This administration Hates the Troops!

[nacktman]

Just another example of how the shrub and the cabal hate the troops.:mad:

Mother Fights Army Over Son's Death

<!-- google_ad_section_start (name=blsadstrgt)--> Joan McDonald believes her son was a casualty of the war in Iraq, but the Army says that while he did suffer a severe head wound in a bomb blast, the cause of his death is undetermined, keeping him off the casualty list.
She and her family are demanding more answers in the death of Sgt. James W. McDonald.
"I don't want it to be an undetermined cause of death," said Joan McDonald. "That is ridiculous."
McDonald, 26, was injured in a roadside bomb blast in Iraq last May. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment based at Fort Hood, Texas. After treatment in Germany, McDonald returned to Fort Hood and underwent extensive facial surgery in August.
His body was found in his barracks apartment Nov. 12, a Monday. He was last seen alive the previous Friday.
The Army ruled out suicide and accidental factors, but an autopsy could not determine the exact cause of death, in part because of the decomposition of the body, said Col. Diane Battaglia, a base spokeswoman.
As a result, McDonald's death is considered noncombat-related, with the caveat that medical experts couldn't rule out that "traumatic brain injury" may have been a factor, Battaglia said.
Joan McDonald, of Neenah, has no doubts about her son's death.
"If my son was not at the war, he would not be dead, plain and simple," she said. "He was a strong healthy boy. ... Don't tell me it was unrelated to the war. I will never accept that."
Tom Wilborn, a spokesman for Disabled American Veterans in Washington, said the question of whether McDonald was a war casualty is the first that he was aware of from the Iraq war.
"But it happened a lot during Vietnam," he said. "There's a long history where guys would be wounded in the jungle and they might live long enough to come home. And then they would pass away and were not counted as a combat casualty."
According to an Army study in 2007, 1.4 million people in the U.S. suffer traumatic brain injuries each year. Of those, 50,000 die, 235,000 are hospitalized and 1.1 million are evaluated, treated at a hospital emergency department and released.
A Government Accountability Office study found that of soldiers who required a medical evacuation for battle-related injuries in Iraq or Afghanistan, 30 percent suffered a traumatic brain injury. But it was unknown how many soldiers suffered more mild forms of brain injury.
The family has asked Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., for help. McDonald has a copy of a March 11 letter Feingold sent to Maj. Gen. Galen Jakman at the Pentagon outlining her concerns.
McDonald said her son was a strapping 6-foot-3, 200-pound soldier who served two tours of duty in Iraq and loved the military.
"He was having a problem sleeping since he came back from the war. I don't think it had anything to do with sleep apnea. I think it had to do with bombs," she said. He also had seen a doctor because of severe nose bleeds but was told the symptoms were not that unusual, given his August surgery, she said.
Before he died, McDonald had worked on the base at a weapons room and the post office, she said. He had planned to leave the Army in January to pursue a career in firefighting.
She said she recently ran across a T-shirt that said he helped build a memorial wall at Fort Hood to honor its soldiers killed in Iraq.
"I want his name on that wall," she said. "We don't know what else to do. I have one brother who is saying 'Does it matter. To you, he is a casualty of war. To everyone that knew him, he is a casualty of war.' I am like, well, it kinda does matter."



(From the Associated Press)

[jon71]

This is wrong. That young man served his country with HONOR and deserves HONOR in return. He would still be alive if he hadn't been sent to Iraq. He has my respect and his family has my sympathy. Let's end this before more good American's like Sgt. McDonald are lost.

[Paniga]

I have heard that if someone is injured in Iraq but the fly them out of there then they died of the woundes, it dosnt count as a death from the iraq war as they did not die in Iraq. I think they do this to try to keep the number of soildiers deaths in Iraq down.

[Qikdraw]

I have heard that if someone is injured in Iraq but the fly them out of there then they died of the woundes, it dosnt count as a death from the iraq war as they did not die in Iraq. I think they do this to try to keep the number of soildiers deaths in Iraq down.

Yup, this is what I have heard as well.

I wonder what the true totals are?

Qikdraw

[NakedGary]

As of today +4,000 troops killed in action...... 3-23-2008
http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2008/WORLD/meast/03/23/iraq.main/t1home.2238.flags.gi.jpg (http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/03/23/iraq.main/index.html)

A memorial marks U.S. deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan. (Getty Images)

<SCRIPT type=text/javascript>document.write(cnnRenderT1TimeStamp(1206336464385) );</SCRIPT>updated 7 minutes ago

Blast kills 4, raising U.S. toll in Iraq to 4,000 (http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/03/23/iraq.main/index.html)

Four U.S. soldiers died in a roadside bombing in Iraq on Sunday, military officials said, bringing the American toll in the 5-year-old war to the grim milestone of 4,000 deaths. Eight of those killed were civilians working for the Pentagon.

