By Leo Shane III, Stars and Stripes
Stars and Stripes online edition, Monday, August 11, 2008
Q: The backlog in the VA system is still very sizeable and a concern to even many of the younger guys. I don’t know how you’re looking at the issue, and how you fix something that the current administration has really struggled with.
I think the best thing we could possibly do is focus military medical care and the VA on treating the wounds directly related to combat: PTSD, combat wounds which they are uniquely qualified, through years of experience, to address.
I think in the case of veterans that have ordinary health care needs, routine health care needs, we should do everything we can to give them a card that they can take to the health care provider or doctor of their choice to get health care immediately.
Q: I know there has been a push by the current administration to take those healthier veterans and have them pay to help support the system, even a small, nominal fee. I don’t know if that’s something that you’d support.
First I think we’ve got to make sure that veterans receive the care, and then we have to worry about if there’s any necessary changes. I’m unalterably opposed to telling future generations of Americans that we’re not going to give them the health care they need in service for our country.
That means that I would be very reluctant, I would be opposed to imposing more financial costs.
http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=56693
AT DAV CONVENTION, McCAIN WITHDRAWS PROMISE OF "VA CARD" FOR EVERY VETERAN (08-10-08)McCain's card that would privatize a great deal of VA healthcare now would be only for certain veterans in special circumstances. DAV doesn't like card idea and says, "Veterans are better served at VA."
From the same interview on stop loss
Q: I wanted to ask about stop loss, which has been another big issue for our guys too. Do you think that’s an appropriate tool for filling the gaps?
I hate it. So does everybody in the military. The way you cure the problem is by having a bigger military and succeeding and having victory in Iraq. It’s a symptom of the problem of the mismanagement of the war by (former Defense Secretary Donald) Rumsfeld, which we paid a very heavy price for for nearly four years.
Again, I stood up and said it was wrong, and I was criticized for being disloyal for doing so.
McCain Adviser Ralph Peters: Military Strain From Stop-Loss Policies Is ‘A Myth Of The Left’»
On Sept. 14, 2001, President Bush issued Executive Order 13223, allowing the administration to implement a “stop-loss” policy. Under stop-loss, “military personnel can be prevented from leaving the armed forces upon completing their enlistment terms.” Stop-loss policies were created after the Vietnam War. However, the Bush administration has overstretched the military by extensively using these orders to make up for declines in re-enlistment as the Iraq war drags on.
Yesterday on PBS’s Newshour, ret. Lt. Col. Ralph Peters — who now advises Sen. John McCain’s (R-AZ) presidential campaign on national security affairs — called the dangers of stop-loss policies a “myth of the left.” “Stop-loss is old,” said Peters. “This is not a new thing. In time of crisis, soldiers can be extended. They know it.”
Peters was sharply rebutted by Bobby Muller, president of Veterans for America, who pointed out that many high-ranking military officials have also warned that the Bush administration’s policies are overstretching the armed forces:
BOBBY MULLER: You might think that Bobby Muller is parroting myths created by the left in this country when I talk about stop-loss, but Colin Powell is not parroting any left-wing fantasies. General Casey, General Cody, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Admiral Mullen, they’re on record. This is not sustainable. There are people being held…
RALPH PETERS: But that’s a different issue.
BOBBY MULLER: I suggest that you may be out of touch with the military today if you think that all of these people that sign up for four years or five years of active military duty really expected — just like the National Guard — that they would wind up being extended for, additionally, a couple of years beyond their contract period?
Maybe he doesn't understand that when the cameras are on, they are taping what he says as well as getting visual conformation he is the one saying it. Except in the case of the stop loss interview when it was just one of his supporters uttering McCain's views.
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