[Peace-discuss] Bush is hiding the human cost of the war

Fri Nov 14 20:43:19 CST 2003

Individual illness, wounds, and death are always the "real" costs of war. But 
it gets worse.
PAY DENIED, MEDICAL CARE DENIED, ENVIRONMENTAL CLEAN UP DENIED, NO WMD FOUND, 
U.S. ATROCITIES COMMON.  WHAT NEXT?  When will we act to correct al of these 
glaring deficiencies? 
I am always looking for help to resolve old and new problems. Will anyone 
help? 

doug rokke
217-643-6205

National Guard pay delayed, denied
GAO report: 94 percent
of those in six units
had pay problems
http://www.msnbc.com/news/992826.asp?cp1=1
By Lisa Myers and the NBC Investigative Team
NBC NEWS

WASHINGTON, Nov. 12 —  Soldiers with the National Guard are already under
the gun in Iraq and Afghanistan. But now a new government report claims that
while the troops are fighting far from home, red tape is preventing many of
them from being paid.

       WHILE NATIONAL Guard soldiers fulfill their duty, risking their lives
around the world, the Pentagon apparently is not living up to its obligation
to pay them the right amount or on time. That’s according to a new
congressional report obtained by NBC News, which finds the Pentagon’s pay
process is such a mess it’s having “a profound financial impact on
individual soldiers and their families.”

       “This is well beyond anything I could ever imagine,” said Rep.
Christopher Shays, R-Conn., “I would like to think if we send people off to
war that we’re not going to have them worry about whether their home is
going to be taken because they can’t pay their mortgage.”

       One sergeant, who wanted his identity concealed, said when his unit
was in Afghanistan chasing al-Qaida terrorists, every single soldier had pay
problems — mostly late or missing checks.

       “It was very frustrating,” explained the sergeant, “it distracted you
from the job at hand.… You have to worry about whether your family has
enough food on the table.”

       In six Guard units examined by the General Accounting Office, a
stunning 94 percent of soldiers had pay problems, including:
 Under- and over-payments.
 Three-month delays in active duty checks.
 Pay and benefits cut off for wounded soldiers in the hospital.

       “They were being told they weren’t entitled to certain health care
benefits, in spite of their injuries,” explained Shays. “I mean, there’s no
one in the military who justifies that, but it’s shocking that it could
happen.”

       Pay problems were so bad that a sergeant in Uzbekistan put his life
on the line to straighten them out. He was forced to fly to Oman, then to an
Army finance office in Kuwait, then back to Oman and then was fired on by
the enemy over Afghanistan on the return flight to Uzbekistan.

       “When there were screw-ups and the military knew there were
screw-ups,” said Shays, “they still had a hard time resolving them, … still
gave grief to our men and women who were in active duty, still gave grief to
the families back home.”

       In one Colorado unit, soldiers had their checks docked, to pay off
$48,000 each in debt they did not owe.

       “They were mad, and they still are,” insists Sgt. Blair Donaldson of
the Colorado Air National Guard, “and justifiably so.”

       Wednesday night the Pentagon said only that it’s aware of the
problem, agrees with the report, and is working to fix the system.

       Lisa Myers is NBC News’ senior investigative correspondent, based in
Washington, D.C.

Sick, wounded U.S. troops held in squalor 
NGWRC meets with the troops

http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20031017-024617-1418r

On Tuesday October 14, 2003 the NGWRC met with soldiers stationed at Ft 
Stewart Georgia. Besides the deplorable conditions, we were concerned about reports 
of improper claims processing, lack of medical care and physical therapy for 
war-wounded veterans. We spoke with many soldiers who all seemed to tell the 
same disturbing story.

With information and contacts in hand we delivered what we saw to the 
Committee on Veterans’ Affairs who held a hearing on Thursday, October 16, 2003 
entitled “Handoff or Fumble? Are DOD and VA Providing Seamless Health Care Coverage 
to Transitioning Veterans?” 

Chairman Chris Smith and committee conducted an investigative hearing arising 
from disturbing reports of gaps in health care coverage for transitioning 
veterans. Reports have indicated recently separated servicemembers may be 
experiencing difficulty accessing the services and medical care they are entitled to 
receive, resulting in physical, emotional, and economic hardships for these 
new veterans. 

