And grown men wept

Presented without comment a poem written by an American soldier after he returned from Iraq and before he killed himself; submitted by his father. There's a link to more for those with the stomach for it.

Second class soldiers

If you are a woman serving in the American armed forces, at home or abroad, and you are sexually assaulted by a fellow serviceman expect to pay for your rape kit. Did someone appoint Sarah Palin Defence Secretary whilst I wasn't looking?

1,000 reasons John McCain shouldn't be President

Number 104: he hates the troops or at least he seems to hate the idea of them voting. Nice guy.

1,000 reasons John McCain shouldn't be President

Number 97: he has some rather dubious friends who have made rather a lot of money whilst (not exactly) "supporting the troops".

1,000 reasons John McCain shouldn't be President

Number 94: his lovely and wealthy Missus seems to think that those veterans who suffer from PTSD from the experiences in Vietnam (or Iraq) were just poorly trained unlike her brave (and doddering) husband. Not a million miles away from the accepted view during World War I when her husband was just a young pup!

1,000 reasons John McCain shouldn't be President

Number 84: the team surrounding him are so completely inept and incompetent that they managed to use a photo of Walter Reed Middle School instead of Walter Reed Hospital as a backdrop for McCain's horrendous acceptance speech. One would think that if they really, really cared for the troops at least one of the team might actually have been to Walter Reed and have been able to tell that the photo wasn't correct; apparently not.

In which I personally support the troops...

...now that they've told "I'm a Big" Dick Cheney to go fuck off after his security demands including locking a bunch of injured war veterans with prosthetic limbs, who curiously include zero members of the "our priorities are elsewhere" Cheney clan, in a room for two hours before His Heartless Eminence arrived and prevented them from leaving before he finished speaking.

Well done lads!

1,000 reasons John McCain shouldn't be President

Number 65: deep down he really won't support the troops.

Your tax dollars (hardly) at work

A former senior auditor for the US Army in Iraq is contending that he was sacked after refusing to pay over $1 billion ($1,000,000,000) in questionable charges to KBR. The army contends that failing to pay in the invoices would have led to a deterioration in services to the troops even below the abysmal level that KBR was already supplying!

1,000 reasons John McCain shouldn't be President

Number 44: he doesn't think that it is all that important to bring the troops home from Iraq (and seems almost smug about it as well).

1,000 reasons John McCain shouldn't be President

Number 28: he DIDN'T VOTE AGAINST the improvements to the GI bill yesterday; unfortunately he did this by NOT VOTING AT ALL, his priorities being elsewhere. But as he is a patriot (which Obama is not) and therefore this is forgiven.

First came "don't ask" followed shortly by "don't tell"...

...now the good folks at the US Veteran's Administration bring us "don't diagnose".Nice, innit?

The next logical step is "don't enlist".

I can't decide which is worse

Captain Codpiece's specious claim that his courageous decision to give up golf is the best he can do to show solidarity with the troops he illegally sent into harm's way or the fact that he is lying about the timing of his decision.

But let's face it folks. He is the son of privilege and in the circles he travels in giving up golf would be considered just as terrible a sacrifice as having to sell one of the holiday homes (at a huge and barely taxed gain) or deciding not to buy a fourth car.

In which I admit that Captain Codpiece in one heck of a guy!

There are no half measures for this man. When President George W. Bush believes in something he is willing to go the whole distance and hold nothing back which is why we shouldn't be surprised to learn that he has chosen to support the troops dying in his illegal war in Iraq by swearing off golf. He better hope that McCain doesn't win,; he'll have to give up for ever!

I wish I had his courageous patriotism but I'm afraid I'm flag-lapel-pin-aphobic.

How big is an epidemic?

The head of the National Institute of Mental Health, undoubtedly soon to be sacked, believes that up to 20% of returning veterans of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan may have post traumatic stress disorder and that the number of suicides amongst these suffers may exceed combat deaths due to inadequate mental health provision for them.

1,000 reasons John McCain shouldn't be President

Number 12: he'd rather play politics than support the troops. He blames the problem on Webb and the fact that he hasn't been in Washington (doing his job). Neither excuse is acceptable.

Welcome home Johnny!

The Pentagon's incredible level of "support" for returning troops continues without pause. The father of a soldier who is now stationed at Fort Bragg, NC after returning from 15 months in Afghanistan has posted a video on YouTube of the wonderful housing that these brave lads get to live in; peeling paint, mildew and overflowing sewage are all part of the package. Not to worry though, even though the Army won't stump up for off base housing until the conditions are improved to live-able, there will be new barracks for everyone by 2013!

Liars, liars, liars

Once again the administration has been caught out not "supporting the troops" as they have denied that there was an epidemic of suicide amongst veterans whilst simultaneously working to cover up the fact that there is an epidemic of suicide amongst veterans!

Supporting the troops - Republican style

A company run by Captain Codpiece's former Veteran's Affairs Secretary, Anthony Principi, has been found to have overcharged the Department of Veteran's Affairs around $6 million in an audit performed by the department's Inspector General. QTC Management Inc has just had its contract extended because of good performance reviews and the department is trying to amend the contract to allow QTC to charge the higher fees.

Nice and cozy.

Supporting the troops

Nadia McCaffrey, the mother of a US soldier killed in Iraq, is trying to set up a home for veterans suffering from PTSD in Somona County CA but it seems the locals would prefer that the troops be supported elsewhere. Key quote from a resident: "we will not accept anyone who's not completely functional" thereby explaining why the Captain Codpiece Presidential Library was not sited locally.