Tuesday, November 11, 2003

Veterans Day 2003 FEATURED ARTICLES - Become a Selective Service System Local Board Member - Veterans For Common Sense - Bush Betrays US Soldiers Who Were Tortured by Saddam - Soldier Accused as Coward Says He Is Guilty Only of Panic Attack - Why Vets Won't Be Celebrating QUOTE OF THE DAY "I had the occasion the other day to spend the entire day with troops that had come back from Iraq and had been wounded... but the thing that I was most shocked by as I walked into the hospital, the first person I ran into was a boy about 19 or 20 years old who'd lost both of his arms. And when I walked into the hospital and visited all these boys all day long, everyone had lost either one arm, one limb or two limbs... I don't understand why these guys are so hidden… Don't hide them. Let's have some news coverage where people are sitting and talking to these guys and seeing their spirit." - - Cher   (On C-SPAN's Washington Journal) Heroes or Lepers? KNOW YOUR HISTORY - NOVEMBER 11th 1918 -- World War 1, better known as "The Great War" officially ends, as Germany, bereft of manpower, supplies & food, signed an armistice agreement. The war's toll were 10 million dead (6 million of them civilians), 21 million wounded & 7 1/2 million taken prisoner or missing in action. U.S. forces counted 116,000 dead. The estimated cost of the war was 232 trillion dollars. 1967 -- Three American Prisoners Of War returned by North Vietnam. Tom Hayden & 30 Americans had met with North Vietnamese in Czechoslovakia in September. He then went to North Vietnam & helped effect their release today. 1971 -- Vietnam: The U.S. is pulling out of Vietnam under Nixon's "Vietnamization" withdrawal program. On this date, 188,300 US soldiers are in Vietnam. 1982 -- The Vietnam Veterans Memorial is dedicated in Washington, D.C. Designed by Maya Ying Lin, a young Asian American woman, the monument consists of two walls of black, polished granite sliced into a hill side, leaving an impression that the monument is buried. Engraved on the stone are the names of the 58,000 U.S. soldiers who died in Vietnam. Today's dedication ceremony is attended by thousands of veterans, their families & friends. Fittingly, & in character, no representatives of the administrations that conducted the war show up. RHINO HERE: Today, being Veterans Day, I offer several articles which show the disrespect which the shrub gang has been showing toward the troops they claim to support. But first, 2 time sensitive announcements: Tonight (Tues 11/11) & tomorrow, a new episode of Peter Coyote's current affairs program, "The Active Opposition," will air on WorldLink TV. Entitled, "Broken Heart/Land - The Demise of the Family Farm," it features Peter with musician/activist Willie Nelson & a panel of farmers, activists & agricultural experts, exploring the plight of a dying breed: The Family Farmer. More info at: Broken Heart/Land Also Tonight (Tues 11/11) in San Francisco, I will introduce my latest documentary, "A SEAT AT THE TABLE; Struggling For American Indian Religious Freedom" at The American Indian Film Festival. Tickets will be available at the door at The Galaxy Theatre (Sutter & Van Ness/San Fran). The film fest program begins at 7pm. A Seat At The Table will begin just after 8pm. More info at: http://www.aifisf.com/2003fest/schedule.html#TuesNov11 Rhino ponders - ACTION OPPORTUNITY / OR PARENTS' ALERT Serve Your Community and the Nation Become a Selective Service System Local Board Member The Selective Service System wants to hear from men and women in the community who might be willing to serve as members of a local draft board... Each new member receives 12 hours of initial training after appointment, followed by 4 hours of annual training for as long as he or she remains in the position. They may serve as Board Members for up to 20 years, if desired. Local Board Members are uncompensated volunteers who play an important community role closely connected with our Nation's defense. If a military draft becomes necessary , approximately 2,000 Local and Appeal Boards throughout America would decide which young men, who submit a claim, receive deferments, postponements or exemptions from military service, based on Federal guidelines. Positions are available in many communities across the Nation. If you believe you meet the standards for Selective Service Board Membership, and wish to be considered for appointment please visit our web site at: http://www.sss.gov/fslocal.htm Rhino reveals the shrub gang strategy - "Hide the dead! Hide the wounded! Seven Thousand Wounded US Soldiers Treated at One Hospital in Germany Veterans For Common Sense, November 5, 2003, Summary: The international media needs to report this grim statistic far and wide: More than 7,000 wounded US soldiers have been treated at a single US military hospital in Germany. The counts of wounded treated at other US military hospitals is unknown. An investigation should be launched immediately to determine how and why the US military is downplaying (at best) or concealing (at worst) the high number of wounded from the US - Iraq War ... http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/newsArticle.asp?id=1272 Bush Betrays US Soldiers Who Were Tortured by Saddam Source - Democrats.com At the very same time as the Busheviks are broadcasting Saddam torture videos to build support for their catastrophic occupation, they are BETRAYING American soldiers who were among Saddam's torture victims. "The Bush administration is seeking to block a group of American troops who were tortured in Iraqi prisons during the Persian Gulf war in 1991 from collecting any of the hundreds of millions of dollars in frozen Iraqi assets they won last summer in a federal court ruling against the government of Saddam Hussein... MORE AT: http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/10/international/middleeast/10POWS.html Soldier Accused as Coward Says He Is Guilty Only of Panic Attack By JEFFREY GETTLEMAN, NY Times, Nov 6, 2003 FORT CARSON, Colo., Nov. 5 - Not since the Vietnam War has the Army punished a soldier for being too scared to do his duty. But on Friday, Sgt. Georg Andreas Pogany will appear in front of military court here to face charges he was a coward. The Army says he is guilty of "cowardly conduct as a result of fear" and not performing his duties as an interrogator for a squad of Green Berets in Samarra, Iraq. Advertisement But Sergeant Pogany says he did not run from the enemy or disobey orders. The only thing he is guilty of, he says, is asking for help for a panic attack... http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/06/national/06SOLD.html?th Today's RHINO'S BOTTOM LINE is borrowed from Joe Conason's Journal which appears at: http://www.salon.com Here Conason excerpts statements made last week by Congressman Peter DeFazio (D-OR) regarding the treatment being given to U.S. Vets by Congress & la junta de la casa blanca. It's not a pretty picture, but Rhino believes it's the most important information that can be offered on Veterans Day. 8:09:13 AM    comment