Commanders, Chaplins and medical staffs from Ft Stewart who testified before 
this committee tell a different story than those we interviewed at Ft Stewart. 
The NGWRC recommends the Senate Armed Services Committee immediately 
investigate. 

See testimony from the hearing at http://vetaudio334.house.gov/334 or by 
searching the Committee’s website in the Hearing Archives section: 
http://veterans.house.gov/hearings/index.html. 

See what the soldiers had to say by viewing the UPI story at 
http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20031017-024617-1418r 

Posted to the NGWRC Web 10/18/2003 9:53:48 PM

4,000 U.S. non-combat evacuations in Iraq 
Could this be GWI all over again?
Mark Benjamin  UPI

http://www.upi.com/print.cfm?StoryID=20031003-024528-3543r

WASHINGTON, Oct. 3 (UPI) -- Nearly 4,000 U.S. troops have been medically 
evacuated from Operation Iraqi Freedom for non-combat reasons -- with more than 
one in five of those for psychiatric or neurological problems, according to 
Pentagon data. 

A total of 3,915 evacuations from the region have been for non-combat medical 
problems. A combination of what the Pentagon is calling evacuations for 
"psychiatric" and "neurological" problems make up 22 percent of the total, with 478 
and 387 evacuations, respectively. 

Another 544 evacuations have been for "general surgery," 290 for 
gynecological reasons and 118 for orthopedic problems. 

Army Surgeon General spokeswoman Virginia Stephanakis, who supplied the data, 
said on Friday that she had few details, but that the Pentagon had not 
detected any "red flags" indicating troubling or unexpected health patterns. 

Some of the evacuations were for accidental injuries, she said, adding that 
orthopedic, or bone, problems might reflect vehicle accidents. 

A leading veterans' group said the data needed to be studied to understand 
the true cost of the war and potential health hazards. 

"Clearly there is more detail that needs to be given about the nature and 
causes of these evacuations," said Steve Robinson, executive director of the 
National Gulf War Resource Center. 

In August, the Pentagon announced an investigation into a mysterious 
pneumonia that killed two soldiers and made 17 others so sick they needed ventilators 
to breathe. The probe is focusing on the role of smoking, those officials 
said. 

An investigation by United Press International found that 17 soldiers in 
Operation Iraqi Freedom have died from sudden illnesses, including three with 
fluid in the lungs, eight who suddenly collapsed and three who were found dead in 
their cots. 

Robinson questioned whether any of the psychiatric or neurological problems 
might be related to Lariam, a common anti-malaria drug given to many soldiers 
in the region. Lariam's FDA-approved product label warns of reports of 
hallucinations, seizures, paranoia, aggression, delusions and suicide. 

Published reports this summer said the military was investigating several 
suspected suicides. UPI found that at least 15 service members in Operation Iraqi 
Freedom have died from what were described as non-combat gunshot wounds, the 
latest on Sept. 30. 

The Pentagon says it sometimes uses Lariam, known generically as mefloquine, 
over other anti-malaria drugs because side effects are rare and must be 
weighed against the risk of getting malaria. 

A total of 318 soldiers have died in Operation Iraqi Freedom since March 20, 
according to the Pentagon. Another 1,380 soldiers have been wounded in action 
as of Oct. 1. 

Contributing: Christine Moyer Copyright © 2001-2003 United Press 
International 

Posted to the NGWRC Web 10/6/2003 9:37:25 AM

Soldiers Medical Testing Faulted
Future Health Claims At Stake
THOMAS D. WILLIAMS  Hartford Courant (Connecticut)

U.S. forces were sent to Iraq without the necessary medical testing to 
support future service-related health claims, veterans' advocates say. 

Having investigated the history of similar claims brought by tens of 
thousands of 1991 Gulf War veterans, advocates fear history may be repeating itself, 
resulting in claims being rejected, or not settled quickly. 

By failing to secure blood samples immediately before and after deployment, 
by refusing to use modern medical technology to re-evaluate samples from 1991 
and by ignoring requests for more comprehensive medical evaluations, the 
Pentagon has made it difficult to establish direct links between exposures to 
biological and chemical agents and subsequent illnesses, critics say. 

The inability to establish direct links resulted in the federal government's 
rejection, or delayed processing of tens of thousands of health claims filed 
by veterans of the 1991 Gulf War. 