[usmc1]

As of today +4,000 troops killed in action...... 3-23-2008
http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2008/WORLD/meast/03/23/iraq.main/t1home.2238.flags.gi.jpg (http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/03/23/iraq.main/index.html)

A memorial marks U.S. deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan. (Getty Images)

<script type="text/javascript">document.write(cnnRenderT1TimeStamp(1206336464385) );</script>updated 7 minutes ago

Blast kills 4, raising U.S. toll in Iraq to 4,000 (http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/03/23/iraq.main/index.html)

Four U.S. soldiers died in a roadside bombing in Iraq on Sunday, military officials said, bringing the American toll in the 5-year-old war to the grim milestone of 4,000 deaths. Eight of those killed were civilians working for the Pentagon.



Actually, the count should set right at 4,005---since there are five known deaths, from wounds received in Iraq, which happened later in the U.S..

Certainly is is even higher were we to count suicides (Post Iraq), and other deaths attributable tp PTSD and alcohol and drug related injuries.

We, most of us, know the tragedy of this administration in relation to the men and women of our military.

[Qikdraw]

Cheney On 4,000 Dead Americans: They Volunteered (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/03/24/cheney-on-4000-dead-amer_n_93109.html)

Noting the burden placed on military families, the Vice President said the biggest burden is carried by President Bush, and reminded ABC news that the U.S. military in Iraq and Afghanistan volunteered for duty.

What an a**.

Qikdraw

[usmc1]

Cheney On 4,000 Dead Americans: They Volunteered (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/03/24/cheney-on-4000-dead-amer_n_93109.html)

Quote:
<table border="0" cellpadding="6" cellspacing="0" width="100%"> <tbody><tr> <td class="alt2" style="border: 1px inset ;"> Noting the burden placed on military families, the Vice President said the biggest burden is carried by President Bush, and reminded ABC news that the U.S. military in Iraq and Afghanistan volunteered for duty. </td> </tr> </tbody></table>
What an a**.

QikdrawThey did not volunteer for "Stop Loss", or forced returns to duty of reservists already having served more than one tour.

Our friend, may he be well, NudeAl is on his third or fourth tour > He made it very plain that is not what he volunteered for.

Besides being a Big Fat Liar and War Profiteer, Cheney is a festering pimple on the unwashed arse of a mange eaten swamp hog. <!-- / message --><!-- controls -->

[nacktman]

http://www.bartcop.com/4000-dead-so.jpg

This is what a "festering pimple on the arse of a mange swamp hog" looks like!

[bocanude]

The loss of life is certainly a tragidy by any account...just out of curiousity,what was the loss of life count for the democratic conflict called Vietnam?

[jon71]

By "Democratic conflict" do you mean it was started by Eisenhower, continued by Kennedy, increased by Johnson, and then after Nixon was elected promising to end it he waited more than 3 years to even begin doing so to get the most benefit to his re-election campaign? Four presidents have to share the blame for that one though I'd give most of the guilt to Johnson and Nixon.

[usmc1]

By "Democratic conflict" do you mean it was started by Eisenhower, continued by Kennedy, increased by Johnson, and then after Nixon was elected promising to end it he waited more than 3 years to even begin doing so to get the most benefit to his re-election campaign? Four presidents have to share the blame for that one though I'd give most of the guilt to Johnson and Nixon.

I can first person vouchsafe this one. Without revealing more than necessary: I cast my first presidential vote for JFK while a Air Force Major overlooked, when assigned TAD to an operation setting up radar stations and road-watchers which was supervised by a chap from Langley properly decked out in Ray Bans--this was during Eisenhower's administration.

[usmc1]

Black Sabbath's War Pigs


<HR>

Generals gathered in their masses,
just like witches at black masses.
Evil minds that plot destruction,
sorcerers of death's construction.

In the fields the bodies burning,
as the war machine keeps turning.
Death and hatred to mankind,
poisoning their brainwashed minds.
Oh lord, yeah!

Politicians hide themselves away.
They only started the war.
Why should they go out to fight?
They leave that role to the poor, yeah.
Time will tell on their power minds,
making war just for fun.

Treating people just like pawns in chess,
wait till their judgement day comes, yeah.
Now in darkness world stops turning,
ashes where the bodies burning.
No more War Pigs have the power,
Hand of God has struck the hour.

Day of judgement, God is calling,
on their knees the war pigs crawling.
Begging mercies for their sins,
Satan, laughing, spreads his wings.
Oh lord, yeah!

--Black Sabbath, War Pigs
</PRE>

[BinCo]

:)Roger Waters: The Bravery of Being Out of Range.

