First, because that’s zero-sum thinking, so they’re only going to think the second half of that. Take it from me, no-one from there is ever going to think “why are they doing this when they could/should be doing that” when they could just think the dependent clause without making it dependent on anything.
And second, because they know exactly who is responsible for veterans’ care, by every principle of honor and balance and debt, and by gods, they know a warbarrister or two who’ll be delighted to extract it from them on general principle.
(That would be the Pentagon and the Department of Defense, whom even a brief examination of the state of provision for both active servicemembers and veterans will demonstrate to be a bunch of faithless sons of bitches in desperate need of a reminder that loyalty runs both ways.)
I have seen people, in these current days of multiple atrocities, calling upon we merry writers of fiction to say something relevant.
Well, here it is:
Consider the public responses to events in these times as today’s sad and sorry reminder exactly how many of us would be red-flagged by the Guardians of Our Harmony as unfit for participation in a society of sane and reasonable people.
On the other hand, the Guardians of Our Harmony would also have the equipment to fix the issues. And if we can just rewrite my wonky mental OS to fix a few things, I’ll freaking volunteer!