That in no way makes it right. This is 2003, not 1903.
Ask yourself if any of that $87 billion the administration just asked for, is going to these troops. With all the waste in that $87 billion, it wouldn't hurt to throw a million or two at local civilian doctors and nurses and get them some kind of treatment or processed out of the military.
I personally believe soldiers should be paid more than senators. When we find a way to do this, let me know. If it were up to me, a senator would have to pay us for the job- not vice versa. You want to increase retention and the morale of soldiers in the combat zone? Double pay immediately for all soldiers. Quadruple it for those deployed. Quintuple it for those deployed in a combat area. Make all soldiers' salaries tax free- period.
Now, do we have the money for that? No.
But again, these conditions as described are not that harsh. Not in my experience. For every notch we raise the bar of "quality of life" for soldiers, the more life in a place like Iraq is going to seem unbearable to them when in reality people have survived in worse situations for centuries on end. Soldiers have to be able to endure situations that the normal person would find completely intolerable. Sleeping in bunks and cinder block buildings is not intolerable by any stretch of the imagination.
Or call up Reserve and Guard doctors, many of whom got a full or partial ride through med school in exchange for a few years of part time service. No proctologists would be nice, but they're bound to call up a few. I had an AF reserve doc who was one in civilian life give me a physical once, that was the least unpleasant "spread 'em" exam I've ever had, including by my personal docs over the years.