Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
New York Daily News
June 12, 2008
Pg. 26
By Michael Daly
FOUR DAYS OF complaining and grumbling about the heat ended with the rumble of thunder and a rain that left the city with the sweet smell of cooled streets. Yesterday morning, the sun was still a little hotter than some might like, but the air was fresh and there was a nice little breeze.
And, everyone in New York had cause to be thankful we are not among those serving in that distant place where there is no relief from temperatures that would break all records here.
Imagine if you were not in Brooklyn or the Bronx, but Baghdad.
Imagine if the forecast offered unrelenting heat for day after day after day, up to 107 by the end of the week, up to 109 on Monday.
Imagine trudging around in those temperatures wearing body armor and weighed down by gear, your brain half addled by heat and your eyes stinging with sweat as you struggle to keep hyperalert for any sign of danger. Blink and you might miss it. Miss it and you could be blown to bits, never again to smell a summer rain or feel a cooling breeze.
And imagine knowing that most of your fellow citizens back home are too worried about the economy and gas prices to give you much of a thought as you fight to keep your buddies and yourself alive in Hades on the Euphrates.
And just imagine what it would mean if all of America made a gesture telling you that you are not forgotten, that you are appreciated no less than those of the Greatest Generation.
The country quite nearly did that when the Senate and the House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a new G.I. Bill modeled after the one that welcomed our soldiers back from World War II.
A soldier’s well-earned reward after a three-year enlistment would be a full tuition for a four-year college, plus modest living expenses.
What better way to give our finest young people a leg up, to ensure the most deserving are accorded a chance to get ahead?
The Defense Department grumbled that the bill was too generous and would make too many soldiers quit after their first enlistment.
Never mind that the same report that projects 16% more soldiers would leave also projects that 16% more would be enticed to join up.
President Bush vowed not to sign the bill, at first anyway. He has since indicated he might be willing to strike a deal.
After first complaining that the measure was too costly, Bush wants to make it much more so, perhaps with the cynical hope that Congress will balk and end up being blamed for stiffing the troops.
“It’s like the Yogi Berra story: ‘I don’t like that restaurant. Besides, the portions aren’t large enough,’” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) was quoted saying. “They don’t like it, but they want more.”
Those who are calling for the President to support the bill as passed include the parents of Ross McGinnis. He was the 19-year-old soldier to whom Bush posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for saving four comrades in Iraq by jumping on a grenade.
“So that they are reminded they are appreciated and will be welcomed when they come home,” the father, Tom McGinnis, said of the soldiers presently serving.
Meanwhile, the weather forecast for New York is in the pleasant upper 70s by Monday, when it is expected to hit 109 in Baghdad.
June 12, 2008
Pg. 26
By Michael Daly
FOUR DAYS OF complaining and grumbling about the heat ended with the rumble of thunder and a rain that left the city with the sweet smell of cooled streets. Yesterday morning, the sun was still a little hotter than some might like, but the air was fresh and there was a nice little breeze.
And, everyone in New York had cause to be thankful we are not among those serving in that distant place where there is no relief from temperatures that would break all records here.
Imagine if you were not in Brooklyn or the Bronx, but Baghdad.
Imagine if the forecast offered unrelenting heat for day after day after day, up to 107 by the end of the week, up to 109 on Monday.
Imagine trudging around in those temperatures wearing body armor and weighed down by gear, your brain half addled by heat and your eyes stinging with sweat as you struggle to keep hyperalert for any sign of danger. Blink and you might miss it. Miss it and you could be blown to bits, never again to smell a summer rain or feel a cooling breeze.
And imagine knowing that most of your fellow citizens back home are too worried about the economy and gas prices to give you much of a thought as you fight to keep your buddies and yourself alive in Hades on the Euphrates.
And just imagine what it would mean if all of America made a gesture telling you that you are not forgotten, that you are appreciated no less than those of the Greatest Generation.
The country quite nearly did that when the Senate and the House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a new G.I. Bill modeled after the one that welcomed our soldiers back from World War II.
A soldier’s well-earned reward after a three-year enlistment would be a full tuition for a four-year college, plus modest living expenses.
What better way to give our finest young people a leg up, to ensure the most deserving are accorded a chance to get ahead?
The Defense Department grumbled that the bill was too generous and would make too many soldiers quit after their first enlistment.
Never mind that the same report that projects 16% more soldiers would leave also projects that 16% more would be enticed to join up.
President Bush vowed not to sign the bill, at first anyway. He has since indicated he might be willing to strike a deal.
After first complaining that the measure was too costly, Bush wants to make it much more so, perhaps with the cynical hope that Congress will balk and end up being blamed for stiffing the troops.
“It’s like the Yogi Berra story: ‘I don’t like that restaurant. Besides, the portions aren’t large enough,’” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) was quoted saying. “They don’t like it, but they want more.”
Those who are calling for the President to support the bill as passed include the parents of Ross McGinnis. He was the 19-year-old soldier to whom Bush posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for saving four comrades in Iraq by jumping on a grenade.
“So that they are reminded they are appreciated and will be welcomed when they come home,” the father, Tom McGinnis, said of the soldiers presently serving.
Meanwhile, the weather forecast for New York is in the pleasant upper 70s by Monday, when it is expected to hit 109 in Baghdad.