Soldier Receives Shabby Treatment from Pentagon

(JAN 12, 2005) When
challenged directly by a crowd of America's troops about the Bushites'
ongoing damnable failure to provide adequate armor for our soldiers,
Pentagon chief Donnie Rumsfeld was momentarily speechless.  As the
crowd murmured, Rummy said:  “Now, settle down, settle down. 
Hell, I'm an old man, it's early in the morning and I'm gathering my
thoughts here.”


If
any of the Bushites need greater clarity on the scandalous way they
treat our soldiers, they need only visit Army Specialist Robert Loria
of Middletown, New York.  Last February, he was in one of
Rumsfeld's unprotected Humvees when it was hit by a roadside bomb in
Iraq.  [Loria was severely injured.]  He spent months in rehab, trying to
learn how to live [with his injury].  Finally, just before this
Christmas, he was due to be released and return home when he was hit
with another bomb.


Rumsfeld's
Pentagon presented Loria with a bill for $1,700, claiming he'd
erroneously received family separation pay while in rehab, plus travel
expenses connected to his treatment.  Also, they billed him for
some of the Humvee parts damaged in the bombing that [injured him].


Loria
was devastated, but the Army brass didn't care, demanding payment
before they would release him.  Hello.  The Halliburtons rip
off billions from us taxpayers, but the Pentagon is hounding the
grunts!  “It's almost like I'm being abandoned,” Loria said. 
“Like, you did your job for us and now you are no use.  That's how
it feels.”  Is that clear enough for you, Mr. Rumsfeld?


Thanks
to press coverage and intervention by some members of Congress, Loria's
nightmarish treatment by the Pentagon has finally ended.  The Army
was forced to clear Loria's hokey debt and send him home.


But
why should a soldier who's made such an extreme sacrifice be treated so
shabbily in the first place?  And how many others are getting the
same back of the hand?

 

Jim
Hightower is the best-selling author of “Thieves In High Places:
They've Stolen Our Country And It's Time To Take It Back,” on sale now
from Viking Press.  [Go to] jimhightower.com.  You can also find Jim's column weekly at MinutemanMedia.Org.