But What About The Other 1 Percent: The Veterans?

Ordinarily, when the U.S. is at war, there would be some discussion of that war in the presidential campaign.

In the 2012 election cycle, however, the public has been left largely in the dark when it comes to the candidates' views on the war the U.S. is still fighting in Afghanistan, or the war the U.S. recently stopped fighting in Iraq.

But even if Afghanistan and Iraq are off limits on the campaign trail -- along with much of the rest of the candidates' foreign policies—a crucial domestic component to the issue of military intervention remains: the veterans.

There are about 2.4 million veterans of Afghanistan and Iraq, nearly a million of whom may still carry with them a heavy burden of war, in the form of wounds, diseases or chronic conditions.

How will the U.S. as a nation meet their needs? That’s the question raised by Juliette Kayyem, a lecturer at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and a Boston Globe columnist, after a recent stint as assistant secretary for intergovernmental affairs at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Kayyem argues that the reintegration, employment, and mental and physical health of veterans are all significant challenges that the candidates should be addressing. But, in a recent column in the Globe, she wrote that contemporary political discourse has "left service members by the wayside."

The column was prompted by the fact that Romney, during his speech at the Republican convention in Tampa, made no mention of veterans issues at all -- and didn't even thank the troops.

At the first presidential debate, there was no mention of veterans programs or the troops.

Kayyem said it's too easy for the public to forget veterans, because they comprise such a small and often isolated segment of the population—"The other 1 percent, as they call themselves."

For many of us, the recognition of veterans comes in Jumbotron moments, Kayyem said: Salutes at halftime, or at the top of the fifth inning.


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dan-froomkin/veterans-presidential-debate_b_1957995.html