The Top Five Campaign Issues Military Wives Should Watch

So, Jay has now been in the Middle East for 4 weeks now. I miss him a lot, but I’m even more focused on the upcoming election. I have been involved in politics since I was 17 years old. I studied Communications and Political Science in college and I’ve volunteered on countless campaigns at the local, state and national level. The next President and the next Congress will affect the livelihood of military families in ways that we haven’t seen since the Vietnam War. Here are the issues that I think every military wife needs to investigate before going to the polls.

5. The Future of Stop Loss

I think all of you know what stop loss is. I know it’s an issue that will affect me. Jay will be in Iraq 6 months after his volunteer obligation to the Army expires. Stop Loss was originally delegated to the Secretary of Defense by executive order on September 14, 2001. Military families need to watch the Stop Loss policy closely in the election because as military enlistments decline, the number of soldiers forced to stay in the military on the back end will increase. The Stop Loss policy is the draft on the back-end. Most people are opposed to implementing a draft, but no one has confronted this issue full force. Barack Obama has pledged to end Stop Loss, McCain has pledged to keep it in place. Another issue with Stop Loss is the fact that right now there is a bill in Congress that will give $500 monthly to those who are affected by Stop Loss. This bill will make these payments retroactive. I really don’t think $500 is enough for Stop Loss, but that’s just my opinion.

4. Watch the Economy Stupid

As we all know, the economy has taken a turn for the worst on Bush’s watch. Most economists say the economy will always balance itself out, but government intervention plays the largest role in the counteracting the balancing act of the economy. This is actually a principle of Adam Smith, a demigod for the Republican Party. The war in Iraq is a costly war that is negatively impacting the economy. In addition, there are companies who are banking on the misery of ordinary consumers. People are losing their homes, people are paying more at the pump, people are in debt, and, worst of all, people are losing their jobs at unprecedented rates. Now, our government is bailing out a company that paid its executives tens of millions of dollars this year. Every American will be affected by this awful economy, but American soldiers may be facing less funding due to the irresponsibility of the Bush Administration. Our government cannot pay for every necessity, and that’s a reality. We need to elect a president and Congress who understands the impact of the economy. One of the presidential candidates publicly admitted that he knows nothing about the economy. 

3. The Use of Incompetent Contractors 

This is the first war where contractors make up a large percentage of the military work force in Iraq and Afghanistan like Halliburton, KBR, Black Water, and many more. These contractors have negatively impacted our military. Halliburton has destroyed property in Iraq and mismanaged oil fields. KBR (a subsidiary of Halliburton) operates the water and filtration systems on Army bases in Iraq and Afghanistan. Their systems have been electrocuting and killing soldiers. Isn’t it enough that soldiers are faced with violence every day? Should they really be worried about taking a shower because contractors like KBR are incompetent and suffer no penalties for their negligence? Black Water–the infamous mercenaries in this war–have killed innocent Iraqis. As a military wife, you must think about how these situations affect our military. When innocent Iraqis are killed, insurgents are angered and they want to kill American soldiers. The worst part about the contractors in Iraq is their relationship with politicians. We all know that Dick Cheney is the former CEO of Halliburton. He gets some serious stock options because of his former role with the company, so he is profiting from the crappy work that Halliburton and KBR are doing for our soldiers. Erik Prince, the founder of Black Water has personally given more than $200,000 to Republican causes in the last decade. All of these contractors are being awarded no-bid contracts for the work, and they have made billions of dollars from American taxpayers. In the good old days, soldiers took on the responsibilities that are being done by these irresponsible contractors. We need to elect people who won’t pay back their buddies or try to profit for war themselves.

2. Health Care for Military Families & Veterans

Universal health care is on the agenda for Barack Obama and health care savings accounts (HSAs) are on the agenda for John McCain. Unfortunately for military families, health care savings accounts are not an option. Military families cannot enroll in high-deductible health plans, which are the cornerstone of HSAs. Universal health care, on the other hand, is something that military families know well. The health care systems established on military bases are a form of universal health care. You go to the Army Medical Centers on an Army base and you pay no co-pay, you pay nothing for prescriptions (if you’re a soldier and like $3 if you’re a family member), and you receive quality care. My husband had surgery twice this year. The care we received at the private hospital in our hometown, was less than stellar. We waited in the emergency room for 6 hours, we had tons of paper work that had to be filled out before he could be admitted, and the physician’s assistant was totally confused about his surgery and thought he was supposed to get the wrong organ out. Did I mention he was in grave pain throughout this process? The army hospital was a completely different experience.  We walked in, we showed an I.D., he had his surgery, the doctors were professional, and everything was great. I think everyone should be able to walk in and show an I.D. and get the care they need, just like members of the military. Actually, I think we should have the same health care that Congress has. Health care is an important issue with the number of injured veterans who are coming home. We need them to have proper care and universal health care can give them the options they need to get specialized care anywhere in the country.