You have a natural tendency
To squeeze off a shot
You're good fun at parties
You wear the right masks
You're old but you still
Like a laugh in the locker room
You can't abide change
You're at home an the range
You opened your suitcase
Behind the old workings
To show off the magnum
You deafened the canyon
A comfort a friend
Only upstaged in the end
By the Uzi machine gun
Does the recoil remind you
Remind you of sex
Old man what the hell you gonna kill next
Old timer who you gonna kill next
I looked over Jordan and what did I see
Saw a U.S. Marine in a pile of debris
I swam in your pools
And lay under your palm trees
I looked in the eyes of the Indian
Who lay on the Federal Building steps
And through the range finder over the hill
I saw the frontline boys popping their pills
Sick of the mess they find
On their desert stage
And the bravery of being out of range
Yeah the question is vexed
Old man what the hell you gonna kill next
Old timer who you gonna kill next
Hey bartender over here
Two more shots
And two more beers
Sir turn up the TV sound
The war has started on the ground
Just love those laser guided bombs
They're really great
For righting wrongs
You hit the target
And win the game
From bars 3,000 miles away
3,000 miles away
We play the game
With the bravery of being out of range
We zap and maim
With the bravery of being out of range
We strafe the train
With the bravery of being out of range
We gained terrain
With the bravery of being out of range
With the bravery of being out of range
We play the game
With the bravery of being out of range


Roger Waters: Perfect Sense, Part 1

The monkey sat on a pile of stones
And he stared at the broken bone in his hand
And the strains Viennese quartet
Rang out across the land
The monkey looked up at the stars
And he thought to himself
Memory is a stranger
History is for fools
And he cleaned his hands
In a pool of holy writing
Turned his back on the garden
And set out for the nearest town
Hold on hold on soldier
When you add it all up
The tears and marrowbone
There's an ounce of gold
And an ounce of pride in each ledger
And the Germans killed the Jews
And the Jews killed the Arabs
And Arabs killed the hostages
And that is the news
And is it any wonder
That the monkey's confused
He said Mama Mama
The President's a fool
Why do I have to keep reading
These technical manuals
And the joint chiefs of staff
And the brokers on Wall Street said
Don't make us laugh
You're smart kid
Time is linear
Memory's a stranger
History's for fools
Man is a tool in the hands
Of the great God Almighty
And they gave him command
Of a nuclear submarine
And sent him back in search of
The Garden of Eden

[Qikdraw]

I prefer a nice classic myself (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZgHH72G8wQ)

Qikdraw

[Sanslines]

I can first person vouchsafe this one. Without revealing more than necessary: I cast my first presidential vote for JFK while a Air Force Major overlooked...........

Damn....you are old!

[Boreas]

Damn....you are old!

LOL....I sure did not want to be the one who said that. I am glad someone did though! ;)

[MoonShadow]

LOL --- shame on you Sanslines and Boreas! But hey, hope you guys are as fiesty at my age ;)

I am up there and slightly beyond usmc! I loved Black Sabbath and still do! I remember the words. Deja vu from this thread

Remember the song, the Green Berets, which was banned from radio stations?

[Boreas]

LOL....well I am probably not far behind you guys. For the record my body feels older than it ought to today. I have aches on aches for no particularly good reason. I have a massage scheduled for tomorrow so that should help some.

[bocanude]

By "Democratic conflict" do you mean it was started by Eisenhower, continued by Kennedy, increased by Johnson, and then after Nixon was elected promising to end it he waited more than 3 years to even begin doing so to get the most benefit to his re-election campaign? Four presidents have to share the blame for that one though I'd give most of the guilt to Johnson and Nixon.

So you are basically saying Nixon ended the war. After reading thru most of the dribble going on this thread and a few others, I have discovered it is just a few of you typing something and then it's someone elses turn to type while the rest of you act like cheerleaders. It is clear you hate republicans and there is nothing wrong with voicing your opinions no matter how one sided they are. But to make it fair you should inculde things like Carters double-digit unemployment and double-digit inflation. Or how about Carters' gas lines of the 70's? Or maybe Clinton's impeachment, (granted Nixon left office pending the possibility of impeachment proceedings) or Hilarys taking millions of dollars from the country while her husband was president to develope national healthcare (you can tell it is really working) Include things of this nature. All you democrats are not solid-gold either.:rolleyes:

I'm out of here...you guys can cheer each other to your hearts content.

[Qikdraw]

All you democrats are not solid-gold either.:rolleyes:

I don't think anyone has said anything like this, ever. Democrats have done some bad things, and some still do, just like republicans. For the last 8 years we have seen a lot of bad things come from the republican side, so its no wonder people talk about it. The majority of the American people are upset about it, not just democrats.

