Enough is Enough, Support our Veterans

Written by: Evan Tribley on Jul 5, 2006 2:27 PM EDT

President Bush sent our troops to Iraq to stop the spread of terrorism and weapons of mass destruction. Mission not accomplished, as we have not found the WMDs and we have actually spread terrorism into Iraq. President Bush said he would support our troops, but that is just another mission failed by the Bush Administration and the republican controlled Congress.

As reported in a recent AP article by Verena Dobnik, the US Government is not supporting our troops when the get home. When veterans like Herold Noel, Nadine Beckford, or J.B. White get back to the US, they find that they have no home to live in. After spending months and years overseas to defend our country the have come to find their country's government will not defend them. Bush budgets and the GOP Congress have slashed funding across the board for veterans' benefits all while pretending to support the troops. To add to the disgust, on July 4th Bush used military servicemen and women as a backdrop for his photo shoot and speech. The President has no problem taking political advantage of our troops all while emptying their pockets for tax cuts for the wealthy and wars that do not make sense. As Iraqi war veteran Herold Noel said in reference to coming home homeless, "This is not what I fought for, what I almost died for. This is not what I was supposed to come home to."

Not only are our veterans coming back homeless, they are also not receiving the proper support for health coverage. Time and time again we have been seen stories of veterans not receiving the health coverage, and veterans being ignored when requesting assistance. Families and soldiers have not been prepared for the mental stress of war. Whether it is a soldier coming home with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder or a family grieving the loss of their family member, the government has not been there. Even worse is when we lose our soldiers overseas because the government has not been compensating families the way they should be. When Lila Lipscomb's son Michael Pederson was killed in Iraq they sent her his paycheck- cut three days short for the days he did not work because he was dead as chronicled by Michael Moore in his documentary. This is a normal occurrence.

We desperately need to change the leadership in Washington D.C. starting with the Congress in 2006. Richard Siferd is a Vietnam War Veteran running for Congress (OH-4) and he understands the issues veterans face in combat and returning home. It is time to put someone in office that will stand up for the veterans and give them and their families the support they deserve, and at the same time, work feverishly to find an end to this war that is effective and safe for our country. Richard Siferd will be that someone.

Please visit www.SiferdforCongress.com for more information on how to support, contribute, or volunteer!

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Location: Lima, OH 45805