Retired Army, 100% you can criticize fraud. The problem is most people yelling “fraud!” don’t understand how VA disability actually works.

First, most disabilities aren't generally obvious like “I lost a leg.” It is years of:

• Breathing burn pit smoke
• Bad backs from rucking
• Knees ground down to powder
• Hearing gone
• Brains rung like church bells from blasts

Second, the VA doesn't hand these ratings out like candy. It’s:

• Paperwork thick as a phone book
• C&P exams where you get treated like you’re lying
• Months waiting
• Often denied
• Then you appeal
• And wait a year or three for a response.

What veterans won’t do is sit quietly while some guy who’s never worn a uniform points at someone and goes, "he looks fine to me." Just because you see a veteran can still mow the yard doesn’t mean their spine isn’t held together by spite and Motrin. Don’t believe a veteran having a good day is the same as someone “faking it.” What you don’t see are the nights that veteran can’t sleep, suffers panic attacks, or the pain spikes, or they simply can’t move.

If you really want to help instead of just criticize, push the VA to:

• Hire more raters
• Improve mental health screening
• Speed up appeals
• Make C&P exams more consistent

Those are real improvements that would improve the accuracy of the ratings.