Say Anything Blog

When does the left/media care about the treatment of our soldiers and vets?  When they can turn our soldiers/vets into victims to be used as so much political propaganda against their political opponents.

Of course, I know that we all want to see our troops cared for in an appropriate manner both during and after their service, but there comes a point at which our vets need to be responsible for their actions the same as anyone else.  Case in point, one Mr. Gamal Awad who is the “case in point” used in an AP article of the “look at the terrible cost Bush’s war has placed on us” variet.

TEMECULA, Calif. - He was one of America’s first defenders on Sept. 11, 2001, a Marine who pulled burned bodies from the ruins of the Pentagon. He saw more horrors in Kuwait and Iraq.

Today, he can’t keep a job, pay his bills, or chase thoughts of suicide from his tortured brain. In a few weeks, he may lose his house, too.

Gamal Awad, the American son of a Sudanese immigrant, exemplifies an emerging group of war veterans: the economic casualties.

More than in past wars, many wounded troops are coming home alive from the Middle East. That’s a triumph for military medicine. But they often return hobbled by prolonged physical and mental injuries from homemade bombs and the unremitting anxiety of fighting a hidden enemy along blurred battle lines. Treatment, recovery and retraining often can’t be assured quickly or cheaply.

“Economic casualties.”  Sounds like something right out of the John Edwards play book.  This reporter has a future in left-wing agitprop.

Anyway, the problem highlighted is one we should take seriously.  We must do everything we can to make sure our veterans, particularly our disabled veterans, get everything they need once they return home from the battlefield.  The problem is that like any citizen, we can’t protect these vets from making bad decisions.  Mr. Awad is held up in this article as an example of how our troops aren’t getting what they need, but the reality is his current situation is the result of his own poor decisions.

From the article:

Every morning, Awad needs to think of a reason not to kill himself. . . .

He stews alternately over suicide and finances, his $43,000 in credit card debt, his $4,330 in federal checks each month — the government’s compensation for his total disability from post-traumatic stress disorder. His flashbacks, thoughts of suicide, and anxiety over imagined threats — all documented for six years in his military record — keep him from working.

The disability payments don’t cover the $5,700-a-month cost of his adjustable home mortgage and equity loans. He owes more on his house than its market value, so he can’t sell it — but he may soon lose it to the bank.

$43,000 in credit card debt?  And a $5,700-a-month mortgage on top?  And equity loans?  That’s horrible, but nobody is responsible for that irresponsible spending but Mr. Awad himself.  The article tries to claim that this house is something he could once afford…

“I love this house. It makes me feel safe,” he says.

Awad could once afford it. He used to earn $100,000 a year as a 16-year veteran major with a master’s degree in management who excelled at logistics. Now, at age 38, he can’t even manage his own life.

...but $5,700 a month is $68,400 a year.  Or about 69% of his before-tax income.  Anyone who thinks that’s a economically sound decision to make is a fool.  I mean, perhaps Mr. Awad could make his payments prior to his injury, but he was sure stretching himself thin.  Which is probably why he’s got $43,000 in credit card debate and a bevy of equity loans to pay off on top of that mortgage.

My question is, why can’t Awad just sell his home?  Maybe he doesn’t have enough equity in it to make it pay, but at least he could divest himself of that big monthly payment and perhaps close out some of those equity loans too.  But regardless, Mr. Awad isn’t an example of soldiers being treated poorly after the war.  He’s getting $51,000/year in benefits (tax-free, I’m sure) which is more than a lot of us get.  And he deserves it, given his service, but his personal financial dilemmas are his own doing.

Again, we can’t protect citizens from their own bad decisions.