How Bush and Rummy "support the troops"

Via Juan Cole, this one pretty much speaks for itself. From GAO Says Government Pesters Wounded Soldiers Over Debts by Donna St. George Washington Post 04/27/06:

Nearly 900 soldiers wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan have been saddled with government debts as they have recovered from war, according to a report that describes collection notices going out to veterans with brain damage, paralysis, lost limbs and shrapnel wounds. ...

The GAO report said that 73 percent of the debts were caused by pay problems, including overpayments, calculation errors and mistakes in leave. Other debts were created when soldiers were billed for enlistment bonuses, medical services, travel and lost equipment. ... (my emphasis)

They're even "pro-family" about it, too:

In one case cited in the GAO report, the debts meant that a soldier's family had no money to pay bills and had to send an 11-year-old daughter to live out of state.

Cole's comment:

For a wounded soldier with brain damage to later get a bill from the Bush administration for the cost of the weapon he left in Iraq's sands is just about the worse thing I have ever heard.

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