Anti War Protestors Harrass the Wounded

[carpro]

http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewSpecialReports.asp?Page=\SpecialReports\archive\200508\SPE20050825a.html

Anti-War Protests Target Wounded at Army Hospital
By Marc Morano
CNSNews.com Senior Staff Writer
August 25, 2005

Washington (CNSNews.com) - The Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., the current home of hundreds of wounded veterans from the war in Iraq, has been the target of weekly anti-war demonstrations since March. The protesters hold signs that read "Maimed for Lies" and "Enlist here and die for Halliburton."

The anti-war demonstrators, who obtain their protest permits from the Washington, D.C., police department, position themselves directly in front of the main entrance to the Army Medical Center, which is located in northwest D.C., about five miles from the White House.

Among the props used by the protesters are mock caskets, lined up on the sidewalk to represent the death toll in Iraq. Code Pink Women for Peace, one of the groups backing anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan's vigil outside President Bush's ranch in Crawford Texas, organizes the protests at Walter Reed as well.

SNIP
On Aug. 19, as the anti-war protesters chanted slogans such as "George Bush kills American soldiers," Cybercast News Service observed several wounded war veterans entering and departing the gates of Walter Reed, some with prosthetic limbs. Most of the demonstrations have been held on Friday evenings, a popular time for the family members of wounded soldiers to visit the hospital.

SNIP
Kevin Pannell, who was recently treated at Walter Reed and had both legs amputated after an ambush grenade attack near Baghdad in 2004, considers the presence of the anti-war protesters in front of the hospital "distasteful."

SNIP
"You know that 95 percent of the guys in the hospital bed lost guys whenever they got hurt and survivors' guilt is the worst thing you can deal with," Pannell said, adding that other veterans recovering from wounds at Walter Reed share his resentment for the anti-war protesters.

SNIP
At least one anti-war demonstrator conceded that standing out in front of a military hospital where wounded soldiers and their families are entering and exiting, might not be appropriate.

"Maybe there is a better place to have a protest. I am not sure," said a man holding a sign reading "Stop the War," who declined to be identified.

SNIP
Code Pink, the group organizing the anti-war demonstrations in front of the Walter Reed hospital, has a controversial leader and affiliations. As Cybercast News Service previously reported, Code Pink co-founder Medea Benjamin has expressed support for the Communist Viet Cong in Vietnam and the Nicaraguan Sandinistas.

In 2001, Benjamin was asked about anti-war protesters sympathizing with nations considered to be enemies of U.S. foreign policy, including the Viet Cong and the Sandinistas. "There's no one who will talk about how the other side is good," she reportedly told the San Francisco Chronicle.

Benjamin has also reportedly praised the Cuban regime of Fidel Castro. Benjamin told the San Francisco Chronicle that her visit to Cuba in the 1980s revealed to her a great country. "It seem[ed] like I died and went to heaven," she reportedly said.

 

[Mike McK]

In another thread I asked how long it would be until the left started spitting on our veterans, like we saw during the Vietnam era.

I was told that it would never happen.

Surprise!

 

[hillclimber]

 

[ASLANSPAL]

Here is the offical release from Code Pink Women
for Peace

WALTER REED VIGIL


REALLY SUPPORT OUR TROOPS!
Every Friday, 7-9 P.M. On-going Vigil at Walter Reed

Shed Light On US War Casualties:
As they are taken from the FRONT LINE to the BACK DOOR


CODEPINK recently held a nightly vigil at Walter Reed Army Medical Center from Friday, March 25 to Friday, April 1, at the North Gate (7200 Georgia Ave. at Elder Street, NW- see below for directions). It was a very successful action bringing together peace activists, soldiers, military families and neighbors. We will continue the vigil every Friday as a reminder that physically and psychologically wounded soldiers are returning from Iraq and Afghanistan every night. See Stars and Stripes article about the vigil.

Late at night, several nights per week, gravely and seriously wounded soldiers from Iraq and Afghanistan arrive at Walter Reed, and Bethesda Naval Medical Center, for treatment, under the cover of darkness. These soldiers are the most seriously-wounded, with shattered limbs requiring prostheses and physical therapy, brain injuries and mental disorders. Soldiers are flown from US military hospitals in Germany, arriving at Andrews AFB and Walter Reed under the cover of night.