I'm out of here...you guys can cheer each other to your hearts content.

Why did you feel the need to contribute, then walk away? We can use more people to debate issues with. As long as you support your arguements you would be very welcome.

Its lack of discourse in this country that has brought us to an 'us vs them' mentality, something that hurts America as a whole. In debating with my neighbours, who were hard core republicans for the last 20-odd years (not this year though), even though we disagreed on how to fix an issue, we could agree that there were problems. And actually we agreed a lot of the times on a lot of different issues. It just takes talking in a resonable way.

Qikdraw

[usmc1]

yada, yammer, hiccup and yada- yada.:rolleyes:

I'm out of here...you guys can cheer each other to your hearts content.

Adios. Toss a few right-wing canards and then cut bait and run. A drive-by trolling!

[MoonShadow]

Gracious bocanude, don't be frumpy! Join in and participate and just enjoy. You can post your one-sided thoughts also.

"Or maybe Clinton's impeachment, (granted Nixon left office pending the possibility of impeachment proceedings) or Hilarys taking millions of dollars from the country while her husband was president to develope national healthcare (you can tell it is really working)"

Can you cite how she took millions from the country to develop national healthcare?

[MoonShadow]

One song that I can still remember well the lyrics to is Barry McGuire's Eve of Destruction

The eastern world, it is exploding
Violence flarin’, bullets loadin’
You’re old enough to kill, but not for votin’
You don’t believe in war, but what’s that gun you’re totin’
And even the Jordan River has bodies floatin’

But you tell me
Over and over and over again, my friend
Ah, you don’t believe
We’re on the eve
of destruction.

Don’t you understand what I’m tryin’ to say
Can’t you feel the fears I’m feelin’ today?
If the button is pushed, there’s no runnin’ away
There’ll be no one to save, with the world in a grave
[Take a look around ya boy, it's bound to scare ya boy]

And you tell me
Over and over and over again, my friend
Ah, you don’t believe
We’re on the eve
of destruction.

Yeah, my blood’s so mad feels like coagulatin’
I’m sitting here just contemplatin’
I can’t twist the truth, it knows no regulation.
Handful of senators don’t pass legislation
And marches alone can’t bring integration
When human respect is disintegratin’
This whole crazy world is just too frustratin’

And you tell me
Over and over and over again, my friend
Ah, you don’t believe
We’re on the eve
of destruction.

Think of all the hate there is in Red China
Then take a look around to Selma, Alabama
You may leave here for 4 days in space
But when you return, it’s the same old place
The poundin’ of the drums, the pride and disgrace
You can bury your dead, but don’t leave a trace
Hate your next-door neighbor, but don’t forget to say grace
And… tell me over and over and over and over again, my friend
You don’t believe
We’re on the eve
Of destruction
Mm, no no, you don’t believe
We’re on the eve
of destruction.

[jon71]

Yes, Nixon ended the war. He also waited THREE YEARS just to let it benefit his re-election campaign. That's three years worth of unnecessary deaths of good Americans who deserved far better. Also Clinton's impeachment was mentioned. That was an embarrassment to the Republican party, not Clinton. I won't claim Democrats are always right or that Republicans never are (though some days it seems like it) but the balance is VASTLY in our favor.

[BinCo]

Damn....you are old!


Maybe he really is USMC number 001? :laugh:

[nacktman]

Well, Jon, Nixon did not end the war, Congress (a Democratic one) did by ended the funding.
Nixon escalated the war that Eisenhower started far beyond what Johnson did and would have escalated it even further if Watergate had not caused his downfall - (and rightfully so).
The war was expanded into a regional area of operations under Nixon and not limited to Vietnam proper as was the case prior to him being elected on the promise of ending the war.
In two tours I spent less than 2 months actually in South Vietnam the rest of the time I was in Cambodia, Laos, China, Thailand, and north of the DMZ.

[usmc1]

Maybe he really is USMC number 001? :laugh:

No, that would have been Samuel Nicholas.

[Naturist Mark]

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gnPKO1nRNFMEm8Q8ZpAIr8NvT7WQD90381GO0
Forced to leave the combat zone after his two brothers died in the Iraq war, Army Spc. Jason Hubbard faced another battle once he returned home: The military cut off his family's health care, stopped his G.I. educational subsidies and wanted him to repay his sign-up bonus.

It wasn't until Hubbard petitioned his local congressman that he was able to restore some of his benefits.

Now that congressman, Rep. Devin Nunes, is leading an effort to pass a bill that would ensure basic benefits to all soldiers who are discharged under an Army policy governing sole surviving siblings and children of soldiers killed in combat. The rule is a holdover from World War II meant to protect the rights of service people who have lost a family member to war.

