[Peace-discuss] TIM J.

[Dlind49 at aol.com]

Subj:   combat readiness
Date:   10/11/02 8:40:32 AM Central Daylight Time
From:   Dlind49
To: matt.bisbee at mail.house.gov
To: Erik.Woehrmann at mail.house.gov

Eric and Matthew:
Obviously I disagree with Congress's decision to provide President Bush with 
attack authority.  I think that this precedent is wrong. I do not believe 
based on my knowledge that Congress possesses this authority. This authority 
must be and as I understand it limited to the UN security council. However, 
now that Congress has given Bush and DOD the green light for a preemptive 
attack on Iraq we must focus on combat readiness if we are to complete 
assigned combat objectives while we protect our troops and noncombatants.  
The issues:
1. Defective NBC equipment such as M40 protective mask and CPOG/MOPP as 
verified by U.S. General Accounting Office reports and our own work.
2. Medical assessment, care, and treatment is inadequate to provide effective 
and prompt medical care to the VA service connected  221,502 Gulf War I 
casualties while the VA still ignores thousands more American heroes to 
include SFC Rolla Dolph and many others we know personally.  The DOD 
Deployment Medicine site does not include the technical information, 
assessment techniques, and treatment techniques that have been developed in 
response to Gulf War I adverse health effects from combined exposures.  Thus 
we are unprepared for Gulf War II casualties.
3.  NBC-E / WMD-E education and training is inadequate as personal 
experience, DOD and GAO reports verify.
4. Civilian emergency response capabilities are completely inadequate.
5. The planned use of explosives to destroy Iraq's supply of NBC-E's / 
WMD-E's in place will only result in additional releases with consequent 
adverse health and environmental effects.  The technical requirements for 
destruction of these agents requires containment, disassembly, agent removal, 
and then either neutralization (preferred) or incineration of each agent 
under specific and controlled conditions.  The simple but ineffective 
techniques used during and since Gulf War I has caused a health and 
environmental disaster. 

As fellow warriors, patriots, friends, advisors, and colleagues I ask you to 
help us ensure that these verified deficiencies are alleviated before we 
initiate combat actions.  I also ask you to help us prevent the use of 
depleted uranium munitions. Although I have tried over and over for years to 
resolve the problems associated with DU use as I was ordered to do by Army 
command staff,  DOD officials still refuse to provide medical care, complete 
environmental remediation, and complete thorough education and training.      
 


In conclusion, it is time that we prayed and asked God for help, guidance, 
and wisdom.    

A Prayer for Peace
Dr. Doug Rokke
Major, USAR 

God provide me the wisdom and courage to do what is right for your children 
on earth.  Walk beside me and guide me as I try to do what I perceive is your 
will.  Allow me to see beyond today and into tomorrow so that I may make wise 
choices and not disturb your master plan. Shield me from harm under the 
shelter of your grace. But gently rebuke me and pull me back to your 
teachings if I cause harm. Provide me the gift of vision and wisdom so that I 
may determine proper courses of action.  While all those around me cry for 
war instead of peace remind me that "The meek shall inherit the earth" and 
"Blessed are the Peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God!" 
Please light my path with a rainbow and sky full of stars so that even during 
the darkest hours I may see the illumination of your divine soul so that I my 
journey may end with peace and love.  For I may need reminding that "Peace 
begins with me" and that if peace is to prevail then I must be a peacemaker 
and speak out.  For although you provide guidance and a path to follow it is 
my choice. I pray that you allow me to act with wisdom and faith. Faith that 
allows me to choose and advocate peace. Peace for all peoples and nations.  I 
ASK THIS IN YOUR NAME.  AMEN.       



Please help us protect all of God's children. 

thank you,
doug 
**
Urgent Memo to Congress
Col. David Hackworth Soldiers for the Truth 
<A HREF="http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/www.sftt.org">www.sftt.org</A>

Dear Congress: While you ponder green-lighting war with Iraq, you need to 
know that our deployed troops - who will be at the highest risk from deadly 
biological/chemical attack - are not good to go.
 

Many soldiers are sounding off about the poor quality of their bio/chem 
protection and detection gear and the bio/chem training they've received. 
They rightly figure that Saddam Hussein will do his worst in a desperate 
last-ditch stand, and they'll end up as the meat in the hazmat sandwich. "I'm 
the nuclear, biological and chemical [NBC] officer for my unit," says a 
leader in a unit bound for Kuwait. "Across the board, my soldiers don't feel 
confident with their protective gear or level of training. We know how to use 
the decontamination kits and other gear, but no one really knows if anything 
works." "I worry about the NBC system on our [Abrams] tanks - there've been 
several fires recently caused by the system," says a company commander. 
"Another worry is all my tanks leak like sieves. It doesn't take a rocket 
scientist to figure that chemical agents can kill the crew if water can get 
in our tanks at the wash rack." "In two years, my battalion hasn't done a 
week of dedicated NBC training," says a commander. "Our NBC decontamination 
apparatus hasn't worked for over a year. The new protective suits haven't 
been issued. They tell me we'll get them just before we deploy - a little 
late to learn how to use 'em when we're moving out to fight." "The problem 
I've seen is that the hot, bulky suits, gloves and other protective gear gets 
torn up during our gun-crew drills," says an artillery CO. "Not good when you 
have to put steel on target and the Joes are jerking around on the ground. My 
main bitch is my troops will deploy with basically the same equipment we used 
12 years ago during Desert Storm. Another problem is our CO is totally 
gun-shy about letting our troops train with our protective gear because it's 
time-consuming and restricts their ability to do their job. Like they'll do 
it better dead." Many Army leaders report that their units are totally 
unprepared for an extended period of bio/chem warfare and that after the 
first major battle their supplies will be exhausted. "Not really sure if 
there's enough atropine for each soldier in case of a bio/chem attack," says 
an NBC sergeant in Kuwait. "In my company, we have enough for about half the 
men. If there's more in Kuwait, we NBC people don't know about it." "The 
current [protective] mask leaks under the chin," an Army doctor says. "This 
same mask was used during Desert Storm, which accounts for part of the health 
problems of the vets who fought there. My unit has again deployed to the Gulf 
with this loser." "The bio and chemical defense program is 
[deleted]terrible," snorts a senior sergeant in Kuwait. "My NBC sergeant 
said, 'If the [you know what] hits the fan ... I'll kill myself right away 
because I am not going to twitch like the rest of you.' I told him to shut up 
and stop scaring our people. He shut up ... but the scary thing is he's 
right." The complaints of the folks in the field have been backed up by a 
recent General Accounting Office report documenting that the Pentagon has 
provided them with neither sufficient protective equipment nor adequate 
training to work on an NBC-contaminated battlefield. The report further 
states the Pentagon recalled 800,000 suits two years ago after finding 
defects such as "holes, improper stitching and embedded foreign objects in 
the fabric" and that 250,000 of these defective suits can't be located. Many 
grunts worry that the bad suits are mixed with the to-be-issued stock. Our 
military has to fix these life-or-death problems before President Bush hits 
the "go" button. More than 160,000 Desert Storm vets are disabled or dead due 
in part to captured Iraqi bio/chem weapons that Army engineers stupidly 
exploded in their unprotected faces. What's the big rush, anyway? Shouldn't 
you make sure we've taken care of our soldiers, our nation's most priceless 
asset, before we hurry off to another war? Shouldn't looking after the troops 
be the top priority of our congressional leadership?