The first-year anniversary\u00a0with the Obama administration is nearly here.\u00a0 When President Obama took office it was my profound hope that he would help bring the nation together,\u00a0end the bitter partisan politics and bring more transparency.\u00a0 Nothing could be further from the truth.<\/p>\n
During these past 12 months, his administration has seemingly\u00a0targeted military veterans and our military.\u00a0 Let’s take a look at some of the highlights.<\/p>\n
March 2009<\/span><\/strong>:\u00a0 The administration floated a trial balloon for veterans to pay for their own service-connected health care with their own private insurance.\u00a0 This was quickly removed from the table when the veteran community became outraged. (Ref<\/a>.)\u00a0<\/p>\n April 2009<\/span><\/strong>:\u00a0 The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a report <\/a>on “Right Wing Extremism” that strongly suggested that military veterans\u00a0– particularly those returning from Iraq & Afghanistan – were potential converts to right-wing extremist recruiters.\u00a0 Instead of focusing on terrorist fanatics, DHS, headed by Janet Napolitano, seemed more concerned about veterans who had served our country with honor. (Ref<\/a>.)<\/p>\n June 2009<\/span><\/strong>:\u00a0 Two Army recruiters were shot and one killed near Little Rock, Ark., and the President had very little to say about our military being a domestic target by a Yemeni-trained Muslim.\u00a0 The entire issue was virtually ignored by the White House. (Ref<\/a>.)<\/p>\n Afghanistan<\/span><\/strong>: The President\u00a0while campaigning said he had a plan for Afghanistan. In March 2009 his administration announced his new strategy. (Ref<\/a>.) \u00a0Yet when the war started going south in the summer of 2009,\u00a0it took the President a prolonged period of time, much hand-wringing, and multiple ‘reviews’ to form another new strategy at the request of his hand-picked Gen. McChrystal.\u00a0 It was not until December 1st that the White House announced a troop increase. (Ref<\/a>.)<\/p>\n Fort Hood Shootings<\/span><\/strong>: On November 5, 2009 thirteen people were gunned down at Ft. Hood by the alleged suspect, Maj. Hasan, who allegedly has ties with a Muslim Cleric in Yemen.\u00a0 Following this domestic act of terrorism the President called it a “\u2018horrific outburst of violence.” (Ref<\/a>.) Newsweek <\/em>attempted to paint Maj. Hasan as a soldier suffering from PTSD. (Ref<\/a>.)\u00a0 At the Ft. Hood memorial service Gen. Casey made every effort to avoid any link to terrorism or Islam.<\/p>\n On November 14th, the President asked that Congress hold off any hearings on the Ft. Hood shooting (Ref<\/a>.)\u00a0 On November 16th the Senate agreed to postpone committee hearings. (Ref<\/a>.)<\/p>\n On December 9th, Republicans accused the White House of sitting on the review. (Ref<\/a>.)\u00a0 On January 15, 2010, the DoD issued its initial report. (Ref<\/a>.)\u00a0 (You can view a PDF version of the report here<\/a>.)\u00a0 Also on January 15th it was reported that\u00a0“as many as eight Army officers may be punished for failing to heed warning signs and take action against suspected Fort Hood gunman Maj. Nidal Hasan, a U.S. official said Thursday.”<\/em> (Ref<\/a>.)<\/p>\n With all the avoidance by the White House and leaders at the Pentagon to avoid any connection with terrorism, is it any wonder that soldiers who knew Maj. Hasan were reluctant to file any complaints?\u00a0 With the modern PC world\u00a0afraid to offend anyone, especially the Muslim community, to have filed any official complaint would more than likely have been a career-ending move.\u00a0 But now we want to hold these officers responsible for\u00a0policy which gave Maj. Hasan a green light?<\/p>\n I hold the White House and Pentagon leadership responsible for not setting clear-cut policies which would have focused on Maj. Hasan. The same policies that again later allowed another alleged terrorist,\u00a0who attempted to bring down a commercial airliner on Christmas, a free pass by not having him on the no-fly list. This suspect will be tried in the civilian courts and reportedly also\u00a0had ties with the same Muslim Cleric in Yemen as Maj. Hasan.<\/p>\n In closing, with just a year in office I believe it is clear that President Obama is not a friend of military veterans, or the brave men and women serving in our military today.\u00a0 Each decision he makes appears to require painstaking reviews often preceded by denials of the obvious.\u00a0 America is at war, and until the President and his advisers realize that, it endangers every American and those who serve in our military.\u00a0<\/p>\n Roger Young – Northwest Veterans Newsletter<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n Related articles<\/span>:<\/p>\n New restrictions for retroactive stop-loss pay<\/strong><\/a> – ArmyTimes<\/em> – 24 Dec 09<\/strong><\/p>\n Some Losing Stop-Loss Payments<\/strong><\/a> – Military.com<\/em> – 6 Jan 10<\/strong><\/p>\n Troops, kin face cuts in base services<\/strong><\/a> – USA Today<\/em> – 8 Jan 10<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The first-year anniversary\u00a0with the Obama administration is nearly here.\u00a0 When President Obama took office it was my profound hope that he would help bring the nation together,\u00a0end the bitter partisan politics and bring more transparency.\u00a0 Nothing could be further from … Continue reading