"I felt as if in some ways I was being punished for leaving even though it was under these difficult circumstances," Hubbard told The Associated Press. "The situation that happened to me is not a one-time thing. It's going to happen to other people, and to have a law in place is going to ease their tragedy in some way."

Hubbard, 33, and his youngest brother, Nathan, enlisted while they were still grieving for their brother, Marine Lance Cpl. Jared Hubbard, who was 22 when he was killed in a 2004 bomb explosion in Ramadi.

At their request, the pair were assigned to the same unit, the 3rd Brigade of the 25th Infantry Division in Hawaii, and deployed to Iraq the next year.

In August, 21-year-old Cpl. Nathan died when his Black Hawk helicopter crashed near Kirkuk. Jason was part of the team assigned to remove his comrades' bodies from the wreckage.

Hubbard accompanied his little brother's body on a military aircraft to Kuwait, then on to California. He kept steady during Nathan's burial at Clovis Cemetery, standing in dress uniform between his younger brothers' graves as hundreds sobbed in the heat.

But Hubbard broke his silence when he found his wife, pregnant with their second child, had been cut off from the transitional health care the family needed to ease back to civilian life after he was discharged in October.

[usmc1]

FROM: Editor & Publisher

Alabama Paper Reports Yet Another Iraq Vet Suicide -- With Mother Watching <TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=8 width=10 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=10 align=center border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/photos/icons/Coffin_L.jpg</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

By Greg Mitchell

Published: May 04, 2008 9:30 PM ET

NEW YORK As the scandal of suicide attempts by Iraq veterans expands -- in the face of Veterans Administration denials -- another horrific case has emerged, once again only gaining attention because of a local newspaper. E&P has been tracking these accounts for almost five years and only recently has the problem, with an estimated 1,000 attempts a month now reported, gained wide media, and official, attention.

The latest story came Saturday in a story by Patrick McCreless in The Cullman Times of Cullman, Ala.

The headline is similar to so many others lately: "Family pushing for changes after soldier's suicide."

It tells how one Dorothy Screws "witnessed her only son, U.S. Army Pvt. Tommie Edward Jones, commit suicide right before her eyes six weeks ago in Colorado. She says the Army, which promised to be there for Screws and her family to deal with the loss, has yet to provide assistance.

"Now Screws can hardly do her job without breaking down. Just the simple act of living is a challenge.

"Only the memory of her son keeps Screws going as she fights to ensure another parent does not have to live through the same tragedy. 'I can’t save my son now ... I want to save somebody,' Screws said with tears in her eyes. 'If I can save one soldier, it will be worth it.'

"Screws plans to petition the government for as long as it takes until a law is passed requiring soldiers to undergo some type of psychological therapy after they return from intense combat."

Her son was 27 when he died.

An excerpt follows. The whole article is still posted at www.cullmantimes.com (http://www.cullmantimes.com).

One thing Screws and her family did not know until after her son’s death — which occurred March 25 at Fort Carson, Colo. — was that Jones, 27, had Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) from when he fought in Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2007.

Jones mentioned a few of the traumatic events he experienced in Iraq to his mother shortly before his death.

“He said, ‘I wake up every morning angry,’” Screws said. “He said, ‘My body is here but my mind is in Iraq.’”

Screws said she wants therapy to be mandatory for soldiers because many, like her son, do not seek help out of fear of being stigmatized. She said Jones told her he did not want to talk to a therapist because he thought such action would prevent him from rising in rank. ...

Jones’ sister, Amanda Wimberly, said her family was assigned an assistance officer. But Wimberly said the officer has been anything but helpful. “I called her a few weeks ago and she was with her family ... but she could come by later if we wanted,” Wimberly said. “We needed her then. I asked to speak to her boss. ... She fumbled with the phone and eventually hung up. I haven’t spoken to her since.”

Screws said she has already expressed her feelings about the Army and her petition for mandatory therapy to the local Democratic Party. She plans to attend an upcoming Republican Party meeting to do the same. “I don’t care if I get in trouble,” Screws said. “Until somebody can answer some questions and make it right, oh yeah, I’ll keep talking.”
____

E&P Editor Greg Mitchell's new book includes several chapters on this issue. It is titled, "So Wrong for So Long: How the Press, the Pundits -- and the President -- Failed on Iraq."

