Fucking Disgusting!

my2handsmy2hands Posts: 17,117
edited August 2006 in A Moving Train
i think the article speaks for itself... if your not outraged your not paying attention

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2006-08-08-brain-center_x.htm

Center for War-Related Brain Injuries Faces Budget Cut
By Gregg Zoroya
USA Today

Tuesday 08 August 2006

Congress appears ready to slash funding for the research and treatment of brain injuries caused by bomb blasts, an injury that military scientists describe as a signature wound of the Iraq war.

House and Senate versions of the 2007 Defense appropriation bill contain $7 million for the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center - half of what the center received last fiscal year.

Proponents of increased funding say they are shocked to see cuts in the treatment of bomb blast injuries in the midst of a war.

"I find it basically unpardonable that Congress is not going to provide funds to take care of our soldiers and sailors who put their lives on the line for their country," says Martin Foil, a member of the center's board of directors. "It blows my imagination."

The Brain Injury Center, devoted to treating and understanding war-related brain injuries, has received more money each year of the war - from $6.5 million in fiscal 2001 to $14 million last year. Spokespersons for the appropriations committees in both chambers say cuts were due to a tight budget this year.

"Honestly, they would have loved to have funded it, but there were just so many priorities," says Jenny Manley, spokeswoman for the Senate Appropriations Committee. "They didn't have any flexibility in such a tight fiscal year."

George Zitnay, co-founder of the center, testified before a Senate subcommittee in May that body armor saves troops caught in blasts but leaves many with brain damage. "Traumatic brain injury is the signature injury of the war on terrorism," he testified.

Zitnay asked for $19 million, and 34 Democratic and six Republican members of Congress signed a letter endorsing the budget request.

The House of Representatives approved its version of the spending bill June 20. A vote in the Senate is pending.

Scientists at the center develop ways to diagnose and treat servicemembers who suffer brain damage. The work is done at seven military and Department of Veterans Affairs hospitals, including the center's headquarters at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, and one civilian treatment site.

The center has clashed with the Pentagon in recent months over a program to identify troops who have suffered mild to moderate brain injuries in Iraq from mortars, rocket-propelled grenades and roadside bombs - the most common weapons used by insurgents.

Preliminary research by the center shows that about 10% of all troops in Iraq, and up to 20% of front line infantry troops, suffer concussions during combat tours. Many experience headaches, disturbed sleep, memory loss and behavior issues after coming home, the research shows.

The center urged the Pentagon to screen all troops returning from Iraq in order to treat symptoms and create a database of brain injury victims. Scientists say multiple concussions can cause permanent brain damage.

The Pentagon so far has declined to do the screening and argues that more research is needed.
Post edited by Unknown User on

Comments

  • my brother suffers from gulf war syndrome from the first iraq war. i know how frustrating it can be on families and the vets. it is so fucked up.
    "id like to toast the toasts" edward/ grand rapids, mi 10/04

    "this is the greatest band in the world"---ben harper msg 7/8/03 daughter tag w/ pj
  • priorities? Fucking priorities? Nice, real classy. What in the hell are these people thinking? They're basically leaving these soldiers, who are fighting for THEM, laid out to die. They can increase and increase and increase budget spending for more bombs and bullets but then take money away from saving lives. How are these people making decisions for us? This is unacceptable.
  • El_KabongEl_Kabong Posts: 4,141
    priorities? Fucking priorities? Nice, real classy. What in the hell are these people thinking? They're basically leaving these soldiers, who are fighting for THEM, laid out to die. They can increase and increase and increase budget spending for more bombs and bullets but then take money away from saving lives. How are these people making decisions for us? This is unacceptable.


    not to mention bonuses for halliburton after they were found double billing, billing for services never done, feeding the troops spoiled meat and dirty water...
    standin above the crowd
    he had a voice that was strong and loud and
    i swallowed his facade cos i'm so
    eager to identify with
    someone above the crowd
    someone who seemed to feel the same
    someone prepared to lead the way
  • this isn't surprising in the least, considering soldiers aren't even supplied proper combat gear. besides head traumas, there are a record number of amputees in this war - more than any other war, ever!! :eek: unless you come out of iraq without a scratch, the lucky ones are the ones that get killed. because the rest come back with brain injuries or they come back as amputees. and their government doesn't give a shit about them.
    Another habit says it's in love with you
    Another habit says its long overdue
    Another habit like an unwanted friend
    I'm so happy with my righteous self
  • robbierobbie Posts: 883
    this should be the number 1 news story, not some fake terrorist plot.
  • my2handsmy2hands Posts: 17,117
    This is unacceptable.

    absolutely
  • An excerpt from Barack Obama's keynote at the 2004 Democratic National Convention:

    "You know, a while back, I met a young man named Seamus in a VFW hall in East Moline, Illinois. He was a good-looking kid, 6'2", 6'3", clear eyed, with an easy smile. He told me he'd joined the Marines and was heading to Iraq the following week.

    And as I listened to him explain why he had enlisted -- the absolute faith he had in our country and its leaders, his devotion to duty and service -- I thought, this young man was all that any of us might ever hope for in a child. But then I asked myself: Are we serving Seamus as well as he's serving us?

    I thought of the 900 men and women, sons and daughters, husbands and wives, friends and neighbors who won't be returning to their own hometowns. I thought of the families I had met who were struggling to get by without a loved one's full income or whose loved ones had returned with a limb missing or nerves shattered, but still lacked long-term health benefits because they were Reservists.

    When we send our young men and women into harm's way, we have a solemn obligation not to fudge the numbers or shade the truth about why they are going, to care for their families while they're gone, to tend to the soldiers upon their return and to never, ever go to war without enough troops to win the war, secure the peace and earn the respect of the world."

    Boy, this guy sure sounds like he's living some kind of magical fantasyland.
    "Of course it hurts. You're getting fucked by an elephant."
  • JaneNYJaneNY Posts: 4,438
    oh yeah, supporting the troops eh?
    R.i.p. Rigoberto Alpizar.
    R.i.p. My Dad - May 28, 2007
    R.i.p. Black Tail (cat) - Sept. 20, 2008
  • enharmonicenharmonic Posts: 1,917
    Lets not forget that while our men and women are fighting the so-called "war on terror", Congress gets a month off in the summer. I guess their jobs are hard or something. But hey...when they get back to "work", they'll be sure to stick it in our military's ass by cutting the funding for troops who sustain brain injury.

    :(
  • yotan18yotan18 Posts: 103
    damn, im so sorry to learn that the war right now is THAT fucked up.

    what are the people doing about it though? are there protests about this? as somewhat asked, was this a headline or something?

    i remember watching a documentary of Michael Moore, where he asks the if (i remember right) the Congressmen's sons would join up the army to go to Iraq, and no one wanted to answer or even talk to him...

    :(
    "The Day of Redemption is at hand! Repent, and thou shall be saved..." - A. Ventura

    "I always tell the truth. Even when I lie" - T. Montana
    ---
    "Yeah i know... sounds stupid." Aldrin said.

    #18 INC forever
Sign In or Register to comment.