Greg Mitchell, of the invaluable Editor and Publisher, writes about an under-reported aspect of the war in Iraq. A recent report indicates that around 20% of suicides nationwide are current or former military personnel. Other than being at least some indication of the toll inflicted on someone who is trained to be able to kill others, it's an indictment of how our government takes care of the men and women who serve in the armed forces.
As Mitchell explains, non-combat deaths in Iraq are often vaguely reported, and when they're possible suicides, it's often local news outlets that take the lead in investigating. And the problem is significant and apparently worsening:
A rise in suicides among soldiers serving in the military has alarmed Pentagon planners and members of Congress as the war in Iraq enters its sixth year. An Army report produced last year found the rate of suicides among soldiers deployed in Iraq from 2003 to 2006 was almost 40 percent higher than the military's average suicide rate. An update of the Army's Mental Health Advisory Team report released in March found suicide rates for soldiers in 2007 remained "above normal Army rates."
I spend a lot of time talking about the political implications of foreign policy in general and Iraq in particular; it's also vital, though, to keep a level eye on the human costs. And they are seemingly endless.
. . . by arresting them in VA hospitals, where they're seeking mental help for PTSD, anxiety attacks, and flashbacks.
"It's humiliating, degrading," Faulkner, 22, of Stanton, said in an interview Monday with The Associated Press minutes before his release from the Fayette County Detention Center. "It's made me lose respect for the military. To come and arrest me at the VA, it wasn't like I was trying to hide, trying to run. I was getting help. I am being punished for getting help."
He returned from Iraq nine months ago and was scheduled to be sent back this week.
Why do Republicans hate our troops? They owe every American service member an apology for the continually abysmal treatment our vets receive at the hands of this Republican administration. Mitch McConnell, Tony Snow and the Republicans love to talk about standing by our troops while using them as political props, but when our troops are actually being abused, McConnell and Snow and the Republicans are silent.
Seventy-five-year-old Nyles Reed, a Korean War veteran, was sent a form letter from Navy Personnel Command saying that he was awarded a Purple Heart for injuries he received during that war, but instead of sending him the medal, he got a certificate and a letter telling him they were out of stock and that he could buy the medal himself.
"I can imagine, of course, with what's going on in Iraq and Afghanistan, there's a big shortage," Reed said. "At least, I would imagine so."
The form letter from the Navy Personnel Command told Reed he could wait 90 days and resubmit an application, or buy his own medal.
After waiting 55 years, however, Reed decided to pay $42 for his own Purple Heart and accompanying ribbon -- plus state sales taxes -- at a military surplus store.
Frustrated by delays in health care, injured Iraq war veterans accused VA Secretary Jim Nicholson in a lawsuit of breaking the law by denying them disability pay and mental health treatment.
The lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, filed Monday in federal court in San Francisco, seeks broad changes in the agency as it struggles to meet growing demands from veterans returning home from Iraq and Afghanistan.
You just have to wonder about the delta between what the VA is supposed to do and what they do in reality. Does the VA ever show an interest in helping US veterans? Five years ago while in a VA waiting room I recall being surprised when one Vietnam vet was sharing a story related to his exposure to Agent Orange and his disability and his neighbor only then learning about the links between the chemical and physical conditions that were known problems. It's shameful how poorly the VA treats vets and the Agent Orange scandal has gone on for long enough.
Despite being notified of problems at the Seattle-area VA four months earlier, little or no action had been taken to address risks in the psychiatric ward. Unfortunately it takes death and the public spotlight for the VA management to do anything.
Dana Priest and Anne Hull, the Washington Post reporters who exposed the scandalous conditions at Walter Reed, are now exposing the disastrous mental health treatment provided to the soldiers returning from Iraq. In short, one more time, we see glaring evidence that George Bush and his government do not support our troops.
The writers spotlight a returning vet, Jeans Cruz, who sought medical treatment from the Veterans Affairs was told he could not get that treatment, in part, because he hadn't served in combat:
None of that seemed to matter when his case reached VA disability evaluators. They turned him down flat, ruling that he deserved no compensation because his psychological problems existed before he joined the Army. They also said that Cruz had not proved he was ever in combat. "The available evidence is insufficient to confirm that you actually engaged in combat," his rejection letter stated.
Yet abundant evidence of his year in combat with the 4th Infantry Division covers his family's living-room wall. The Army Commendation Medal With Valor for "meritorious actions . . . during strategic combat operations" to capture Hussein hangs not far from the combat spurs awarded for his work with the 10th Cavalry "Eye Deep" scouts, attached to an elite unit that caught the Iraqi leader on Dec. 13, 2003, at Ad Dawr.
