VFA News Analysis: July 2, 2008

Hundreds of our soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan are ending up homeless. “How could this happen?”  Our troops are owed nothing less than to be made whole again — and the nation must deliver, or we risk dishonoring us all.

“We, the Army, have been rode hard and put up wet. We’re catching ourselves coming and going…In all honesty, ladies and gentlemen, I and the majority of us in uniform, and those that repeatedly support us, are tired.”

For more than five years, our efforts to destroy the Taliban and its al Qaeda allies in and around Afghanistan have been distracted by the war in Iraq — which was not in any way connected to the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Now, troops and analysts are convinced the Taliban are even stronger.

Veterans Hospital in Waco gets mobile MRI unit to help research and treat post-traumatic stress disorder. Another untreated casualty of PTSD puts more lives at risk…

New Pentagon satellite system supporters say it will cost up to $4 billion to watch foreign troop movements - not including the inevitable cost overruns of major procurement projects. That’s about the same amount of money that a recent RAND study found would be required to take care of all of our troops suffering psychological injuries and traumatic brain injuries. We owe it to our military men and women, who have put everything on the line for us, to make them whole again first.

Pentagon to unveil new waiver process for recruits with past bad behavior…

The presidential race, through the armed forces’ eyes and ears…

The Iraq War is deadliest for women troops, compared with earlier wars,  with 97 dead so far. The average age of the female casualties is 27.

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