Wounded Warriors
Shame on our nation for allowing wounded soldiers to become victims of a disability rating system that is the product of a war being fought on the cheap ["Insult to Injury," April 16]. And especially shame on our elected representatives who are allowing this travesty to exist while voting for funds to build bridges to nowhere and other nonsensical projects. Military members getting shafted can least afford the low disability ratings. "Insult to Injury" should be required reading for young men and women who are thinking of volunteering for the armed forces.
VANCE SWAYZE
McGehee, Ark.
Your investigative report on veterans' disability treatment that blamed the Pentagon reflected adversely on your editorial staff. The Pentagon is forced to carefully control the disability award system to keep costs within the funding limits established by Congress. Federal law prohibits the Pentagon or any other federal administrative body from spending more money than Congress allocates it or from moving funding from one purpose to another without prior approval of Congress.
COL. J.H. WALKER
USMC (Ret.)
Irvine, Calif.
Thank you for shedding light on our veterans. I'm outraged at the discrepancy between what military life is really like and what the nonmilitary perspective is. Very little, if anything, is spoken in our homes about the sacrifices made on a daily basis. Thank you for venturing into this arena and possibly influencing others to do the same.
CHERYL HILL
Spouse of active-duty soldier
Fort Benning, Ga.
As a disabled veteran, i find it interesting that Americans are only now finding out that the medical treatment of our wounded servicemen and women is less than we would like it to be. We are unhappy because the system is arbitrary and frustrating. Where have we been for at least the last 60 years? The solution is simple. Close nearly all United States Department of Veterans Affairs hospitals and clinics except a few hospitals for veterans who need continual and total care. Place veterans' medical care under Medicare and Medicaid, where veterans would receive better care from better doctors in better facilities. Veterans would be better off with treatment by their local physicians in a local setting.
DEAN F. KEELEY, PH.D.
Iwo Jima survivor
Lafayette, La.
It is a disgrace that our country is failing its veterans. President George W. Bush made a host of promises in his campaign letter of Sept. 13, 2000, to active-duty military and veterans. Unfortunately, like so many others in Washington, D.C., he has not kept his word. Thank you for exposing the truth to the American people. They need to know.
MATTHEW C. FORD JR.
Township of Washington, N.J.
How dare our government ask military men and women to fight, then extend their tours, provide faulty equipment, and not help the wounded. Instead of the government turning its back on these men and women, it should venerate them as heroes.
SARAH HART
Belmont, Calif.
Your cover title "Cheating Our Vets" could have read: "Cheating Our Vets, Again." I am referring to the cheating of disabled veterans who are denied concurrent VA disability compensation with their military years of service retirement pay. Anyone else, other than military retired for years of service, receives VA disability compensation and whatever retirement pay that they are entitled to: congressional, civil service, or civilian. The correction of this inequity, H.R. 303, has languished in Congress because of a veto threat by President Bush, our commander in chief.
MASTER SGT. JAMES A. HILFORD
USAF (Ret.)
Asheville, N.C.
A Meaningful Dialogue
"Fighting for the Soul of Islam" [April 16] was an interesting article, and I'm happy to know there are some U.S. Muslims who question the actions and beliefs of fundamentalist Islamists. But all of the dialogue and challenge came from Muslims living in the United States or other western countries. There were no names of anyone challenging the fundamentalist view who live in an Islamic country. This challenge is meaningless unless it is within the Islamic world as opposed to the safety of the West.
SHELDON RABINOWITZ
Des Moines
I disagree with author Geneive Abdo's conclusions that "Muslims living in the West are unlikely to be fully integrated into their societies." This is not true of American Muslim women that I interviewed for my book, The Face Behind the Veil: The Extraordinary Lives of Muslim Women in America. The women profiled include a Baltimore judge, a Los Angeles doctor, a Miami hospital lab director, a Washington, D.C., civil rights attorney, a Seattle clothing designer, and a Louisville, Ky., human rights activist. These women volunteer, work, and raise families in America. They are fully integrated into our society to the point of running for elected office. Remember: A sizable number of our Muslims were born here. Many American Muslims converted to Islam as adults. They did not give up their citizenship for their religion.
DONNA GEHRKE-WHITE
Pembroke Pines, Fla.
Your excellent feature "Fighting for the Soul of Islam" begs one crucial question given the financial support for terrorists by Saudi Arabia and the multitude of madrasahs in Pakistan (our ally) conditioning children to hate western culture: What is going on with our foreign policy? The founder of Islam taught peace, love, and respect for all religions. If moderate Muslims really want to demonstrate their peaceful intentions, they must begin by wresting control of Mecca from fanatical Wahhabis. Failing that, they have no credibility.
SHOREY H. CHAPMAN
San Francisco
Firing Firestorm
In "How Gonzales Failed Us" [April 16], Harold Evans said President Clinton fired all 93 U.S. attorneys upon coming to office. Indeed he did, as is customary for a new administration. President Bush fired U.S. attorneys as well. What is not customary is to fire appointed attorneys in the second term of an administration. All eight fired were Bush appointees, not holdovers from Clinton. So the real question behind the Alberto Gonzales affair is, why were they fired? If their dismissal was because they weren't good Bushies, then what did the others do to be good enough to stay on? If this administration considers activist judges as skewing our system of justice, how then can they justify politicizing the Justice Department?
DON BLEGEN
Spring Valley, Wis.
Evans cites his views of the administration's efforts to thwart terrorism. Next, he admits that the president is well within his rights to fire any U.S. attorney he wants for any reason, but then goes on to say that some sort of public trust has been broken because of the timing. So long as none of the attorneys were involved in an ongoing investigation involving the administration, where was the wrongdoing here? It all boils down to an apathetic attempt by a Democratic-controlled Congress to use the only weapon it has, the power of subpoena, to embarrass the president.
ANDREW LEVIN
Hudson, N.H.
Higher (Priced) Ed
Your "Paying For College" [April 16] package covered the higher and higher costs of college tuition, fees, books, etc. ... thoroughly, except for the major omission of what is causing this cost to advance at about twice the rate of general inflation. Is it large increases in professor salaries? Is it the constant addition of new, expensive buildings? Or is it the law of supply and demand pursued by colleges that still get plenty of applications, even at higher costs? The answer is probably a mixture. But it is time for forward thinking by the college officials to reduce this excessive inflation of costs before it finally affects the enrollment.
DAVID E. WALLING
Two Rivers, Wis.
This story appears in the May 7, 2007 print edition of U.S. News & World Report.