Recently, veterans advocates have questioned whether medical investigators 
will be able to solve the mystery of a pneumonia strain that has sickened more 
than 100 service members in Iraq, killing at least two. Army medical officers 
say some of the cases may be linked to cigarette smoking. 

But the advocates dispute such a claim -- family members deny the two dead 
soldiers were smokers -- and point to the hazardous wartime exposures troops 
have encountered. They include controversial vaccines, chemicalized dust, 
sandstorms, oil well fires and smoke from bombing explosions. According to recent 
U.S. Army figures, 5,381 soldiers have become ill during service in Iraq; another 
1,076 illnesses have been reported in Afghanistan. The Pentagon did not 
supply similar totals for the other services, despite repeated requests. 

"Some Defense Department health initiatives have been implemented. But all of 
these blood sampling and hazardous exposure issues demonstrate that the 
Department of Defense did not learn the lessons from the first Gulf War, nor did 
they implement policies to protect soldiers from the exposures in this war," 
said Steve Robinson, a veterans' advocate. 

"There is an overall theme here," said Robinson, executive director of the 
National Gulf War Resource Center and formerly a participant in the Defense 
Department's multimillion dollar investigation into so-called "mysterious" Gulf 
War illnesses. "Defense Department officials have not done their jobs," he said, 
"and their lack of crucial data collection has continued to prevent veterans' 
access to the government's health care system." 

Department of Defense officials have defended their planning, known as 
Deployment Force Health Protection, saying it adequately covers the health of troops 
before, during and after deployment. 

It "promotes and sustains the health of service members prior to deployment; 
prevents injury and illness and protects the force from health hazards during 
deployment; and provides quality, compassionate treatment for 
deployment-related health conditions, " William Winkenwerder, assistant secretary of defense 
for health affairs, told members of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs in 
July. 

Timely Testing 

Despite findings by congressional committees and watchdog agencies that 
medical symptoms associated with Gulf War illness were the result of various toxic 
exposures, the Pentagon has consistently denied a proven link exists. 

According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, 36 percent of the 
581,000 retired veterans serving at the height of the 1991 Gulf War have filed 
health claims. Of that number, 22 percent of the claims remain pending, or have 
been denied. More than 11,000 Gulf War veterans, whose average age was 36 when 
the war began, have since died, many from illnesses their families believed 
were war-related. 

In response to the Gulf War illness controversy, Congress passed legislation 
in 1997 that requires the military to gather critical health evidence in 
advance of future wars and overseas assignments. The law requires that the armed 
services conduct medical exams of service members, including drawing blood 
samples, before any overseas deployment and after their return. 

One of the law's authors was Rep. Steve Buyer, R-Ind., a Gulf War veteran who 
suffered from persistent illnesses for years afterward. The intent of the 
legislation was to require that blood samples and medical exams be conducted 
within "a reasonable amount of time" before deployment overseas, and after return, 
according to Buyer's spokeswoman Laura Zuckerman. Timely testing would ensure 
accuracy of the data and make it difficult for the military or others to 
claim subsequently that an intervening illness was unrelated to overseas duty, 
Zuckerman said. 

By their interpretation of the law, Pentagon planners saw no sense of urgency 
to collect medical data before and after deployment. 

In March, on the eve of the Iraq conflict, Winkenwerder told members of a 
congressional committee that blood samples, collected for HIV checks six months 
to a year before overseas duty, were sufficient to meet the requirements of the 
law. 

Winkenwerder also stated that more than a half-dozen health questions 
submitted to soldiers by non-doctors sufficed and that medical examinations of 
"healthy, young" service members were neither required, nor necessary. 

Another official, Michael E. Kilpatrick, the Defense Department's deputy 
director of deployment health support, confirmed that the military services had 
planned to collect blood samples after overseas duty during regular 
armed-service HIV blood collection at one- to five-year intervals. 

In May, after pressure from congressmen and others, the testing was ordered 
to be done 30 days after return from overseas duty. Some, but not very many 
troops who had returned already did not have their samples taken within 30 days, 
Kilpatrick said. 

According to Dr. William Rea, founder and director of the Dallas 
Environmental Health Center, blood samples need to be taken promptly upon deployment and 
return, to get an accurate picture of possible exposures to hazards such as 
solvents, some pesticides and heavy metals. Rea is a surgeon with 40 years of 
experience in environmental medicine. 