[usmc1]

From: MarineTimes<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p>
17 vets a month commit suicide under VA care<o:p></o:p>
<o:p></o:p>
By Kelly Kennedy - Staff writer
Posted : Thursday Apr 24, 2008 13:25:32 EDT
<o:p></o:p>
<FORM id=hidden><o:p></o:p>
</FORM>After learning that more than 17 veterans per month commit suicide while under the care of the Veterans Affairs Department, senators accused VA of withholding information about suicide rates and demanded the removal of its mental health chief.
<o:p></o:p>
“The culture of the VA has to change,” said Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., after a Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee hearing Wednesday. To restore credibility, she said VA must take responsibility and dismiss Dr. Ira Katz, deputy chief patient care services officer for mental health.
<o:p></o:p>
“He clearly knew information and was holding it from us here in Congress,” <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /><st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Murray</st1:place></st1:City> said.<o:p></o:p>
Deputy VA Secretary Gordon Mansfield said he shared <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Murray</st1:place></st1:City>’s concerns, but stopped short of taking responsibility for them.
<o:p></o:p>
“I apologize for the implications here,” he said, adding that he does not believe VA is engaged in a concerted campaign to withhold information.
<o:p></o:p>
Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii, chairman of the committee, backed the call for Katz’s resignation.
<o:p></o:p>
The accusations began flying Monday after a lawsuit brought to light a series of e-mails about high suicide numbers from Katz. <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Murray</st1:place></st1:City> quoted Katz writing in one e-mail:<o:p></o:p>
“Shh! Our suicide prevention coordinators are identifying about 1,000 suicide attempts per month among veterans in our medical facilities.”
<o:p></o:p>
<st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Murray</st1:place></st1:City> noted that Katz’s wondered in his e-mail if VA should try to address the numbers in “some sort of release before someone stumbles on it.”
<o:p></o:p>
Katz had just appeared before Congress April 3 and did not mention any problem like that.<o:p></o:p>
Akaka said he was concerned about a potential “suicide epidemic” within the Defense Department and VA.
<o:p></o:p>
“We know information about suicides is being suppressed,” he said.
<o:p></o:p>
David Chu, undersecretary for personnel and readiness, said the military numbers have been fairly consistent. Although the number of suicides in the Army has gone up over the past year, the “good news” is that the rate is still below the national average.
<o:p></o:p>
However, several critics have called into question the value of comparing a generally young military force that has been screened for mental health — as well as general health — to the general population.
<o:p></o:p>
<st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Mansfield</st1:place></st1:City> said the number of veterans who commit suicide under VA care rose from 1,403 in 2001 to 1,784 in 2005.
<o:p></o:p>
He did not give recent figures. Although he said he is not the “expert on numbers ... I don’t know that I would call it an epidemic.”
<o:p></o:p>
He also said the numbers would be expected to rise slightly in wartime. But some senators said they see a need for a better response. “I don’t think there’s any attempt to intentionally not share information,” said Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C. But he noted the importance of getting veterans into treatment programs — especially after a <st1:place w:st="on">Rand</st1:place> report released last week estimated that 300,000 veterans have post-traumatic stress disorder or severe depression.
<o:p></o:p>
Murray, who clenched her jaw and seemed to shake with anger during the discussion, said she is tired of spending “every day for five-and-a-half years” trying to drag information out of VA.
<o:p></o:p>
She said a study showed 6,250 veterans killed themselves in 2005 — and in his e-mails, Katz “not only backed up those numbers, but said they were much higher.”
<o:p></o:p>
“I’m very upset,” <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Murray</st1:place></st1:City> said. “In VA, everyone knew it was higher and there are e-mails showing us that. How do we trust what you’re saying ... if what you’re saying publicly is different from what you’ve said privately? How do we trust what you’re saying today?”<o:p></o:p>
The officials were on the Hill to testify about simplifying the transfer of medical files between VA and the Defense Department.
<o:p></o:p>
<st1:place w:st="on">Chu</st1:place> said they hoped to have most documents viewable — though not available in an interactive way — by September. But the senators focused much of their time on the suicide issue in light of the newly discovered e-mails.
<o:p></o:p>
“The whole culture is repressing information,” <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Murray</st1:place></st1:City> told the witnesses. “We are not your enemy. We are your support system.” She said Congress can’t help VA with funding or legislation if it doesn’t get good information.
<o:p></o:p>
<st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Mansfield</st1:place></st1:City> said he would do all he can to get correct information to the senators.<o:p></o:p>
“In the end, [lying] bites you every time,” said Rep. Jon Tester, D-Mon<o:p></o:p>

[usmc1]

http://www.smirkingchimp.com/themes/chimpy/logo.png
Published on The Smirking Chimp (http://www.smirkingchimp.com (http://www.smirkingchimp.com/))
It's Lying ... and It's Murder: How KBR Electrocuted US Troops
By Col. Daniel Smith
Created May 8 2008 - 10:27am


One segment of the May 4th edition of CBS television's 60 Minutes provided an update on the struggle of Mary Tillman, mother of NFL star-turned Army Ranger Pat Tillman, to get the full story of the circumstances of her son's death while in action April 22, 2004 in Afghanistan. (May 3rd was the anniversary of Tillman's funeral that the Pentagon so shamelessly exploited through the media, including the posthumous award of the Silver Star, the second highest military decoration for bravery in the face of enemy fire.)

