First Politicians/Presidents Send Them To War And Then?

American military personnel are mere pawns in the hands of militaristic politicians and presidents.  The below article chronicles the way returning soldiers are treated by both the bloated Pentagon and Department of Veterans Affairs.  The tragedy is that most of the military actions soldiers are asked to perform are wrong-headed - damage done to innocent populations of countries on which we inflict our military might, violation of national sovereignty, deaths/psychological/physical harm inflicted on innocent civilians, death and injury of soldiers, damaging/destroying of infrastructure and then requiring American taxpayers to fund reconstruction after paying for the mayhem (manning, training, equipping, munitions, supplies, etc.), damage to America's international reputation/prestige, and failure (ever since the Korean Conflict) to meet most if not all of the pre-announced military objectives.  This article, however, focuses on the heavy cost of the physical, emotional and financial harm such excursions inflict on so many of our returning military personnel; the ineptitude of government agencies in dealing with problems returning veterans face as a consequence of flawed decisions made by political/military leaders before and during military operations; and, the subsequent treatment of so many veterans by inept bureaucracies charged with providing them support upon their return home.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/07/09/us-usa-pentagon-payerrors-special-report-idUSBRE96818I20130709  

George Burns