Controversial Samples 

Veterans' advocates believe defense officials had ample opportunity to 
confirm the importance of timely blood testing, and had been put on notice by 
officials from one New England state to do so. 

In 1990 and 1991, the U.S. Navy collected blood samples from 900 U.S. Marines 
within days of their deployment to the Gulf War and days after they left to 
help track potential wartime illnesses. 

Those samples were tested for infectious diseases by a team of doctors that 
included Kenneth Craig Hyams. 

Three years ago, in October 2000, Hyams testified before a presidential 
oversight board scrutinizing the Pentagon's investigation of Gulf War illnesses. 
Hyams, who now is a Gulf War researcher for Veterans Affairs, told board members 
that his research indicated those 900 Marines showed symptoms similar to 
other Gulf War veterans: 60 percent had reported at least one acute episode of 
diarrhea; a quarter had constant coughs or sore throats; 34 percent complained of 
regular nose mucus problems; and 12 percent complained of fevers. 

Hyams told board members he wanted to use new scientific techniques to study 
those samples further for evidence of exposure to low-level chemical warfare 
gases. 

His proposal was received warmly. Doctors on the board believed the new 
research might help put to rest the debate over the link between Gulf War illness 
and wartime exposures, said Roger Kaplan, former deputy executive director of 
the presidential oversight board. 

On March 8, 2001, five months after Hyams' testimony, the Pentagon's 
investigative team announced it had obtained $705,000 for further study of the Marine 
blood samples. 

But Hyams never did the work, and the Army withdrew the funding in March 
2003. 

Kilpatrick said the tests were never completed because Hyams and others could 
not satisfactorily show that the results would be reliable. Through 
intermediaries, Hyams refused repeated requests for an interview. 

David Haines, a researcher working for Rhode Island state and military 
officials, said that for years he has lobbied Navy officials about completing the 
Marine tests, and offered to assist Hyams in the validation work, so the samples 
could be examined for chemical warfare agents. 

"Although the traces of mustard and nerve agents are degraded in the blood 
over weeks to months," he said, "the antibodies that may be used for indirect 
detection of nerve agents last for the lifetime of the individual exposed. I 
could not say whether mustard agent could be similarly detected, but based on 
current scientific literature it might be." 

Believing that accurate blood tests are essential in detecting the cause of 
service-related illnesses, Haines helped lead an effort to try to convince 
Pentagon officials to carefully scrutinize the health of Rhode Island reservists, 
before and after deployment. During a three-month period before the war began, 
Haines, Rhode Island Gov. Donald L. Carcieri, Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I. and 
Richard Valente, a retired Army general, all urged that blood samples from the 
reservists be secured just before and after they went overseas. They also 
requested that follow-up samples be taken annually for three years after their 
return, and asked that additional samples be taken after administration of the 
controversial anthrax and smallpox inoculations. 

Winkenwerder denied their request about four weeks after the war began. 

A Family's Questions 

In July, the same month that Winkenwerder was publicly defending his 
department's deployment health program, Missouri National Guard Spec. Josh Neusche 
died. He had written his mother, Cindy, that he was being assigned in June for a 
secret "excavation" mission in Iraq. A few days later, he complained of a sore 
throat and shortness of breath. He fell into a coma, was put on a respirator 
at a Baghdad medical facility, transferred to a hospital in Kuwait and then 
moved to a U.S. Army hospital in Landsthul, Germany. 

His family suspects he may have been exposed to a toxin and wants to know 
exactly what killed him. Neusche's grandfather, Ted Cone, said the family was 
frustrated by the limited amount of information the military had provided. Cone, 
a 63-year-old Air Force veteran from Camdenton, Mo., said the family still 
does not know: what blood samples were taken; what results, if any, blood tests 
may have shown; and whether a request for an independent autopsy at a German 
civilian hospital will be honored. 

The family wants assurances those questions can be answered. Recently, 
following press accounts of Neusche's death, Cone said the military's cooperation 
with the family has improved, but he still wants blood testing data. 

"If you can monitor two [blood samples], one before he gets sick and one 
after, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to ... see there is something 
[unhealthy] in his blood," he said.

Posted to the NGWRC Web 9/22/2003 10:01:55 PM