As long as we're on the topic of numbers:
At least 3,210 Americans dead
Approximately 650,000 Iraqis dead
750 detainees at Guantanamo, aged 10 to 80
What can we do?
Work to make sure this is the last year of the war continues. This
week the Senate Appropriations Committee will write the Senate version
of the 2007 Supplemental War Appropriations bill. Our very own Sen.
Frank Lautenberg is a member of this committee.
Contact Sen. Lautenberg
and urge him to include in the bill a withdrawl of troops
and a prohibition on attacking Iran without Congressional approval.
Of course, the effort to recruit more and more to fight this repugnant war continues. The New Jersey Department of Military and Veterans Affairs website declares “Free College Tuition” for Army Guard and Air Guard.
The site declares: “Go to college full-time and serve your state and nation part-time. New Jersey state law mandates that every member of the New Jersey National Guard is authorized to attend any state college or university tuition free for undergraduate and graduate studies. You can also receive the federal Montgomery G.I. Bill that will pay you an additional $11,124.00 for undergraduate studies.”
As of October 2005, about one-quarter of American soldiers’ deaths in Iraq had been National Guard and reservists. The Guard and Reserves have not been so widely used in combat since World War II. This is not part-time service. How can you attend college if you’re on a tour in Iraq that will likely be extended at least once?
If you sign up for the military nothing – not your tuition, not your healthcare, not your job – is guaranteed. All you can count on is that will be going to Iraq. The DOD Enlistment/Reenlistment contract says: “Laws and regulations that govern military personnel may change without notice to me. Such changes may affect my status, pay, allowances, benefits and responsibilities.”
Just to qualify for the Montgomery GI Bill soldiers have to pay $100 a month for a year -- and that is still no guarantee they’ll have their college tuition covered. If a soldier serves at least three years and is honorably discharged then he or she is eligible to receive up to $1034 a month for up to thirty-six months -- a total of $37,224. As of 2005, four years for an in-state student at Rutgers University costs $72,540.
According to Tod Ensign’s book, America’s Military Today, 15 percent of those who use the GI Bill earn four-year college degrees. To qualify for that $50,000 splattered on the Army ads, recruits have to sign up for infantry, armor or artillery -- which greatly diminishes their chances of making it to college in one piece, or at all.
Contact the Department’s public affairs office and ask them to correct these misleading promises on this state website.
Here's hoping we don't have to "celebrate" yet another "anniversary" next year.
As if on cue:
"Jersey soldier killed in ambush in Iraq" (nj.com)
http://blog.nj.com/ledgerupdates/2007/03/jersey_soldier_killed_in_ambus.html
Posted by: Stanley | 03/20/2007 at 02:38 PM
Numbers, numbers, numbers...these in the JJ caught my eye today:
15.5 -- percent of HudCo residents who approve of an open-ended commitment in Iraq (ie, "as long as it takes")
14.7 -- percent of HudCo residents who approve of the war.
At least 66 -- percent of HudCo residents who want troops out now, or at least within one year.
http://www.nj.com/news/jjournal/index.ssf?/base/news-2/1174456704210020.xml&coll=3
Posted by: Editor | 03/21/2007 at 02:59 PM
Today, the House of Representatives will vote on whether or not to give Bush $100 BILLION to escalate the war and continue the occupation of Iraq.
Call your Representative right now to ask him or her to stop funding the war and bring our troops home. Call the Congressional Switchboard toll-free: 888-851-1879 (ask the operator to connect you to your Representative's office).
Your message is simple:
Bring the troops home now;
Vote NO on the supplemental (the "Iraq Accountability Act")
the "Iraq Accountability Act" -- the House will be voting on:
It gives Bush $100 BILLION more for the continued occupation of Iraq and his escalation of the war.
It allows Bush to decide when U.S. troop withdrawal should begin -- possibly not until Sept. 1, 2008 -- a full 18 months from now.
It is silent on the question of attacking Iran. (Language requiring Congressional authorization for military action against Iran was removed from the bill.)
It allows an unspecified number of troops (10,000? 30,000? 50,000?) to remain in Iraq indefinitely.
It would bring spending on the Iraq war to more than $500 BILLION!
Posted by: Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg | 03/23/2007 at 08:13 AM