We believe the nighttime arrivals are scheduled on purpose so as to prevent the public from knowing about the numbers of soldiers wounded and the severity of their injuries. The 'hiding' of the severely-wounded is in keeping administration policy of prohibiting photographs of coffins arriving at Dover Air Force Base. (For investigative reporting of the Walter Reed arrivals, see Mark Benjamin?s articles, 'The Invisible Wounded,' at www.salon.com on March 8, 2005. For Benjamin?s reporting on the psychiatric ward at Walter Reed, see Behind the Walls of Ward 54, Feb. 18, 2005.)

Even after their stealth arrival at Walter Reed, soldiers must begin a bureaucratic battle to obtain sufficient disability benefits to provide an adequate quality of life. Initial determinations of military pension amounts (10-20% of salary, for example), made by the Army's Medical Review Board, are often inadequate, and must be appealed to the Veterans Administration (which, to its credit, often increases the lifetime disability payment).(looks like
a fair and honest accessment)

We also vigil to protest ongoing cuts in the Veterans Administration budget made by the very same administration that sends these soldiers to war in Iraq and Afghanistan. For example, the FY05 budget institutes a new health care enrollment fee and increases prescription drug co-pays for middle-income veterans. The VA budget is not fully funded, failing by more than $2.6 billion to fully fund quality veterans? health care. Despite strongly lobbying by veterans organizations, the Bush administration fails to recognize veterans as an extension of the costs of war. Other FY05 budget cuts in educational, vocational and adult education, and family support programs also directly impact veterans and their families. (what is wrong with that!)

VIGIL WITH US to honor the sacrifice of the troops and bring to light the seriousness of their injuries. We refuse to allow the government to conceal the true face of war -- and the true cost of war -- under a blanket of darkness.


My comment: doesn't even look or even approach
what happened in Vietnam and it does not look
like anyone is going to spit on anyone...as
a member of Free Republic I know the extreme right freepers are trying freep them that is common knowledge but they are being way
over the top ..with this spiting allegation.

It looks like in some areas I agree with them
in being advocates in trying to save Walter Reed
Medical center and benefits for veterans be
efficent and fair.(what is wrong with that?)

Looks like a bunch of right wing guys saying things about women that I would not say
but it is their right even though it makes them
look sexist and foolish.

but to push back and be fair here is Jeff
Gannon taking on the Code Pink Women for Peace
Conservative Jeff Gannon
August 18, 2005
How liberals 'support the troops'
A Pittsburgh, PA antiwar group has announced a protest intended to shut down a military recruiting center on August 20.

Demonstrations like this aren't unusual as the pro-terrorist Code Pink Women for Peace have protested outside Washington, DC area recruiting stations for several months. They also stage a weekly antiwar protest outside Walter Reed hospital on Friday nights, where soldiers recover from serious wounds.

 

[carpro]

Shamefull behavior by protestors.

It looks like the beginning of the left's vilification of the veterans of the War in Iraq.

If their intent is to embarrass, anger and hurt our veterans, they're in the right place.

If they want policy to change ,they should go to DC and leave these men alone.

 

[prophecynut]

Originally posted by carpro:
Shamefull behavior by protestors.
If they want policy to change ,they should go to DC and leave these men alone.

Agree, they should be attacking our corrupt government that lied to us, these soldiers are victims who have suffered tremendously and paid the ultimate price.

 

[elijah_lives]

Even after their stealth arrival at Walter Reed, soldiers must begin a bureaucratic battle to obtain sufficient disability benefits to provide an adequate quality of life. Initial determinations of military pension amounts (10-20% of salary, for example), made by the Army's Medical Review Board, are often inadequate, and must be appealed to the Veterans Administration (which, to its credit, often increases the lifetime disability payment).

How true. It took me 3 years, and 2 appeals before my disability was granted, and it was a much lower percentage than my civilian doctor says my condition merits. On top of that, even getting into a VA hospital for regular appointments is a lengthy process (which is why I have a civilian doctor, at my own expense; I can't wait weeks when I need treatment). Having been hospitalized 4 times (roughly 4 months), I would have to commend the nursing staff. They are overwhelmed by the demand for their services.

I think the VA deliberately turns down disability claims, knowing that some applicants will give up. The third time I was in, there was a comrade who had suffered massive head injuries from the operation in Panama. Yet it also took him 3 years to get approved. It's a disgrace for both sides of the aisle, because this problem has existed under the watch of Reagan, 1st Bush, Clinton, and 2d Bush.

