"WE CARE ABOUT THE TROOPS"

That's one of the wingnuts' mantras, often coupled with "the liberals are anti-military." They still have the nerve to say this after the Walter Reed scandal and the inadequate armor in Iraq. Via UPI, I learn that the St. Louis Post-Dispatch has uncovered another area in which our troops are being let down.

Many soldiers get boot for 'pre-existing' mental illness
By Philip Dine
POST-DISPATCH WASHINGTON BUREAU
09/30/2007

WASHINGTON — Thousands of U.S. soldiers in Iraq — as many as 10 a day — are being discharged by the military for mental health reasons. But the Pentagon isn't blaming the war. It says the soldiers had "pre-existing" conditions that disqualify them for treatment by the government.

Many soldiers and Marines being discharged on this basis actually suffer from combat-related problems, experts say. But by classifying them as having a condition unrelated to the war, the Defense Department is able to quickly get rid of troops having trouble doing their work while also saving the expense of caring for them.

Working behind the scenes, Sens. Christopher "Kit" Bond, R-Mo., and Barack Obama, D-Ill., have written and inserted into the defense authorization bill a provision that would make it harder for the Pentagon to discharge thousands of troops. ... Bond said he learned of the practice from returning Iraq veterans. He called it an "abuse" of the system and "inexcusable."

One Republican congressional staff member who works on military issues said the rationale behind the Pentagon's practice was: "We didn't break you, you were already broken. You're not our responsibility." "One soldier I know received a diagnosis for a personality disorder after a 45-minute talk," said the staffer, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "He'd been in the military 10 years, had made it his career, and then he was told he was being shuffled out in a couple of weeks. We keep getting these stories."