Posted on 03/06/2007 7:38:00 PM PST by The Shrew
No, I can't figure it out either. He should have appointed Rumsfeld!
BI-PARTISAN....???
How about Tommy Franks and Joe Lieberman....???
1. Why are you not admitting to the American people that it was YOU that cut funding for maintenance and cleaning until February 2007 as well as many other funding cuts?
2. Why are you not admitting clean-up of building 18 had already begun, after funding became available, before the articles were released?
3. Why are YOU not questioning the timing of the Post article? If YOU and the writers of the Post are so concerned about the health and well being of our troops, why were the articles held for 4-6 months when YOU were ALL aware of some of the concerns? (Hint: November elections)
4. Why are YOU not seeking out other wounded troops residing at Walter Reed to get their comments instead of focusing on a handful of whiners and complainers?
5. Why are YOU not admitting to the American people that it was YOU that downsized the military to that of near extinction during the 90’s.
6. Why are YOU not revealing the fact that posts typically held by military personnel are now being filled by civil service employees that cannot be fired no matter how inept they are?
7. Why are YOU not revealing that many cannot speak English and those that do have no comprehension of what is being said to them, making it extremely difficult to communicate the needs of our troops?
8. When will you call in some of the others referred to in the articles -- for example *deleted* ? Perhaps you could summon his father, General *deleted* or his brother Lt. Col. (or is it Captain) *deleted* ? It would be interesting to hear exactly why the young *deleted* lived with rats and roaches. By the way, was the bill for the destruction of government property ever paid by the *deleted* ?
9. Why was General Weightman fired before any of your infamous hearings, commissions or investigations? The same question applies in regard to the Secretary of the Army.
10. Why is it that all of these alleged atrocities have existed and were known to all, for decades, suddenly have become your number one focus? Why were you not doing your jobs during our TWENTY YEARS of peace time to address and correct the problems?
Really appreciate the post and the insight into the process. You seem to be totally on top of this. Excellent work.
Regards,
TS
Don't know, will look.
You see, these questions will not resonate. When we in the Executive Branch in the White House say it is our war, with our Commander-in-Chief over which you have no control but budgetary, WE are gonna be tagged with any failure to take care of our heros. These are the wages of a magnified Executive Branch power in the age of the War on Terror.
So long as we in the Executive Branch spend all day long giving everyone the finger, we are going bear the problems for these Executive Branch problems indefinitely.
For this reason, Shalala is a useful tool in managing this tawdry affair.
Spell it out for me. How is she useful? As an inside the commission shill for the DNC - yea, that's useful. What else?
Is there culpability for the Administation for how this story was handled? Yes. Does appointing her mitigate the press coverage in any way? or the criticism from the dems in congress?
TS
As you know, these commissions usually speak unanimously through negotiated agreement. Once she agrees to the report, she would seem like a hypocrite to refute it. The end result will be a bipartisan affair that the president can only improve on (and show that Donna's work wasn't good enough).
A Republican-only commission means that it remains a republican problem. The more the voters think GWB, Rumsfeld et al. failed to plan for Iraq war casualties and then did nothing when confronted with the problem, the more damage will be done to our cause.
Moreover, other than the hospital grounds itself, Donna ain't gonna be permitted to get close to anything else in this government. She'll give nothing to the Dems but hot air. She is cover, pure and simple.
THIS WILL SWEPT UNDER THE CARPET LIKE SO MANY OTHER ITEMS.
HECK, THE DOD-VA HAVEN'T FIXED THIS ONE IN SEVERAL DECADES...
TODAY'S SHADDEE CHAT:
[quote]Hello again from human cockroach test subject (Project 112 / SHAD Flower Drum I and II) former Greenlet sailor (USS Greenlet (ASR010)).
We in Greenlet were gassed like cockroaches during August - September 1964 with GB/Sarin and again in November - December 1964 with VX (and a radioactive tracer).
One of my shipmates from the deck force reminded me that he and I were stationed in the CPO washroom, I was the sound power phone talker, he went out on the Main Deck after we were gassed by the barge generator of VX towed by an ATF as Greenlet steamed into the wind off Kahoolawe, Hawaii. The VX had a radioactive phosphorus tracer.
If only the people of the State of Hawaii knew that they were subjected to clouds of GB and VX during those months.
Anyway, my shipmate was wearing foul weather gear and a gas mask, and went out onto the Main Deck with a Geiger Counter to test whether the salt water washdown system had cleared the ship of VX residue, the reason for the tracer being mixed with it.
He came back into the CPO shower to report to me, and I reported to the Bridge over the sound power phone.
Unfortunately for me, I was not in foul weather gear, my shipmate did not go through Decon so I was subjected to any material that was present on his foul weather gear. He opened the door to the main deck directly and did not go through the mess decks where the decon chamber was set up.
Sad to say, there were no filters on the Boat Deck where were located, the two 90 horsepower fans that ran the vents that blew air into the Engine, Control, and Motor Rooms for ventilation.
So all personnel present in the engineering spaces were gassed like cockroaches.
My shipmate informed me that ALL aboard Greenlet were sick as dogs in May 1965 six months later, on the way to WestPac, first stop Okinawa.
You see, I have learned that VX dissolves nicely in petroleum products, like diesel, lube oil, and the oil scum that is found in all engine room bilges.
The two shipmates that died were famed "bilge divers" that spent most of their workdays and watches in the bilges chipping and scraping and applying paint remover.
I almost died of what was called pneumonia in December 1964, it got me off mess cooking.
A former shipmate from the engine room died from possible liver cancer.
The VA says it was cirrhosis, which is odd for a guy who had not had a drop to drink for 34 years.
The VA refuses to research or provide copies of Greenlet's Deck Logs, the VA does not have to do it, and won't do it.
The response of the VA, get this for a joke, they looked on the internet, and said there was no record on the the Navy military history site of Greenlet being involved in SHAD, so that was that.
That would be the same as saying since Greenlet is not on the list of commissioned Navy ships, and is not listed in Wikipedia, Greenlet is a ghost ship that does not exist.
I researched the website for Navy Military History. There were a few fluff pieces of PR about Greenlet's salvage of the destroyer Frank Knox in 1965 and Greenlet's trip to Vietnam and two salvage jobs that Greenlet performed there.
But no real ship's history. So the information that the VA gave out is total BS.
Typical VA stonewall, they make you prove that you exist, before they even consider to deny one's claim.
In order to prove that Greenlet participated in Flower Drum I and II, if there are any entries in the Deck Logs that are not classified, it would show participation and presence in the area where the Granville Hall or the George Eastman were operating during Flower Drum I and II (August -- December 1964).
I have a request into the office of one of my US Senators, but they have not followed up recently.
Any thoughts?
Robert Hemming
former Greenlet sailor.
PS: Two of my engineer shipmates are dead now, one of a brain tumor, the other of liver cancer. I do not know of any others.
TS
They ARE the questions that MUST be asked! Your post reads like a rat operative.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.