1. The Next Phase of Iraq and Afghanistan

George W. Bush is doing absolutely nothing to change the direction of Iraq. Our president is waiting for this issue to come across the desk of the next president. This may be a good thing since W is not known for making the most intelligent decisions. What’s next for the war? There has to be an exit strategy. If we continue to participate in this war just for the sake of participating in it, we will probably lose another 4,000 troops, making the grand total 8,000 lives lost due to the need to invade a country in search of weapons of mass destruction that never existed. Regardless of if you’re on the right or the left, we need to make decisions about the direction of the war. One presidential candidate said that he’d rather win the election over winning the war. He also said that he’s fine with this being a 100-year war. Every military family needs to really think about this issue. Can Americans afford this war? Is this war a distraction from the war on terror? Contrary to what some people believe, terrorism is alive and well. The war in Iraq and Afghanistan has been a big recruitment poster for terrorist groups. What happens when another September 11 happens? Will we be able to re-group without our military present? Our next president owes military families a timetable for withdrawal. We have to know when to say enough is enough. 

The Top Five Campaign Issues Military Wives Should Watch are my obviously full of my personal opinions about the state of public affairs in our country. I hope everyone will do their homework, and create their own top 5 issues list and determine which candidate will serve you best. This year, we need to think carefully about the decisions we make for the presidency and for Congress because these individuals will be deciding the fate of all military families. Every military wife needs to make this decision for herself and not make your voting decisions based on your husband’s decisions. Hillary Clinton, Geraldine Ferrara, and even Sarah Palin have proven that you need to find your voice as a women and be heard. Voting is the best way to be counted and be heard.

Mortar Attacks in Iraq

Jay arrived in his final destination in Iraq. My husband bought a SIM card from a local and he’s now calling me for free! It’s nice that I get to hear from him everyday now. While talking to him he told me about mortar attacks that he’s witnessed and how there are explosions around him constantly. It was wonderful to hear from him, but it’s tough to know that he’s in harm’s way for real now. Before, he was in Kuwait City, which does not have any violence. Now, he’s in the thick of it all. I knew that eventually I would hear about the violence facing Jay. I am working hard not to be anxious. I’ve just been prayerful.  We’re approaching Month 2 of this deployment. At least I know that there are five more months to go until I’ll see Jay!

After talking to Jay, I turned on the news to see that a local soldier was killed in Afghanistan. This soldier did 3 tours of duty in Iraq as well as two tours in Desert Storm in 1990s before his tour in Afghanistan. I will never complain about the length of this deployment again because Jay and I will only have to go through a deployment once. This soldier’s wife is much stronger than I am.

CNN Breaking News: Osama Bin Laden Not Leading Day-to-Day for Al QaedaOperations

This story just broke and I wanted to share it with everyone. It’s pretty ironic that I would post something moments ago about how everyone should read the news and then this information comes out. Osama bin Laden is not leading Al Qaeda. What this article doesn’t explicitly say is that the next generation of terrorists is leading Al Qaeda and that seven years have flown by since Sept. 11, which allowed Al Qaeda to do succession planning. Their organization is clearly still strong. The CIA is worried about the organization acquiring nuclear weapons. That’s serious business that some poor thugs in Iraq could never pull off! Al Qaeda is a well-oiled machine and we have been so distracted with other missions that we failed to take down the most dangerous terrorist in the world. I step on an airplane at least twice a month, and I can say that each time I do, I feel no safer than I did flying one month after Sept. 11. 

Here’s the article in its entirety:

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Osama bin Laden is no longer believed to be the head of al Qaeda’s day-to-day operations, but the United States’ capturing or killing him would still have a powerful effect on the organization, CIA Director Michael Hayden said Tuesday.

Osama bin Laden is spending a great deal of his energy merely surviving, CIA Director Tom Hayden says.

There is no greater security threat facing the United States than al Qaeda and its associates, Hayden said in a speech to the Los Angeles World Affairs Council.

The CIA’s top issues, however, also include nuclear proliferation — particularly in countries like Iran, North Korea and more recently Syria, he said. The greatest challenge lies in detecting those countries who might be developing in secret, Hayden said, as access to sensitive technologies is no longer the exclusive domain of a few advanced nations.