Unfortunately, Cruz is not alone. The problems are rampant:
Jeans Cruz and his contemporaries in the military were never supposed to suffer in the shadows the way veterans of the last long, controversial war did. One of the bitter legacies of Vietnam was the inadequate treatment of troops when they came back. Tens of thousands endured psychological disorders in silence, and too many ended up homeless, alcoholic, drug-addicted, imprisoned or dead before the government acknowledged their conditions and in 1980 officially recognized PTSD as a medical diagnosis.
Yet nearly three decades later, the government still has not mastered the basics: how best to detect the disorder, the most effective ways to treat it, and the fairest means of compensating young men and women who served their country and returned unable to lead normal lives.
Cruz's case illustrates these broader problems at a time when the number of suffering veterans is the largest and fastest-growing in decades, and when many of them are back at home with no monitoring or care. Between 1999 and 2004, VA disability pay for PTSD among veterans jumped 150 percent, to $4.2 billion.
This week, the U.S. House actually increased spending for mental health because, of course, Bush's budget didn't deliver:
This bill provides $600 million more than the President’s request for mental health, PTSD and Traumatic Brain Injury and makes five polytrauma centers and three Centers of Excellence for Mental Health and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) fully operational this year to care for those returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, including those with TBI.
Just because Bush and his GOP flunkies says they support the troop doesn't mean it's true. In fact, one more time, we see it's not true. What's worse is that Bush has known about these problems for a while now, and still refuses to fix them.
Just watched one of the most sickening, infuriating reports ever on ABC (transcript here). ABC's Bob Woodruff reported on a great American soldier who ended up trying to kill himself while serving in Iraq. His duty in Iraq seriously messed with his head, he tried to seek help, didn't really get it, and then ended up in that fateful building 17 at Walter Reed - the one that the Washington Post reported on a few months ago. Well, the military then ignored the guy at Walter Reed until he hung himself - and even then, they didn't find him until two days later, and only after his parents BEGGED someone to go to his room and check on him.
Oh, and by the way, I did a Google search on the soldier's name, James Coons, and Republican Congressman Sam Johnson (the guy who thinks we would have won in Vietnam had we'd only stayed longer and sent more troops). The results? Zero. It seems Mr. Johnson hasn't had anything to say about this abandoned American soldier either.
It's been six months since George Bush called off the search for a kidnapped American soldier in Iraq. You remember the story. Bush didn't want to offend our Iraqi "friends," so Bush and the generals called off the search and left an American service member for dead, even though they had a decent idea where he was.
Iraqi Shiites celebrated in the streets yesterday when American soldiers lifted those checkpoints around Sadr City in Baghdad.
That area had been blockaded, while U.S. and Iraqi troops looked for a kidnapped American soldier. But Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al- Maliki demanded the American checkpoints come down. And they did.
And who controls Sadr City? Muqtada al-Sadr, the commander of Iraq's most feared militia. Al-Sadr made it clear this week, if those checkpoints were not removed, his forces might retaliate. And the prime minister knows that he needs the support of al-Sadr and his militia, if he wants to successfully govern Iraq.
The American Embassy in Baghdad insists the decision to remove those checkpoints was made after a meeting between al-Maliki and top U.S. officials. And a military spokesman was adamant that U.S. soldiers removed the checkpoints on their commanders' orders.
But it doesn't really matter, does it? By removing the checkpoints, the United States is, in effect, handing over the fate of the kidnapped American soldier to the Shiite militia. This country has a long and proud tradition of never abandoning its soldiers on the battlefield. And we ought to be ashamed of ourselves for this little stunt they pulled.
The question is this. Who's calling the shots in Iraq, the United States, the Iraqi government, or the militias? It's a disgrace.
You don't hear about that American soldier at all anymore, because he's an example of everything that is wrong with this war and its leadership in the Pentagon, the White House, and the then-Republican Congress. George Bush and the Republicans, and their generals at the Pentagon, don't care about the troops unless they're props at a White House photo opp. If they're real American soldiers in the war zone, wounded American troops back in the states, or American heroes slain in battle, George Bush and the Republicans in Congress don't care about them much at all.
Take the much vaunted Republican Rep. Sam Johnson. You remember him. He's the guy who got a standing ovation from Republicans a while back when he gave a speech in the US House excoriating Democrats while saying that the only reason we lost in Vietnam is that the Congress didn't spend more money and send more troops. Yes. We would have won in Vietnam had we just stayed longer and sent even more troops. This kind of crazy talk gets a standing ovation in today's Republican party and you wonder why we're losing in Iraq? Well, I was reading a short clip about Johnson in today's Washington Post. Here's what it said is motivating him:
[F]or [Johnson], the Iraq debate is like a flashback. By the time Congress cut off funds for Vietnam, the war was largely over, but Johnson still languished in prison, fearing that his nation had abandoned him.
