Veterans Day, November 11, 2010

"Slide Show: The Nation Marks Veterans Day

Nora Eisenberg at AlterNet presents "10 Hard Truths About War for Veterans Day.....realities that the public is barely aware of but that veterans know only too well."

For example: "Over a half million Iraq and Afghanistan veterans are patients in the VA system. Thousands more wait as much as a year for VA treatment for serious ailments including traumatic brain injury. Forty-eight percent (243,685) are mental health patients and 28 percent (143,530) are being treated for PTSD. A recent internal VA memo revealed systematic gaming of the VA application process, whereby bureaucrats at facilities seek to improve access data by denying treatment."

Meanwhile, peace vanishes on Veterans Day says Matthew Rothschild at The Progressive:    "....in 1954, Congress changed the name to Veterans’ Day, and the idea that this holiday should be “dedicated to the cause of world peace” or devoted to expressing our “sympathy with peace and justice” fell by the wayside.

"Instead, it’s become just another day to glorify war.

"President Obama did so when he went to South Korea to retroactively declare victory in the Korean War.

“ 'On this day, we honor every man and woman who has ever worn the uniform of the United States of America,' he said. 'We salute fallen heroes, and keep in our prayers those who are still in harm’s way -– like the men and women serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.; "

"Not a word about peace