[Anyone] Not surptised:

[totem at laplaza.org]

bushco at work:
Wounded Vets Asked to Pay Up
   Â Â Â Â The Associated Press



    Monday 26 November 2007



    New York - Service members seriously wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan    after they received 
a $10,000 bonus for enlisting are being asked by the    Pentagon to repay portions of the 
incentive money, says a U.S. senator    who calls the practice an example of military policy gone 
wrong.



    "A bill in the mail is not the kind of present our soldiers deserve in       this holiday season," 
Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y. said. "Our veterans       are not being treated with the dignity, 
respect and thanks that they    deserve. It's just a disgrace."



    At a news conference Sunday, he said the policy remained in effect    despite a report last July 
by a presidential commission that wounded    veterans were being unfairly penalized by a 
requirement that enlistees    must fulfill their entire term of service or lose a pro-rated portion 
of    their bonus.



    "This policy and early discharge as a result of service-related injury       is now preventing 
thousands of combat-wounded warriors from getting the    bonuses they have earned," Schumer 
said. "This includes several hundred       New Yorkers who suffered wounds or catastrophic 
injuries before    concluding their duty."



    He said that when the case of Jordan Fox, an Army sniper partially    blinded by a roadside 
bomb in Iraq, was called to the Pentagon's    attention, officials replied that the demand for him 
to repay $2,800 was    a "clerical error" and canceled the debt.



    If the Mount Lebanon, Pa., soldier's case was an isolated incident,    there has been no 
explanation of why hundreds of other wounded veterans    have also received letters demanding 
repayment, Schumer said. "When you       talk to the Pentagon, you get different answers from 
different people,"       he said.



    The numbers of veterans affected by the policy are not known. Schumer    said his office had 
received several complaints, as had the Iraq and    Afghanistan Veterans of America.



    "Asking wounded service members to repay part of their enlistment    bonuses is an outrage," 
IAVA Executive Director Paul Rieckhoff said in       an e-mailed statement.



    "Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America is pleased to work with    Congress to put an end 
to this unfair practice," Rieckhoff said. "These       injured heroes have made enormous sacrifices 
for our country and they    deserve to be treated with the utmost honor and gratitude."



    Standing in front of a World War I memorial, Schumer called on the    Department of Defense 
to conduct an internal investigation and audit to    identify recently wounded personnel who 
received the dunning letters and    assure them that repayments were not necessary.



    He also said he would support proposed legislation, to be called the    Veterans Guaranteed 
Bonus Act, to require full payment of bonuses to    enlistees within 30 days of discharge from 
the service due to    combat-related injuries.



    As of Sunday, at least 3,875 members of the U.S. military have died    since the beginning of 
the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an    Associated Press count. The figure includes eight 
military civilians. At    least 3,157 died as a result of hostile action, according to the    military's 
numbers.



    The AP count is three higher than the Defense Department's tally, last    updated Friday at 10 
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