"I know what it's like to be on front lines for country when fellow countrymen don't support you," he said, vowing it will never happen again.
He's afraid that Democrats want to leave our troops behind. Okay. Well, I just did a Google on Sam Johnson and the kidnapped US soldier, Ahmed Qusai al-Taei, and here are the results: A bit fat zero (well, a link to an old story that's now gone). Yes, how many times do we find our American patriot Sam Johnson speaking out in an effort to help this poor US soldier kidnapped and left for dead in Iraq? Zero.
But Sam Johnson is an honorable man. So are they all - George Bush, Dick Cheney, the generals at the Pentagon who all too quickly caved when Bush told them to leave one of their own for dead, and the Republicans in Congress who continue to rubber stamp this disaster of a war - all honorable men.
I'll close with a quote from Johnson's standing-ovation floor speech:
“The pain inflicted by your country’s indifference is tenfold that inflicted by your ruthless captors."
You're right, Mr. Johnson. So where is our soldier? And why don't you seem to care?
The DOD regulations make clear that the White House cannot use uniformed military, active duty or veterans, as props in political events. But that's what Bush did today when he used current or former troops in uniform as window dressing for his political press conference attacking the Democrats as un-American. Is this now the official policy of the US military, that Democrats don't support the troops? What are we, a banana republic now?
Let me quote the relevant regulations...
Regarding active duty troops
It is DoD policy that:
3.1. The wearing of the uniform by members of the Armed Forces (including retired members and members of Reserve components) is prohibited under any of the following circumstances:
3.1.1. At any meeting or demonstration that is a function of, or sponsored by an organization, association, movement, group, or combination of persons that the Attorney General of the United States has designated, under Executive Order 10450 as amended (reference (c)), as totalitarian, fascist, communist, or subversive, or as having adopted a policy of advocating or approving the commission of acts of force or violence to deny others their rights under the Constitution of the United States, or as seeking to alter the form of Government of the United States by unconstitutional means.
3.1.2. During or in connection with furthering political activities, private employment or commercial interests, when an inference of official sponsorship for the activity or interest may be drawn.
3.1.3. Except when authorized by the approval authorities in subparagraph 4.1.1., when participating in activities such as unofficial public speeches, interviews, picket lines, marches, rallies or any public demonstration, which may imply Service sanction of the cause for which the demonstration or activity is conducted.
And regarding retired vets:
3.2. Former members of the Armed Forces, unless under another provision of this Instruction or under the terms of Section 772 of title 10, United States Code (reference (d)), who served honorably during a declared or undeclared war and whose most recent service was terminated under honorable conditions may wear the uniform in the highest grade held during such war service only on the following occasions and in the course of travel incident thereto:
3.2.1. Military funerals, memorial services, weddings, and inaugurals.
3.2.2. Parades on National or State holidays; or other parades or ceremonies of a patriotic character in which any Active or Reserve United States military unit is taking part.
3.2.3. Wearing of the uniform or any part thereof at any other time or for any other purposes is prohibited.
3.3. Medal of Honor holders may wear the uniform at their pleasure except under the circumstances set forth in paragraph 3.1., above.
So, no one can wear the uniforms at political events, which this most certainly was, vets can't wear them at anything short of funerals, weddings and parades, and medal of honor winners can wear them at more events, but still not at political events, which this was.
But and the Republicans only like our veterans when they can use them, and when they have 4 limbs.
Listen. Just because the Republicans say they support the troops, doesn't mean it's true. The facts show otherwise. And, if you're not supporting veterans, you're not supporting the troops. Walter Reed wasn't an isolated case. Horrific conditions exist at another facility right here in your nation's Capitol:
Reports of a rising death rate and rooms spattered with blood, urine and feces at the Armed Forces Retirement Home prompted the Pentagon yesterday to begin investigating conditions at the veterans facility in Northwest Washington.
The Government Accountability Office warned the Pentagon this week that residents of the home "may be at risk" in light of allegations of severe health-care problems. Residents have been admitted to Walter Reed Army Medical Center with "the most serious type of pressure sores" and, in one case, with maggots in a wound, according to a GAO letter sent to the Defense Department.
The review was conducted by directors of individual VA facilities around the country and compiled in a 94-page report to Nicholson. It found that 90 percent of the 1,100 problems cited were deemed to be of a more routine nature: worn-out carpet, peeling paint, mice sightings and dead bugs at VA centers.
The other 10 percent were considered serious and included mold spreading in patient care areas. Eight cases were so troubling they required immediate attention and follow-up action.
