2005-08-25

Jack Dalton

An Iraqi Speaks

http://jack-dalton.blogspot.com/  

I only have a single blog post today, but an important one I believe. It's a letter to me from someone I have come to know that lives in Baghdad. But first I have something I want to get off my "chest." So, here goes:

My silence since the 17th has been two fold: first, I had a major problem with Comcast which was not completely resolved until early Tuesday. Nothing I was sending was going out. I could not gain access to my blog-"Server not found" or "page not found" were what kept popping up. Plus virtually none of the over 100 sources of news and information I subscribe to were getting thru. Obviously that is now resolved and it only took 4 phone calls to Comcast-will wonders never cease.

Second, I just flat-out "imploded"-again. Seems that happens about every two or three months now. All this crap coming out of the VA about wanting to eliminate (or as the VA says, "review") 72,000 disabled vets who were granted total disability for combat related PTSD between 1999-2005 by stating "fraud" has me really twisted right now.

Bear with.I'm going to "whine" for a moment and do something out of the ordinary for me, tell you a little why this is as personal with me as it is. Keeping in mind that this is also the story of way too many disabled veterans-especially those of us that went to Vietnam

I received my first "service-connected" VA disability check Oct 1, 2003. Previous to that, without going into a lot of detail, I was 100% non-service connected disabled based on the physical damage which is extensive; the multitude of diseases which combined put me in a wheelchair. Most of this is Agent Orange based but still denied by the VA, Pentagon, DoD, etc.

Four years ago the VA took away the monthly disability checks for 15 months. That was pretty much the Portland VA's response to the hell I was raising behind a botched surgery that was ignored and dismissed by the VA. It took the involvement of a federal investigator for me to get the VA to restore my disability payments. (Ultimately I was pretty much forced out of this VA and am now under private care, but that's another story in itself and for another time.) When they did, the VA had changed my status from non-service connected to service connected. On one hand that was good, I would bpaid at a higher rate. On the other hand I actually fought this.  

The reason: I was given 100% service connected disability for something I did not apply for, the investigator did, PTSD. The problem I have with that is not the PTSD, as I am raging these days, it's due to the fact that the VA ignored ALL of my physical disabilities when it changed my VA classification and rating. The ones that the VA has been seeing, operating on, treating for the past 37 years-all of a sudden they all disappeared.

Now I once again find myself wondering if I will be at zero income come Oct 1st. That's the start of the new VA fiscal year. All of us that received service-connected disability ratings for PTSD from 1999 to now, 2005, are being looked at by the VA as possible "frauds" when the only "frauds" are those that would contemplate doing this, let alone actually start the process. Does anyone remember the "purple-heart" band-aids?

Bush/Cheney & Co have indebted this nation to the point they need to find the money somewhere to pay for all the kids coming back from Iraq with PTSD. Since they unleashed this war upon Iraq, the VA has gone from a little over $1 billion a year in PTSD disability payouts to over $4 billion a year in PTSD disability payouts. They also know by all reports that those that have been sent to Iraq are experiencing marked increases in terms of PTSD. The Pentagon/DoD/VA has to find the money somewhere, so they do the usual, pit veterans against veterans for the same funds-guess who loses? Disabled Vietnam veterans every time.

That's enough of my self indulgence and "woe is me" at least for now. At the same time, like I said, while I may have whined about my own circumstance, I am not alone in this by a long shot. There are tens upon tens upon tens of thousands of veterans that are being cast aside by the very government organization that was created to "care for those who have borne the brunt of battle."

I strongly urge you to visit the following three web sites. They provide a wealth of information on what veterans are faced with under the current regime in Washington:

Veterans United: http://veteransunited.org/

VA WatchDog: http://www.vawatchdog.org/

Vets for Justice: http://www.vetsforjustice.com/

Thanks for "listening"--now I'm ready to get back to "work." -----------------------------------------------------

"No Water in the Land of Two Rivers"--an Iraqi Speaks

Not long ago Monica Benderman "introduced" me to Bassim. Bassim lives in Baghdad and he is a civil engineer. I had asked Bassim if he would be willing to try and describe what life is like for people in Iraq trying to survive in the middle of the "Mad Hatters Tea Party" the U.S. has created. Bassim's answer: ".as I said before, you can put my name on any thing I write "with editing", I don't fear these dwarfs, I fear only and exclusively the only all mighty, God."

Cindy Sheehan has been demanding an answer from George W. Bush to a question: What is the "noble cause" her son Casey and all the others have died for? My question behind that asked by Cindy is: What is so "noble" about wholesale slaughter? For that is the result of this illegal, outrageous and criminal invasion/occupation of Iraq-wholesale slaughter.

So while Bush/Cheney & Co., Inc. pontificate about how they are spreading "freedom and democracy" read what Bassim has to say about life in Iraq. Also keep in mind that recently a petition was signed by over 1 million Iraqi people demanding the U.S. leave Iraq. But, Bush/Cheney, true to form, ignores what people have to say, here and in Iraq, as they stay in the twilight zone of illusion, delusion and deception.

