If it's the last thing you ever do, be sure to watch the documentary entitled Poison DUst. The capitalized "D" and "U" in the title refer to Depleted Uranium. Briefly, depleted uranium is an extremely hard metal which the DoD uses as casements for bombs, bullets and missiles. It is the by-product of uranium spent on the manufacture of power. It is cheap and in great supply, and again, hard enough to pierce heavy gauge metal of a sort found in military transport vehicles, tanks, battleships, etc. There is, however, one minor problem with it. It is extremely carcenogenic in it's "inert" state, and even more so once exploded and scattered as dust. Soldiers returning from the Gulf wars, Desert Storm and Desert Shield were exposed to the dust. Despite a small number of actual battle casualties, the numbers of disabled veterans from those conflicts now number over 250,000. More evil, almost to the point of being impossible to believe, has been the systematic coverup of this maelstrom of suffering by the Pentagon. The photographs of the children born to the wives of soldiers exposed to depleted uranium (and to female soldiers)are not for the squeamish. You see, the radioactive poison does not leave the body, does not stop poisoning the body, and is passed on to offspring with horrifying results. The areas contaminated by this dust will never again be humanly habitable. And the cherry on top is President Clinton's signature on a law which allows the military to withold information from soldiers of the chemical and biological hazards into which they have been placed while defending their country. You will never forget this film.

Clark Kent: Excellent post-Darwinian analysis of the ravages of war and "who goes first."

There is truly only one way out of this fine mess that presidents from FDR on got us into. I'm a veteran and use the VA hospital for my medical needs. It's no frills but friendly service is appreciated. For all of the soldiers in all of the wars I believe we owe them unlimited unrestrained free medical care for life. But to do that we've got to beef up the VA medical service. And since we've added so many more eligible medical cases, why don't we offer the same care to everyone. Just think, no more insurance claims, no more denials for pre-existing illness,and no trying to minimize costs so the insurance companies and pharma can make even more obscene profits.

But what do I know, I'm just
The Old Hippy

Ronald, Sounds more like survival of the greediest, least compassionate, most conniving lying bastards to me. If you look at what the current social darwinist experiment selects for, I think you'd have to conclude it's set up to drive devolution pretty fast.

In future wars, when a grenade is thrown into a gunner's nest, everyone in the nest will die because no one will have the impulse to save his buddies by jumping on the grenade himself-- the guys that did that sort of thing were weeded out of the gene pool over the last few wars.

Which is why, I think, Hemingway bemoaned that war kills the best men first.

It's called poetic justice: if All the 150,000 American troops died in Iraq, that number would still be one-quarter of those Iraqis who have died.

Don't expect me to agree with you and sympathize with duped , loyal , self-sacrificing military-bullies.

Some people believe the lies of a used-car salesmen and buy a lemon , while some people believe the lies of their president and get sick and some die .

It's the good ol'social-darwinism , capitalist-American way at its finest : Survival of the smartest , fittest , most opportunistic , least-gullible , least-innocent...

It was the same game with Agent Orange in Vietnam. Those consigned to the most efficient means to murder other have difficulty drawing any line of decency with respect to their "own."

thanks for the poem, skippyagogo41. i always wondered where the title to that great anti-war movie came from (the thin red line), now i know...

so much to be said about this article, but the bottom line is "the troops" are just guinea pigs. inject them w/this, spray them w/that, blow this up w/them nearby, and above all send them off on a fool's war, and then deny deny deny.

The government will never admit to anything and can't be sued. All this crap about memorial day is just that, crap. Soldiers are to be used and forgotten, and this administration is the best proof of patriotic hypocrisy.

So sad that people don't understand: wars promoted by liars will be wars based upon lies, and everyone involved in any way is going to be lied to and lied about. You can't FIGHT for peace, KILL for life, or accept orders from some hierarchy in the name of liberty. We were taught in Government schools to think for Itself, which is not thinking at all, but obeying another series of lies.

Look at it this way: People have blood in their veins. Blood is life. Governments have paper in filing cabinets, neither of which have life. When living people agree to serve non-living paper and proclamations, they become as dead as that which they serve. I am sorry they make that choice. They, too, will be sorry if they make that choice. Hug everyone you meet so they will know the difference between love and bullshit.

They can't get proper medical care or compensation or even information about their risks. But maybe the government will give them medals, lots of medals! People need to realize that medals were only invented as a cheap token so as to relieve pressure to pay soldiers a more reasonable wage.

Rudyard Kipling

Tommy

I went into a public-'ouse to get a pint o'beer,
The publican 'e up an' sez, "We serve no red-coats here."
The girls be'ind the bar they laughed an' giggled fit to die,
I outs into the street again an' to myself sez I:

O it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, go away";
But it's ``Thank you, Mister Atkins,'' when the band begins to play,
The band begins to play, my boys, the band begins to play,
O it's ``Thank you, Mr. Atkins,'' when the band begins to play.

I went into a theatre as sober as could be,
They gave a drunk civilian room, but 'adn't none for me;
They sent me to the gallery or round the music-'alls,
But when it comes to fightin', Lord! they'll shove me in the stalls!

For it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, wait outside";
But it's "Special train for Atkins" when the trooper's on the tide,
The troopship's on the tide, my boys, the troopship's on the tide,
O it's "Special train for Atkins" when the trooper's on the tide.

Yes, makin' mock o' uniforms that guard you while you sleep
Is cheaper than them uniforms, an' they're starvation cheap;
An' hustlin' drunken soldiers when they're goin' large a bit
Is five times better business than paradin' in full kit.

Then it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy how's yer soul?"
But it's "Thin red line of 'eroes" when the drums begin to roll,
The drums begin to roll, my boys, the drums begin to roll,
O it's "Thin red line of 'eroes" when the drums begin to roll.

We aren't no thin red 'eroes, nor we aren't no blackguards too,
But single men in barricks, most remarkable like you;
An' if sometimes our conduck isn't all your fancy paints:
Why, single men in barricks don't grow into plaster saints;

While it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, fall be'ind,"
But it's "Please to walk in front, sir," when there's trouble in the wind,
There's trouble in the wind, my boys, there's trouble in the wind,
O it's "Please to walk in front, sir," when there's trouble in the wind.

You talk o' better food for us, an' schools, an' fires an' all:
We'll wait for extry rations if you treat us rational.
Don't mess about the cook-room slops, but prove it to our face
The Widow's Uniform is not the soldier-man's disgrace.

For it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Chuck him out, the brute!"
But it's "Saviour of 'is country," when the guns begin to shoot;
An' it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' anything you please;
But Tommy ain't a bloomin' fool - you bet that Tommy sees!