Supporting The Troops? Military Disallows You From Telling Them

Ah, the holiday season, full of good cheer and...oh wait, nevermind, this is America circa 2007. People are going beserk shopping for things that they don't need and to give gifts to their loved ones that can send the message that you are valued in what you receive from the mall. Another sad reality is that we are in our fifth holiday season while our troops are away in Iraq...or in a military hospital trying to recover from their injuries.

Since the U.S. government is not adequately funding the VA, vets are not getting decent care or good benefits. Many are simply wallowing away somewhere in Walter Reed Medical Center or in a hospice in Germany, Kuwait or in Baghdad. Well, at least Americans are still sending hundreds of thousands of pieces of mail to wish the troops well, showing that the people really do care about our boys (and girls) that are far away from home serving their country George Bush.

Oh, oops, my bad, wrong again. The popular idea of sending mail to "Any Wounded Soldier" has been banned by the military and even the USO. The threat of a security breach is what they are claiming here, because there isn't enough manpower to go through all of the envelopes. Now I will accept that there are a few crazies out there who would put powder in envelope or would write things like "baby killer" in their message. However, if we would staff a department in the Pentagon to take care of the problem, or at least get many messages through, it would be a lot better than simply throwing out the mail or returning it to sender.

Our troops deserve better than that. Can't we slim Halliburton's no-bid contract just a smidge for our wounded soldiers?