But Tillman had not died from enemy fire while taking on a large enemy force and giving his comrades time to regroup and eventually survive the encounter. Yes there was a very hot firefight between Taliban/al Qaeda adherents and the mixed Afghan/U.S. Army Ranger unit hunting them in the rugged mountains of the Pakistan/Afghanistan border. Given that first reports are invariably wrong, when Tillman's spouse and parents were informed of his death, a simple "we are still investigating" should have been the "explanation" proffered - especially to the media. But even today, Mary Tillman believes the Pentagon still has not told the whole truth about her son's death.

Sunday's New York Times carried another story of lies, deception, and fraud that resulted in death by electrocution of at least twelve soldiers and marines in Iraq and Afghanistan. These deaths did not come while the soldiers were on patrol or by unexpected encounters with downed "hot" wires. These "accidents" happened in facilities used as base camps for U.S. units, camps that were to have been completely refurbished - including the wiring - under terms of a $30 billion no-bid contract awarded to the one-time Halliburton subsidiary KBR (formerly Kellogg-Brown-Root).

The deaths reportedly all were the result of shoddy workmanship in the grounding of electrical sources, both in permanent structures and in machinery when in use. The problem is not new: in 2004, Army units in theatre were alerted concerning the potential for accidental electrocution. American electricians working for KBR in the war zone observed and notified KBR and even the Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA), the office that monitors contractor performance, of numerous instances of poor workmanship by undertrained and underpaid Iraqi and Afghan "electricians." According to the Times, nothing was done to remedy the problem because DCMA has neither the staff to monitor whether the specifications of a contract are being met nor "subject-matter experts" with the knowledge to inspect electrical wiring to insure all safety issues are resolved.

As if it had learned nothing from Tillman, the Army again lied to the family of at least one victim, Staff Sergeant Ryan Maseth, electrocuted while showering at his base camp. The Pentagon first told his family he had taken an electrical device into the shower. A few more days brought a different explanation: the large number of exposed live wires surrounding the shower area. Maseth's family is suing KBR for wrongful death.

That's where the record is now. But there is more to come as Congress is holding hearings on contracting irregularities, corruption, bribery and war profiteering. The Defense Department's Inspector-General has an enquiry of his own in progress. But unless Congress and the IG include in their investigations the influence that the KBR forgeries had on delaying subsequent maintenance and inspection schedules (as the logs would be taken as accurately reflecting what had been done) that might have corrected deficiencies, the real evil in this saga - that no one, not even those whose forgeries materially contributed to the deaths of 12 soldiers will be held accountable - will not be excised.

This is not simply corruption and fraud but a question of deaths for which specific individuals can and should be held accountable in a criminal court. Moreover, in these deaths, there is not even the excuse of the "fog of war" as appears may be the case in Pat Tillman's death. Many deaths were at fixed installations, the rest involved large generators. Contractors had pledged to provide "life support" services in return for $30 billion, but there was from the beginning no possibility that the Pentagon could exercise proper oversight as - according to the just-resigned Agency head, Keith Ernst - the DCMA had no "technical capability to exercise oversight."

Lewis Carroll's Alice had to go down a rabbit hole to discover a world where everything was the reverse of "normal." In Wonderland, "yes" meant "no" (or at best, maybe), "no" meant "yes" (or a "differently-interpreted" maybe), and records were written, approved, and filed before any work described therein or event actually happened. (After all, how can one possibly know what is to be done by whom and in what order unless everything has been carefully detailed beforehand?)

Don't look now, but that Mad Hatter world seems to have ascended the rabbit hole and now is in full swing about us. And its inhabitants seem determined to stay for as long as they can. But what else can one expect when national identity is based on war - the ultimate madness?
Tea, anyone?
_______
Dan Smith
Colonel, USA (Ret.)
Senior Fellow on Military Affairs
Friends Committee on National Legislation

[nacktman]

http://www.bartcop.com/unfit-deployed.jpg

[usmc1]

Day 1855: The Damage Done

by mcjoan (http://mcjoan.dailykos.com/)

Wed May 28, 2008 at 02:55:22 PM PDT

Bush/McCain remain steadfastly opposed to the Webb GI Bill because, they say, such generous benefits will encourage soldiers to sign up just for the benefits and to serve the minimum duty, or to decline to re-up, leaving the military to go to college. This would, of course, make their vision of an endless war harder to fulfill.