“Bin Laden said repeatedly that he considers acquisition of nuclear weapons a religious duty, and we know that al Qaeda remains determined to attack our country in ways that inflict maximum death and destruction,” he said.

Although he took questions from members of the audience, Hayden declined interview requests from journalists covering the event.

Seven years after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, Bin Laden and his second in command, Ayman al-Zawahiri, have yet to be captured.

However, “this man whom we really want to kill or capture is spending a great deal of his energy merely surviving,” Hayden said.

In response to a question about how the next president can help the agency focus on its core mission of protecting the homeland, Mr. Hayden replied “do nothing,” as the overall current structure of theCentral Intelligence Agency is functioning well.

After the election, there will be two daily presidential briefings — one for President Bush and a second for the president-elect, he said. The transition between presidents will be the first since the office of Director of National Intelligence was created. 

To Watch The News or Not Watch the News–That is the Question

Today, I saw that the death total is above 4,100. That’s such a large number. What’s even more staggering is the total for injuries, more than 20,000! Other military wives have told me not to watch the news, but I definitely think I should watch the news. I think it’s so important to stay on top of current events. If an Army wife didn’t watch the news today, she wouldn’t know that General Petraeus passed the baton to General Ordieno. This is an important fact. It can change a lot of things in Iraq. Organizational changes in companies can be traumatizing and debilitating to productivity for employees in a regular workplace, I can’t imagine what it’s like for the Army to go through organizational change. I hope everyone will stay on top of the latest news, so you can make informed decisions about every aspect of military life. The news should not cause you to worry. Everything that happens in Iraq is beyond our control, and anxiety will not help the situation. We cannot change the direction of anything in the world by remaining ignorant and shielding ourselves from the harsh realities of life. From this point forward, I plan to stay well-versed on international affairs and public policy, and I hope you will too.

Baghdad High

So, when Jay left for Iraq I decided to invest in HBO, and it was a great choice! I thought HBO, which carries quality programming would be a great alternative to my greatest weakness–reality tv. Today, I watched Baghdad High, a documentary on HBO that gives high-schoolers from Baghdad video cameras to document their daily lives. This presentation was so sad. It shows the horror these students face during their senior year in high school. In addition to having to figure out their next steps in life, they’re engrossed in the middle of a war they can’t comprehend. This documentary shows the pain these young men feel as one of their friends moves to another country in the middle of the school year to escape the violence. Another boy’s family faces financial hardship because of the terrible economic situation in the country. The third student featured struggles to keep his grades up as he tries to cope with not knowing where his father is alive or dead.

After watching this documentary, I’m even more opposed to our involvement in this war. This program showed regular adolescents who are caught in the middle of an unjust war. It was clear that all of the families depicted in this film hated Saddam Hussein. They were excited that he was killed in an inhumane way and many gave testimonies about how they were personally affected by Saddam’s evil ways. Now that Saddam is gone, they’re struggling to stay alive. One of the kids visited one of friends who had been injured by a roadside bomb. It was sad to see this child in a terrible condition. They also showed a clip from one of the orphanages in Baghdad. It was heart-wrenching to see children who looked hungry and unkept. These were all children who lost their parents because of the death from the war. It’s a very sad situation. It seems very much like a scene described in the book, Charlie Wilson’s War. The children who were Freedom Fighters in Afghanistan during the U.S-led covert operation against Russia. Those children felt mistreated by their situation and hated America for the violence they brought to their country. One of those children was Osama Bin Laden and he we know how his story goes. I don’t want to see another Osama Bin Laden emerge from the children of Iraq and Afghanistan, and occupation is not the answer to helping them rebuild their lives. I wish there were a way to restore goodwill. 

Make no mistake that I support and respect my husband and his comrades in the efforts for the war. I don’t, however, appreciate how the Bush Administration has been careless about developing an exit strategy and restoring goodwill within the country. One of the most notable quotes by Congressmen Wilson about the covert operation in Afghanistan was…”Those things happened and they were glorious, and then we fucked up the end game.” I fear that’s where we’re headed now in year 5 of this war. There’s no clear mission. In the beginning, there was the mission of finding Osama Bin Laden and other members of Al Quada and bringing down Saddam and his administration. Osama Bin Laden is hiding somewhere (some believe in Pakistan) and Saddam and his evil sons are dead. Where do we go from here? The obvious answer is to rebuild the country, but it makes no sense to rebuild when you destroy the infrastructure you just built the week before. We have been working to deter the insurgency, but it would be solved if they didn’t have a target.

This is a moment of honesty for me and I hope everyone will take this post as it is. These are thoughts swirling in my mind as I miss Jay and watch dramatic scenes of kids who have done no wrong. I do think the children are the ones who have been forgotten about in this mess.

