By Jeffrey Page

 Eddie Ryan – Sergeant, U.S.M.C. – wasn’t wounded in Iraq by enemy gunfire or a roadside bomb but by that oxymoronic monster – friendly fire. He suffered terrible head wounds. It was during his second tour of duty in the Middle East. And now, the Marines want to kick him out.

 Six years after he was wounded, Sgt. Ryan is still relearning how to do things most of us take for granted, such as walking.

 But after giving so much to the nation, Sgt. Ryan, 25, of Ellenville, recently received a letter from the Department of the Navy informing him that he was being mustered out. In the words of some dithering half-wit in the Navy Department, he was told he’s out because he had been found “incompetent” and “unemployable.” This to a man who has been in and out of hospitals for six years, about one quarter of his life.

 Sgt. Ryan says he still has something to offer. “I’m working hard every day. I’m working on my legs,” he told The Times Herald-Record last month. “My Marines need me. I want to serve.”

 Maybe Sgt. Ryan isn’t ready to carry a rifle right now. But “incompetent” for suffering wounds accidentally inflicted by his comrades? Absolutely not. This man’s courage, pluck, and determination could inspire other wounded soldiers. He’s just a wounded Marine who needs more time to recover.

 No rational person can describe Sgt. Eddie Ryan as incompetent, and for some Navy desk jockey to address him that way in the chill of an official letter is obscene. But since the Navy Department is tossing an incendiary word like “incompetent” in the direction of Ellenville, it behooves Americans to consider the competence – or serious lack thereof – of some of the people in our wartime government over the last decade.

 Competence? There were the hucksters in the Bush administration who sold America a bill of goods about Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction. You remember, the chemical, biological and nuclear weapons they knew Hussein possessed even if none was ever found.

 How about all the Bushies who were never able to answer this uncomplicated question: If Hussein had such weapons, why didn’t he use them against foreign troops landing on his soil?

 What about then-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld assuring President Bush that the war wouldn’t cost a dime because Iraq’s oil reserves would pay for it?

 Recall Rumsfeld’s response to a soldier in Kuwait who asked why the troops had to dig through landfills for scrap metal to fashion into armor for their vehicles. Rumsfeld’s hapless response: “As you know, ah, you go to war with the army you have, not the army you might want or wish to have at a later time.”

 And how about Dick Cheney assuring the nation that the end of the war was near at hand? Of America’s adversaries he said: “I think they’re in the last throes, if you will, of the insurgency.” That was May 30, 2005.

 Competence? There’s the Einstein at the Government Printing Office who recently placed a report on non-military nuclear facilities in the United States on the internet. This catalogue contained handy little maps to show precisely where weapons-grade nuclear material is kept. This sounds like delicious information for a terrorist, but one former head of the CIA said: “These screw-ups happen.” There’ve been others?

 There’s the case of  Vice President Joe Biden – first in the line of presidential succession – revealing that Dick Cheney’s “secure location” after the attacks of 9/11 was in the basement of the Naval Observatory. Cheney’s hideout was always good for a laugh, but the observatory is the official residence of the VP – making it Biden’s new home and his own “secure location” in case of danger.

 As you know, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi – second in the line of presidential succession – may now be working on her 37th revision of her charge that the CIA lied to her about the use of torture. Or is it the 47th? One of these days she’s bound to come up with her final version.

 These are some of the people who’ve demonstrated their levels of competence. Not much, right? Yet with the exception of Rumsfeld, they served out their time in the Bush administration and are getting off to a rousing start in President Obama’s administration. And all the while, Sgt. Eddie Ryan, U.S.M.C., gets booted out of the Corps and remains in Ellenville working hard to get back to his men.

 Jeffrey can be reached at jeffrey@zestoforange.com.

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