The Spark

the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist

“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx

Veterans:
Cannon Fodder Whether They Die or Live

Jun 7, 2004

On Memorial Day, George Bush gushed with sentimental words about American soldiers. "Since the hour this nation was attacked, we have seen the character of the men and women who wear our country’s uniform... In places like Kabul and Kandahar, in Mosul and Baghdad, we have seen their decency and their brave spirit," he said at Arlington Cemetery. He added that veterans "carry with them for all their days the memory of the ones who did not live to be called veterans."

It’s more than Bush and his ilk will do. He is not ready even to provide adequate medical care to soldiers who manage to survive and return home. His budget for 2005 does not provide full funding for all the health care needs that vets are supposedly entitled to. He even proposed 1.2 billion dollars less than what his own appointee, Veterans Administration Secretary Anthony Principi, had requested.

Now an internal White House budget office document has come out that shows Bush plans to cut another 910 million dollars from veterans programs in 2006.

Bush’s actions speak louder than his words. And so do the actions of the Democrats. Bush’s opponent John Kerry may talk about health care as a right for every veteran, but no administration ever extended such health care, including Clinton’s, even when he had a Democratic Congress.

Those who go in the military are given the right to die by this government, but not the right to live a healthy life.