Donald Trump and the troops
Families of the sailors and Marines aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln are raging that their loved ones are exhausted and running out of amenities as the carrier enters its ninth month at sea and its fifth consecutive month of combat operations against Iran.
“Moldy showers. Food shortages. Sailors running out of toothpaste, deodorant and soap,” said MS NOW reporter Priya Sridhar to Deadline White House anchor Nicole Wallace, citing statements from families of ailing, exasperated soldiers.
MS NOW spoke to a dozen family members who say they are extremely concerned with the morale, safety and conditions on the ship as soldiers grow increasingly frustrated and weary. They described a crew straining under the demands of an unexpectedly long deployment, as President Donald Trump continues to extend his military campaign against Iran with no clear end in sight.
“The families told MS NOW there is no indication of when their loved ones are going to return home, as the routine seven-month deployment for the 5,000-plus crew members appears to have been extended for a second time,” reported Sridhar. “Three family members agreed to make their names public, while others spoke on the condition of anonymity because of concerns the military would retaliate against their loved ones on the ship.”
Meanwhile, most sailors are working excruciatingly long shifts, say families, while others rarely get a day off. One father — a Navy veteran — claimed his son claimed to have seen holes worn through the Lincoln’s flight deck.
“Deployment was extended for a second time, and they're concerned that this could lead to accidents that could potentially turn deadly,” said Sridhar. And then on top of that, … they're telling me that the sailors and the marines can't take hot showers, that the toilets are nonoperational, that for weeks at a time, there are no access to working laundry facilities, and that they're having to stand in lines to get into the ship's store for 1 to 2 hours. And when they get there, there are no basic hygiene items like toothpaste, deodorant or soap.”
The families’ frustration, added Sridhar, is that they’re hearing about the nation’s winnowing stockpiles of munitions and weapons, which Trump and his defense secretary keep blowing on Iran, and a $67 billion Department of Defense request, and they want their loved ones to be part of the conversation too.
U.S. Rep. Jason Crow (D-Colo.) told Wallace that the Trump administration has been funneling money budgeted for soldiers into his personal agenda items.
“Not only are they not doing their job and they're derelict in their duty, but they're … literally stealing money from pots of funding that Congress has allocated for wellness for our troops and their families,” said Crow, an Iraq and Afghanistan veteran. “We allocated last year billions of dollars for construction of new barracks and new housing on our bases. This administration stole that money for Trump's border wall. We allocated money for … health care for our troops. And time and time again, they reprogram — they take money out of those pots that we put into welfare and quality of life for our troops and their families, and they allocate it to contingency operations for their endless war to border operations.”
“So enough is enough,” said Crow. “We are going to retake power in November. We're going to put some guardrails in place, and we're going to start doing the right thing.”