They should spend a little less time thinking about the potential pitfalls of a yet-to-be-implemented policy, and look at the current reality (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/27/AR2008052701512_pf.html) of what actual policies have done to those fighting this damn war now.
The number of U.S. troops diagnosed by the military with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) jumped nearly 50 percent in 2007 over the previous year, as more of them served lengthy and repeated combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, Pentagon data released yesterday show.


The increase brings the total number of U.S. troops diagnosed by the military with PTSD after serving in one of the two conflicts from 2003 to 2007 to nearly 40,000....


The incidence of PTSD grew last year as more U.S. troops were exposed to combat -- with force levels in Iraq and Afghanistan reaching more than 170,000 and 27,000, respectively. Also contributing were a lengthening of war zone rotations from 12 to 15 months and the rise in the number of troops serving repeated tours, which sharply increases the likelihood troops will experience symptoms of PTSD.
These men and women are sent back into combat over and over again because of the utter failure of Bush and his war buddies to plan this war from the beginning. Our armed forces have been stretched to the absolute limit--not because of any failing on the part of the men and women serving, but because the geniuses who put them in harm's way screwed this up so royally.


Because of that, so many of those troops who manage to survive end up terribly damaged. Bush and McCain have made a cynical, deplorable choice. They would rather see these troops go back to war than go to college.

[Naturist Mark]

A Marine Mom's questions about Iraq
ASK THIS | August 05, 2008

Her son is on his second deployment in Iraq, where his military camp recently burned to the ground as a result of an electrical fire. Mary Hornig thinks journalists should be asking if anyone is going to do anything about shoddy contracting – and whether there is any limit to what will be asked of the armed forces.

By Mary V. Hornig

Q. Who has responsibility for shoddy contracting resulting in electrocutions and fires on military sites in Iraq? Where is the accountability? Why are our servicemen and women risking injury and dying in showers and housing units in Iraq?

Q. Will Halliburton contractors continue to be awarded electrical contracts based on past sub-par performance?

Q. Will military personnel be compensated for their losses resulting from electrical fires and if so, at what percentage of their losses?

Q. Why are Marine troops currently in Afghanistan having their deployments extended? Will Marine troops in Iraq be extended as a result of Marines originally scheduled to deploy to Iraq now heading to Afghanistan?

Q. With the same military units being called to serve in Iraq and Afghanistan on a repeat basis (with soldiers and Marines now spending more time out of country than in), what are the plans to reduce this burden on these military personnel?

Q. With studies showing that those military personnel serving repeated combat tours are much more likely to exhibit post-traumatic stress and other mental health issues, what is being done to address this growing problem?

Q. How is the military coping with and treating those military personnel in Afghanistan who return to the U.S. drug-dependent?

Q. What is the percentage of military combat personnel currently taking medication for mental health issues related to combat stress?

Q. What kind of family support is afforded to military personnel serving repeated tours in Iraq and Afghanistan?

Q. What is the long-term impact on the children of military personnel repeatedly assigned to combat locations?

I am the proud mother of a Marine Corporal now on his second deployment in Iraq.

In June of 2008, my son’s military camp burned to the ground as a result of an electrical fire that spread rapidly throughout the camp. Some of the Marines used axes to hack other Marines out of their burning huts. Our Marines suffered minor burns, irritated eyes and severe sunburn as they used their shirts to shield their faces while trying to retrieve their possessions. Had this fire occurred at night, many lives would have been lost. The Marines were told the rapidly-spreading fire resulted from a contracting error.

Approximately 100 Marines were left with only the clothes on their backs as a result of the fire, which also damaged weapons and vehicles. Another 30 Marines lost at least half of their possessions – including gear, uniforms (all purchased by the individual Marine), electronics (laptops, iPods, DVD players, phones), personal items (books, pictures, bibles, sports equipment, games, packages from home, etc).

While I am willing to support my son’s service to our country and his redeployment to Iraq, I cannot support our government’s lack of concern for the safety and well-being of servicemen and women who are subject to shoddy contracting, resulting in electrocutions and fires such as the recent one at my son’s camp. Even after new housing was erected, flames began shooting out of the electrical outlets in my son’s new hut because all the huts hadn’t been hooked up and the electricity wasn’t flowing evenly. There is something very wrong with subjecting servicemen and women to this, and with the lack of accountability which has led to deaths, serious injuries and the loss of hundreds of thousands of dollars of service members’ possessions.

I am not alone in my concerns – there are many other Marine moms online (and I’m sure Army moms too!) who are not only upset by the fires, but by the recent congressional hearings where no one seems accountable and by the fact that no changes have been put in place to ensure this does not happen again.

http://www.niemanwatchdog.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=ask_this.view&askthisid=00354