Congressman Phil Hare reports from Iraq
by Karen S. Lynch
The
Zephyr
21
Aug 08
Congressman
Phil Hare (D-17) said he had a new found appreciation for what our troops are
doing in Iraq and Afghanistan. When Hare arrived in Kuwait with six bi-partisan
members of the House VeteransÕ Affairs Health Subcommittee, the temperature was
119 degrees. It was 128 when they returned home. ÒNot one person I spoke to
complained about the mission or why they were there. They didnÕt complain about
the heat. The largest complaint I got from the enlisted personnel is the
concern about the Iraqis standing up and when they were going to do that.Ó
ÒMarines
imbedded with the Iraqis have been training Iraqi troops but are frustrated
with guards who leave their post about a day after our troops leave the area.
They had a system with young kids when they hear our trucks coming back they
would alert the Iraqis and then they would resume their posts.Ó Hare said it is
frustrating for our troops — who trained the Iraqi guards and expected
them to be able to do what U.S. troops trained them to do.
While
admitting he voted against the surge, he acknowledges that Òpart of it —
militarily — did work. We won the war over there but the Iraqis have to
win the peace. This is not something we can add more troops to and force them
to hold conventional elections.Ó The cost of the war is also a concern. Hare
said the government of Iraq has a $59 billion surplus while we are running
piling up huge deficits because of the war spending, borrowing money to try to
secure the peace. He thinks the Iraqi government can and should be doing a lot
more to secure their own country.
Hare
spoke with a single mother who is on her second deployment. Some soldiers are
on their third and fourth deployments for as long as 30 months without seeing
their kids. ÒThe troops are anxious to come home to their families and home, to
use the new GI Bill we just passed and be part of the community again. But none
said they should not be there and are doing everything they are being asked to
do.Ó
The
focus of the trip was on medical care for troops. Hare said they toured several
military facilities, both in Iraq and in Germany. ÒThey are getting world-class
treatment. Within 30 minutes, they can literally have a wounded soldier in a
level three facility. If they can get a service person there with a pulse, they
have a 95 to 98 percent chance of saving that personÕs life.Ó
The
subcommittee members saw the new MRAP (Mine Resistant Ambush Protected) heavily
armored ground ambulances. While similar to other military ambulances, the new
vehicle better protects against explosive devices to help get a patient to
treatment safely. The armored ambulances cost $1.7 million apiece. ÒYou canÕt
put a price on saving peopleÕs lives.Ó There are eight such ambulances there
now. Hare was told they need 30 more. ÒThe equipment they need medically they
have or will have.Ó
Medical
care personnel in Iraq also treat coalition forces, civilian and independent
contractors, Iraqi citizens and even detainees. Hare met Iraqi children treated
for wounds and other medical problems, including a five-year-old girl with a
bowel obstruction. American surgeons saved her life.
Hare
met a young man from Uganda, working as an independent contractor for just
$1.10 an hour. An IED explosion to his unarmored supply truck left him severely
injured. He lost both legs and his right arm. The Ugandan worker told Hare he
wished they had just let him go because he could not provide for his family.
The American government fitted him with prosthetics and gave the injured
contractor hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical care that saved his
life. It is common to see many of these low pay (non-Halliburton) workers in
Iraq, according to Hare. He thinks the Iraqi government should pay severely
injured civilians helping in Iraq $300 a month to help support their families
when they go home.
Hare
met with General David Petraeus during his visit. ÒI
admire General Petraeus for the job that he has done
militarily bringing security to the region, but he canÕt broker the peace. The
General told Hare two-thirds of U.S. equipment will have to stay behind when
troops are eventually withdrawn. Petraeus said
logistically it is not possible to move all the equipment back in a timely or
cost-effective fashion. It concerns Hare that not only billions of dollars in
equipment will remain behind in Iraq and Afghanistan, but also what will happen
to that equipment if it falls into the wrong hands. Predictions are it will
take 18 to 24 months to remove our troops safely. Hare believes we need to get
moving now to achieve that goal.
While
voting for a funding bill to aid both Iraq and Afghanistan to build schools,
Hare said he wants to see schools built in the Midwest. ÒWe are entering our
sixth year — the longest war we have ever had. I want to see people come
home and be with their families.Ó
Hare
is just as concerned what happens to military personal once they return home.
Many returning military are not aware of what services or benefits are
available to them. They only receive fifteen minutes of orientation on military
veteran benefits. ÒThey donÕt know what is available or where to go in their
state to see what assistance they are entitled to receive. We need to fix
that.Ó
Congressman
Hare has co-sponsored and helped pass numerous veteran bills that add benefits
and increase screening for PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) and traumatic
brain injury identification and treatments. A recently passed bill increased
funding for prosthetics. He is currently working on a bill to fast track
disability claims, which can take as long as six or seven years.
While
commending the level of our current military medical treatment, Hare believes
more needs done to improve the process, especially in watching for PTSD and the
increase in suicides among returning service men and women.
Hare
said we have lost more Vietnam veterans to suicide than we did in combat, an
estimated 58,000. He attributes that to a failure of early identification of
PTSD symptoms. Hare would like to see one person watching patients for signs of
PTSD in sleeping disorders, nightmares and Òwounds not visible.Ó
He
acknowledged the military medical personal are under a great deal of pressure
and are as battle weary as our troops. ÒWe canÕt just keep sending them back into
combat over and over without time to rest and recover.Ó Hare would like to see
a veteran working with returning veterans because they have a better
understanding what the troops have experienced and would be easier to talk to
when they are having problems.
There
has been a request to add one or two more troop brigades in Afghanistan. Aside
from concerns of ever-rising war spending, sending already battle-weary troops
directly from Iraq into Afghanistan would be a mistake, according to Hare.
ÒThat is a very different battlefield with the mountainous terrain, where Iraq
is relatively flat. Trying to airlift injured soldiers out of that country is
much more difficult because there are few places to land. With the tribal
regions giving safe haven in Pakistan, terrorist can come into Afghanistan,
attack coalition troops, and return across an unprotected boarder.Ó
Hare
would like to take a trip to Afghanistan to see exactly what is happening
there. He is concerned with Pakistan and the border regions that are unsecured
and allowing terrorist safe havens. He also believes we need to do more than a
military operation there. Bringing in agricultural expertise to give farmers
options to grow crops other than poppies that cause more harm. Diplomacy also
must be part of the plan in Afghanistan to get a secure government that can
protect itself. Hare said there is not a military solution without diplomacy
and giving this country what it needs to be self-sufficient and secure.