Injured Soldier Denied Benefits

clipped from www.wtnh.com Ryan Riddle is a Connecticut veteran who has been fighting through that red tape ever since he was wounded in Iraq. Riddle received a commendation for his service at the checkpoint; the soldier who shot him got a reprimand. Riddle was discharged and moved home to Southington. He filed for service related benefits for the gun shot wound, and doctors at the Newington Veterans hospital told him there is no proof of his injury. Riddle said he was told doctors were not sure if he was shot on the streets of Hartford or in Iraq. Despite X-rays that clearly showed a bullet still lodged in Riddle's thigh the VA denied his claim saying "service records do not document a gunshot wound to the left thigh during service." Somehow, Riddle's service records had been lost. "I was taken a back, I didn't know what to say," said Riddle. "You know I thought when I served my country and fought a war that I'd at least be taken care of after it was done but it's just the system."

It's not just soldiers dying in Iraq that is messed up. We can't even seem to help those that have been injured and need our help when they get home. This is just one of many stories.

U.S. casualties will rise in next 90 days

clipped from www.realcities.com The U.S. military announced the deaths of 11 U.S. soldiers killed in combat along with an embedded journalist Sunday, and Iraqi officials said 163 civilians were killed or injured across the country. But still more carnage is likely over the next three months as additional U.S. forces arrive in Baghdad under President Bush's troop "surge" because "we're taking the fight to the enemy," a top U.S. military commander warned. Six of the American soldiers and a journalist working for a Russian publication were killed in Diyala Sunday when a roadside bomb struck the vehicle in which they were traveling, the U.S. military said in a statement. "There are going to be increased (U.S.) casualties during this surge because we're taking the fight to the enemy," said Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch "We're going to do everything we can do to preclude that from happening." But he added: "This is indeed combat operations. This is indeed war. And it's against a lethal enemy."

Again... quoting someone smarter than me that I can't remember... how many dead bodies does it take to support the ego of this President?