Who supports our Troops?

I don't have a yellow ribbon on my car.

I don't have a "Liberate Iraq / Support our Troops" sign in my yard.

Maybe I am a bad Democrat...

The post war issues impacting Veterans is something that concerns me. We all have loved ones who have suffered after World War II, The Korean War, Vietnam, and the first Gulf War.

The Iraq War is no different.

The Department of Defense Task Force on Mental Health released a blistering summary today.

The task force found 38 percent of soldiers and 31 percent of Marines
report psychological concerns such as traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic
stress disorder after returning from deployment.

Among members of the National Guard, the figure is much higher — 49
percent — with numbers expected to grow because of repeated deployments.

Almost half of our National Guard members suffer from PTSD upon their return!

Despite any of these facts, chickenhawks in Washington, members who have never even considered serving a day in our nations military (Norm Coleman, Michele Bachmann), continue to hurl neo-con rhetoric about the Iraq War issues and the support of our troops.

Both the VA and the Pentagon in recent weeks have acknowledged a need to improve mental health treatment. Jan Kemp, a VA associate director for education who works on mental health, has estimated there are up to 1,000 suicides a year
among veterans within the VA system, and as many as 5,000 a year among all
living veterans.

1,000 suicides per year in the VA and many of the administrators got bonuses, some as high as $33,000?

I can't even find the words right now to express my outrage...