The last thing a wounded and recovering soldier wants to see is this protest -- especially when the protesters are claiming to be doing it in the name of that soldier.

 

[Mike McK]

Originally posted by ASLANSPAL:
Looks like a bunch of right wing guys saying things about women that I would not say
but it is their right even though it makes them
look sexist and foolish.

Why wouldn't you say these things? You've said much worse about Matt Drudge and some of your brothers and sisters in Christ, here.

 

[hillclimber]

The good people in America work and thus don't have the luxury of being able to amass the people to confront these urchins of the welfare left.

This is despickable

 

[carpro]

Originally posted by elijah_lives:
Even after their stealth arrival at Walter Reed, soldiers must begin a bureaucratic battle to obtain sufficient disability benefits to provide an adequate quality of life. Initial determinations of military pension amounts (10-20% of salary, for example), made by the Army's Medical Review Board, are often inadequate, and must be appealed to the Veterans Administration (which, to its credit, often increases the lifetime disability payment).

How true. It took me 3 years, and 2 appeals before my disability was granted, and it was a much lower percentage than my civilian doctor says my condition merits. On top of that, even getting into a VA hospital for regular appointments is a lengthy process (which is why I have a civilian doctor, at my own expense; I can't wait weeks when I need treatment). Having been hospitalized 4 times (roughly 4 months), I would have to commend the nursing staff. They are overwhelmed by the demand for their services.

I think the VA deliberately turns down disability claims, knowing that some applicants will give up. The third time I was in, there was a comrade who had suffered massive head injuries from the operation in Panama. Yet it also took him 3 years to get approved. It's a disgrace for both sides of the aisle, because this problem has existed under the watch of Reagan, 1st Bush, Clinton, and 2d Bush.

The last thing a wounded and recovering soldier wants to see is this protest -- especially when the protesters are claiming to be doing it in the name of that soldier.

The voice of one who knows and speaks with authority.

Thanks Elijah-lives for your words and your service.

 

[ASLANSPAL]

Mike Mck are still balling like a baby over
drudge...you need to let it go and just come
out strongly in his defense and then I will
knock down the maggot...my goodness I have told
you four times now... my responsibility ...my vow..Gods judgement if He sees fit so quit it with
your self righteousness it is disingenuous.
-------------------------------------------------
b.t.t.

The salient point of my post was to knock down
the craziness of the right wing in demonizing
these women and girls...I don't agree with everything they do or say..but they are standing
on some principles that do support the soldiers.
imho.

but I will push back again and be fair

One Sick Protest

bio Michelle Pileki

Note: you can post a comment agreeing or disagreeing with Ms. Pilekis opinion piece in the
comment section I am sure she would appreciate it
the comments are running 50/50 imho.

 

[carpro]

Originally posted by ASLANSPAL:

I don't agree with everything they do or say..but they are standing
on some principles that do support the soldiers.
imho.

If they really want to show some support for the soldiers, they could spend some time inside the hospital as volunteers helping them recuperate.

 

[ASLANSPAL]

Originally posted by carpro:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by ASLANSPAL:

I don't agree with everything they do or say..but they are standing
on some principles that do support the soldiers.
imho.

If they really want to show some support for the soldiers, they could spend some time inside the hospital as volunteers helping them recuperate. </font>[/QUOTE]Who knows they might be doing that as well but
it is an excellent idea..because then they would
know right from the soldiers mouths and get a
consensus on how to conduct themselves...but like
I said these girls are not even close to spitting
on anyone..not even close.

Walter Reed

but back to volunteer question the Red Cross I think is heading this up and Praise the Lord they
have no lack.

Although the vast majority of new volunteers say they want to work in the hospital, specifically with Operations Iraqi and Enduring Freedom patients, Black said there's currently no shortage of Red Cross volunteers.

"Right now everybody wants to volunteer at Walter Reed. For the first time in my life in this job I am saying, 'We have enough volunteers,'" Black said. It's a far cry from the day she had to appeal to churches and civic organizations just to find a few helpers. Last month alone, the Walter Reed Red Cross station added 70 new volunteers to its ranks.

 

[Ps104_33]

Are all the silly pictures necessary? They are really annoying.

 

[Plain Old Bill]

In simple words"Support our Troops".It is becase of them you have the safety to assemble and protest.