so i can take his call, even at 3 in the morning (or in case the call is "bad news", then I don't have to worry about having missed the call). When I'm not home, a phone is on my person at all times...on the sink when I'm in the shower. If the phone rings at a peculiar hour, it freaks me out. If I don't get an email, at least once a week, it is "cause for concern". My kids are "clueless", I don't want them to worry. "Daddy is at work" is all they know...they even know where, but they don't know why.
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POPSTroop Extensions: CNN Opinion Page Read all the comments. Many are from actually soldiers or military family members and even vets. Some support the extension, others do not. It's just CNN, but it is an interesting "snap-shot" perspective on how some people feel about what is happening to our troops (and their families).
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POPSWas Bush Trying To Blame The Democrats For Military Extensions... ...Despite Pentagon Planning For Same For Well Over A Year? Read the whole article yourself. I have read on a few blogs, speculating, that the reason the leak happened was to avoid the chance for Bush to blame the Democrats for the extensions, but since he hasn't "yet" vetoed their Iraq spending bill, it is "too early" to blame them for hurting the troops, therefore this new extension falls squarely on the Administration, since no action by the Legislative Branch has yet been made law. A lot of military families are angry at the leaker...but what if the leak was a way for someone to "blow the whistle" on the Bush Admin, not just rile up the troops? Either way, it does smell fishy.
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POPSDon't Just Take My Word For It: Soldiers Speaks Out On The 15 Month Extension (Please go to the link and read full article) I was lucky. When my husband was in Iraq the last time, we were told to expect him to be gone for up to 18 months (since there had been a history of other troops being extended), but he got home within a year and we were relieved. Some others we had heard about, not so much. Some of them got home and were told to GO BACK right away, since their unit had got extended AFTER redeployments began! So when hubby came home, there were a few weeks (while we waited for his whole battalion to redeploy) where I was anxious about whether or not he could be recalled. Like I said, we got lucky. But, you will have to excuse me if I don't hold my breath on the whole "12 months" at home "promise" since that was a "promise" from day one of the Iraq war, that over time has been slowly whittled away as to be meaningless. My hubby is going back after less than a year and that's if they leave on their original schedule. I hear they are leaving sooner.
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POPSExtensions Don't Just Stretch The Army, They Stretch Families, Too! This war is putting a strain on many military families and marriages. I seem to regularly hear about "another spousal suicide" in my neck of the woods...things that do not get reported in the msm, because it's one of those things that the military doesn't report because it would "harm the troops morale". A year ago, a woman across the street was found dead, her husband was in Iraq and he worked side by side with my husband. He "got to" come home...sadly. I hear about divorces on a regular basis, some families work it out, most don't. Who gets married to spend most of their marriage apart? I guess it follows the old adage that if the Army wanted you to have a family, they would have issued you one." I heard that a lot when I was pregnant and needed my husband home and we weren't even at war then! It's hard enough raising a child as a couple, it's even harder trying to raise normal, happy kids who know they have a daddy, but never get to see him.
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POPSYour Daily Dose of Moral Outrage: US Army Edition READ THE WHOLE LINK...there are too many juicy details to clip: Another excerpt: He was given discharge papers, Defense Department form No. 214, that say he served honorably and left at the end of his enlistment. Miller got a place in town and a job, and began planning for his life as a civilian. The 29-year-old enjoyed his four years in the Army and once was named soldier of the month, but he admits he bristled under the authority and knew it was time to shed the uniform. The post says Miller never should have been allowed to leave, because he was awaiting trial. “He was erroneously discharged from the Army,” Fort Carson spokeswoman Dee Mc-Nutt said. When Miller didn’t show for his July 7 court-martial, a legal battle ensued, with the Army proving to a judge that Miller’s discharge was void. Miller went back to Fort Carson where he was convicted in a court-martial Aug. 1, reduced in rank to private first class and given extra duty. WAY MORE AT THE LINK
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POPSSupport The Troops! Send Them Shoes! Here's a chance for you to do a little bit more than stick a yellow ribbon magnet on the back of your motor vehicle or rail against liberals or wingers about who supports the troops more/less. Regardless about how we may feel about the field of combat, the troops still need our actual support (not just slogans). Please help out if you can. I know, from personal experience, that every generous gesture is appreciated.
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POPSResults of an Army Times poll Some would have you believe that the number of military members who do not willingly support the war is a small minority. This poll verifies what I have been saying...the majority of the military no longer support Bush or the conflict in Iraq.
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POPSCompany Accused of Insulting Soldier Getting Threatening Calls The last bit of the article says quite a bit: 1) The troops have no choice where they serve, so this company's representative was completely wrong in his remarks in regard to Webster's inquiry. 2) Because it's a Muslim-owned business, it's only going to make sentiment towards Muslims worse. Many people know how I feel about the war in Iraq, but to stoop to rudeness, especially as a business person, is beyond the pale. A simple "no, we don't ship to APOs, sorry can't help you" would have sufficed. I don't even care who owns the business. This company was absolutely wrong in this instance. Regardless of where they stand on the war, I won't feel sorry for them if they go out of business because what they did was offensive, period.
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POPSThey Report. Who Decides? Are you gonna believe your lyin' eyes? I live on a military post and work for soldiers and their spouses...haven't heard anyone yet say how they support the decider. I have seen a lot of families torn apart by the Iraq War (not just deaths--which I know people who have lost loved ones, but also a large number of divorces). I've seen a lot of soldiers and their wives crying and cussing about being redeployed. I've even been to one of the decider's press conferences...sat close enough to lob spitballs at 'im. No one I was sitting around was "cheering" then, either (maybe because attendance was "mandatory" for some of them and at least, historical, for most) and that was three years ago. I was only there because I was the Media Director for the Libertarian Party in CO at the time. My credentials as a military spouse was all the press pass that I needed). Soldiers are re-enlisting because most other good paying jobs went bye-bye. So you can't point to that to PROVE "accept
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POPSJust Doin' Their Jobs The article pretty mentions my hubby's unit. It doesn't surprise me that the troops speak "positively" about what's to come. Ask a Wal-Mart employee, "on the record", what they think of the company that helps them put food on the table and they'll tell you everything is hunky-dory. Nobody wants to bad mouth their boss if it means that life will be made more difficult for their families. A soldier who speaks out cannot be fired (per se), but he could be up for lots and lots of extra duty and maltreatment from other soldiers. In fact, whether we like it or not, whether the troops support the war in Iraq or not, they understand that they signed a legally-binding document when they joined up. For them it's better just to do the job they have been assigned and save the bitching for family and friends. They are caught between a rock and a hard place. Personally, I wish that Bush would remove the rock and bring the troops home.
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