Obviously there is a lot I could say here, but will save that all for another time. Read closely what Bassim has to say about life in Iraq since the U.S. invaded and now occupies Iraq.(the emphasis in Bassim's letter was done by me) -- Jack

NOTE: Sgt Kevin Benderman who is a conscientious objector is currently serving 15 months in a military prison because he stands as a man of honor in opposition to the invasion and occupation of Iraq. For further info on and about Kevin see: Kevin Benderman Defense Committee http://www.topia.net/kevinbenderman.html ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Salaam Jack,

Why apology Jack? Do you think that I expect you to knock my email box every day just to say hello, sure no, cause I understand that you have many various activities to be done daily or even hourly. Think you've an additional task added recently, to search for cheap Gas. These links are just for that:  http://aaa.opisnet.com/Methodology.aspx, http://www.fuelmeup.com/main.php ,  http://gasbuddy.com/ , http://www.gaspricewatch.com/new/ .

Bush, the brainy flat worm, is ruining not only human lives, more, the economy in general and the middle class, in particular, in the US as he already did in my country.

Our daily life becomes a real hell; do you know that the stooges' pet Iraqi government has got the same flat worm's brilliance? In quest to eliminate "chronic" long "3-5 hours" gasoline queues, it issued a new regime for cars refueling according to their license numbers, yesterday the queue was incredibly long to the extent that drivers cannot find the tail of the queue to align with, there was a big roar in Baghdad drew near a full open bloody revolt, the puppet government hastily announced a new regime "after 24 hours of the last" with truck gasoline tankers sent into the streets to absorb the reprobation. We'll watch the effect of the new measures today.

Gasoline become not only important for keeping cars moving, in fact it became, and since the invasion, a vital source to keep individuals life and business. Life is not sustainable in a big crowded city like Baghdad of 6 millions and in temperatures tangents "sometimes exceeds" 150F, without gasoline dependant electric generators seen every where, in every home, in sizes from 500 watts to 7 kva "like mines" depending on the pocket size of individuals. Financially able people are obliged to keep/buy old cars only because their tank has no restricting filter so they can suck gasoline to fill their Gensets. So another financial burden is added to the already severely strained pockets.

Prices of any thing you imagine or can count has sky rocketed because of the "since invasion" chronic fuel crisis. Sure there's more on the issue of the big inflation we had/have, not least, is the subsidized and protected US products we have to import alternatives became taboo while banning the subsidies from our peasants who deserted planting since 2003. There's a lot of talk on this issue and local industry too.

Businesses including the small grocery shops can't keep even yogurt because of the virtually no grid electric power --1 hour ON against 5-6 hours OFF in best cases -- not to mention bread bakeries who either uses electric or kerosene furnaces, both are dreams.

Repair shops that need high or low electric power to operate their lathes, welders, etc, are desperately struggling to meet the customers needs. In short, we've the facilitations of 500 years ago but with a demanding city life. Mid ages, manual operated machines like belt drills, hand hack saws...revived again to do big jobs.

Ice industrial blocks are gold like in price, a ~3 pounds block is sold for ~$1 and only could be gotten early in the morning and only after joining a long humiliating, dangerous, life threatening queue too. People are wept-ing their grand mothers old wooden ice boxes and natural window air coolers made of compacted thistles and only stops weeping when a waken on the reality of the scarcity of ice and water necessary for the two historical items I mentioned above.

No fuel in the richest land in oil, and no water in the land of two rivers, Mesopotamia.

Baghdad nestles both the Tigris and Dialah, the Euphrates is only 30 miles to the west. The very word Iraq, means veins in Arabic, it had this name because it is patched with beyond counting rivers and streams.

All the life crises I mentioned in this letter applies to the rest of cities and villages of Iraq including the vast regions in the south where little or even no armed resistance exists, while the invaders and their puppets, shamelessly, put the blame on unrest and resistance activities while keeping a complete dodgy silence about the unsurpassed corruption, racketeering and theft carried-out, openly, by both the invasion authorities and their local/imported stooges.

With a small fraction of what have been spent on the alleged reconstruction, several big power plants, potable water and oil installations could have been commissioned during the last 2.5 years given that we never had "or dreamt to have" such crises before the criminal, destructive invasion.

Are such explanations what you want, Jack?, any how I have to go now as I heard 3 consecutive big explosions while my "architect engineer" daughter has just left to work, I have to contact her on her mobile, it's a daily practice. "Frequently the authorities stop mobiles in areas where the resistance hits".

And as I said before, you can put my name on any thing I write "with editing", I don't fear these dwarfs, I fear only and exclusively the only all mighty, God.

All the best,

Sincerely

Bassim Mustafa

Baghdad-Iraq