Calls from Afar

Jay called today and it was so great to hear his voice! I was at work and in a meeting when he called this time. Everyone has been so understanding about me dropping everything to chat with him. He was in a great mood, which in turn put me in a great mood. I feel so much more relaxed today now that I had an extra day of rest. All is well! I’m ready to kick off the weekend!

Stress!!!

I have been so excited about being busy and not having to worry about my husband’s deployment that I haven’t been taking care of myself. Being so busy has actually made me physically sick. I stayed home from work today because I am so exhausted! I have been going, going, and going all day and all night since Jay left and I haven’t been taking care of myself. It’s ironic that my last post was about being busy and happy. Now, I busy and burned out. It only took two weeks to reach that point! I need to focus on being healthy for Jay. The last thing I need is to get so burned out from school, work, and volunteer activities. I have also been stretching myself thin on the social circuit. Last week, I had lunch with 4 different people and 1 brunch with another friend. I have to find some balance in my life. I’m too young to be so stressed out. I’m going to start investing in “me time”. I typically work out at least three times a week, and that has been slashed out of my schedule because of all of my other commitments. I am making a pledge today to return to my old, healthy habits. I am going to get up early and exercise tomorrow and go to yoga on Saturday. Those are activities that I usually do, but I am pledging to myself to stay on track! I’ll keep you posted on my progress…

President Bush Withdraws 8,000 Troops

This morning I read the headline: “Bush to Cut 8,000 Troops.” Here’s a link to the story:  http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/09/05/iraq.troops/index.html

I got excited for a minute and thought we could be on the brink of troop withdrawal from Iraq. This story became anti-climatic to me as I remembered that my husband and his comrades make up about half this number and that they still have 11 1/2 months to go. This cut in troops really didn’t even put a dent into the number of men and women who are actually serving over there. 

Right now, Jay’s deployment has not been bad for me. I’ve been very busy with work, school, and volunteer activities. I have not had time to sulk and come to grips with being alone. It feels like Jay is on one of his missions in the field. Because I’ve been in contact with him nearly everyday, I have not felt like he was at war. When I talk to him, I can hear laughter in the background and he typically tells me stories about his daily activities. I know this lightheartedness will change soon. I wonder at times if I’m ready for the grim realities of war. What does that reality entail? Only time will tell. Until next time….

Mi Vida Loca

Right now, I am stuck in stand-still traffic on the interstate highway. This is awful. They have construction going on right now. I have moved 3 miles in 30 minutes. This week has been super busy between school, work and my volunteer activities. I have been so busy the last couple of days that I haven’t had time to be depressed about the deployment. I am worn out, but its nice to not be anxious about the deployment. More to talk about soon.

Conversations From Kuwait & Mean Girls

So, Jay called me this afternoon from Kuwait. He was telling me about everything that was going on in Kuwait. How he was feeling about the situation. When he called, I was at lunch with one of my colleagues from work. It was pretty awkward having that conversation with someone right across the table. I want to break down in tears and tell Jay how much I loved him and missed him, but I also wanted to stay calm and composed because I didn’t want to get too personal in front of colleague. I chose the latter way of behaving. Jay actually commented that he realized that I was at a work lunch, but he wished that I could be more of myself. It was very awkward. I can imagine this happening many more times as the deployment moves forward. Because of the time difference He’ll be calling me mainly while I’m at work. I don’t want him to ever think I’m being disingenuous, but trying to stay composed in front of onlookers. I wonder if other army wives have had to deal with this.

Tonight, I had one of my evening classes after work. I walked into the class and saw two girls who I knew from a previous semester and they totally snubbed me. They looked me in the eye when I walked through the door and then turned their heads and started giggling to avoid me. I have not been treated like that in a long time. I smiled back and took a seat right in front of them, feeling absolutely mortified. I haven’t dealt with a situation like that in a long time. I had even sent one of the girls an email before class asking if she wanted to be on the same team for a project. She never emailed me back, but I’m guessing she doesn’t care for me too much. This was so much like a scene from high school. Its times like this that I wish Jay was here to tell me that I should never let any one make me feel insecure. I need that type of reassurance these days. I realized today that my best friend is not here to talk to me and that is making this deployment even more difficult. Today was one of those tough days, and then there’s PMS on top of that… 

On the bright side, I started a blog for Jay’s family during the deployment. It has been wonderful. They’re all kept in the loop without me having to contact them all individually. Plus, they are adding prayers and comments everyday. I know it encouraging Jay, but it’s helping me too! 🙂 Until next time…