RHINO'S BOTTOM LINE - Why Vets Won't Be Celebrating Why Vets Won't Be Celebrating SOURCE: Joe Conason's Journal, Nov.  6, 2003 Yesterday evening on the House floor, Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore.,  offered some angry perspective on the Bush administration's "support  for our troops." A Vietnam-era Air Force veteran, DeFazio rose to  contest the happy-face rhetoric of his Republican colleagues in anticipation of Veterans Day next Wednesday. DeFazio's remarks about the real record  of the self-styled super-patriots in the GOP deserve to be quoted at length: "Here are some real facts, unlike what we heard earlier today: 150,000 Veterans are waiting six months or longer for appointments; 14,000 Veterans have been waiting 15 months or longer for their "expedited" disability claims; 560,000 Disabled Veterans are subject to the Disabled Veterans Tax, something we have tried to rectify. "We have 373 cosponsors [to repeal that tax in the House]. There are only 435 people here. If 373 people want something, we should be able to do it, should we not? That is a super, super, super majority. But guess what? The Republican leadership, under urging from the president and Secretary Rumsfeld and threats of veto from the president, are refusing to bring up a repeal of the Disabled Veterans Tax. "We can have tax breaks for people who do not work for a living, the  investor class. We can have tax breaks for whole hosts of people and things. But we cannot have tax relief for Disabled Veterans. Is that not extraordinary? President Bush refused to spend $275 million in emergency money for Veterans' health care provided by Congress in the fiscal year 2002 supplemental appropriations bill. But of course he wants to do everything he can to recognize the service of our Veterans and our young men and women. "[On] January 8 of this year, the Bush administration cut off [Veterans Administration] health care for 164,000 Veterans. They put them in a new category called Category 8. They are wealthy Veterans just like the wealthy people they are giving tax breaks to. Well, not quite. The wealthy people the Bush administration is raining tax breaks on earn over $311,000 a year. But these Vets are 'wealthy.' They do not deserve that Veterans health care, according to the Bush administration. They earn $25,000 a year. They should pay for their own health care ... "In March, House Republicans voted in favor of their budget resolution that cut $14 billion, 'B' billion dollars, from mandatory veterans benefits over 10 years, including veterans pensions, education and other benefits. That was an hour after we voted to support the troops in Iraq. "Maybe it would have been a better message if we just had not bothered with the words, but had duly voted for the money. But, no, the Republican majority, pushed by President Bush, could not vote for that money, and that budget passed by one vote. "The House Republican budget resolution also cut $14 billion from Veterans health care and other discretionary Veterans programs. The Republican budget also included the president's proposal to impose a $250 enrollment fee on our Veterans for the free health care that they were promised ..." Read Congresman De Fazio's entire address at: http://www.house.gov/defazio/110503VAStatement.shtml "RHINO'S BLOG" is the responsibility of Gary Rhine. (rhino@kifaru.com) Feedback, and requests to be added or deleted from the list are encouraged. SEARCH BLOG ARCHIVES / SURF RHINO'S LINKS, AT: http://www.rhinosblog.info RHINO'S OTHER WEB SITES: http://www.dreamcatchers.org (INDIGENOUS ASSISTANCE & INTERCULTURAL DIALOG) http://www.kifaru.com (NATIVE AMERICAN RELATIONS VIDEO DOCUMENTARIES) Articles are reprinted under Fair Use Doctrine of international copyright law. http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html All copyrights belong to original publisher. Tell a friend about Rhino's Blog 6:15:17 AM    comment

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