Some of the more striking problems were found at a VA clinic in White City, Ore. There, officials reported roof leaks throughout the facility, requiring them to "continuously repair the leaks upon occurrence, clean up any mold presence if any exists, spray or remove ceiling tiles."
In addition, large colonies of bats resided outside the facility and sometimes flew into the attics and interior parts of the building.
UPDATE: Fortunately, the House is taking action for vets. Yesterday, they passed three bills to support veterans:
these bills will provide a cost-of-living increase for veteran’s benefits, reduce the incidence of suicide among veterans, and provide increased compensation to veterans who sustained significant vision loss.
The US Army Surgeon General, Lt. Gen. Kevin Kiley, the man who reportedly let an injured soldier at Walter Reed sleep in his own urine rather than help him, has finally resigned. About time. Now let's see if he's getting full retirement benefits and an honorable discharge after abusing so many of our injured and maimed soldiers.
HUME: I think it tells you a lot about the effect of the last election and the political atmosphere in Washington. This is an administration which is known or had been known for sticking by people even when they were embattled. The idea that conditions at Walter Reed hospital, a hospital that is on its way out of business, had deteriorated, that’s probably one of the reasons they wanted to put it out of business. This is unfortunate. It looks terrible, which is the problem. The problem is that it looks as if this administration, which has sent troops into harm’s way, is now neglecting them when they’re injured and need care and help. But make no mistake about it, this was a — there was a potential political firestorm on Capitol Hill began to brew about this. The administration did what it did to try to get it over with, and it may well have succeeded.
Then NPR's Mara Liasson responded to Hume:
“I think, you know, to say it looks bad, it also is bad. Those pictures were horrible. These are people — nobody who is being treated for any kind of injury should have to live in that condition, let alone people who just fought in a war for our country.”
Secretary of Defense Robert Gates just announced that the Secretary of the Army, Francis Harvey, has resigned in the wake of the growing Walter Reed scandal. Great. So when is the guy going to be punished who actually oversaw Walter Reed while the most egregious abuses were taking place? That would be Lt. Gen. Kevin "Urine Man" Kiley, the guy who oversaw the mess, the who reportedly let a soldier sleep in his own urine, and the guy who, incredibly, has now been appointed AGAIN to oversee Walter Reed. This man isn't fit to run Walter Reed, let alone be Army Surgeon General. How long does Urine Man get to keep his cushy jobs?
UPDATE: CNN just reported that Urine Man has been replaced. Still looking for confirmation online.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Harvey had resigned. But senior defense officials speaking on condition of anonymity said Gates had asked Harvey to leave. Gates was displeased that Harvey, after firing Maj. Gen. George Weightman as the head of Walter Reed, chose to name as Weightman's temporary replacement another general whose role in the controversy was still in question.
"I am disappointed that some in the Army have not adequately appreciated the seriousness of the situation pertaining to outpatient care at Walter Reed," Gates said in the Pentagon briefing room. He took no questions from reporters.
Chairman Henry A. Waxman and Subcommittee Chairman John Tierney sent a letter to Major General George W. Weightman, former Commander of Walter Reed Army Medical Center, regarding the privatization of support services at Walter Reed and its impact on the conditions at Walter Reed. In addition, the Committee is issuing a subpoena to compel Major General Weightman to appear before the Committee on Monday, March 5.
Chairwoman of the House Rules Committee, Louise Slaughter (D-NY), has just written to the Secretary of Defense calling on him to fire the temporary head of Walter Reed, Lt. Gen. Kevin Kiley. Kiley headed Walter Reed for two years while our injured veterans suffered, with his knowledge, and he is the man who GOP Congressman Bill Young's wife says she told about a soldier sleeping in his own urine - Kiley reportedly didn't do a thing about it.
General Kiley, the man who reportedly left an injured American soldier to sleep in his own urine is now BACK in charge at Walter Reed, after presiding over all the worst abuses at Walter Reed for two years. Why does Urine Man have any job in the military, let alone back at the helm of Walter Reed? More from the Post.
We are glad that the Army is finally taking the issue of outpatient care seriously enough to effectively end the career of a major general for presiding over the disgraceful condition of Building 18. But the evidence compiled so far suggests that Gen. Kiley has been more complicit in the scandalous neglect of Walter Reed's outpatient facilities for longer than Gen. Weightman has been. It also indicates that the Army's reshuffle is really about projecting the appearance of accountability, not punishing those most responsible.
TAKE ACTION
Folks, please call and email your Senators and House members and ask them to get involved and publicly speak out on this horrible issue. The abuses of our vets have gone on too long at Walter Reed, and now they're yet again being ignored. Some members of Congress like Nancy Pelosi, Louise Slaughter, Kendrick Meek, Barack Obama, and Claire McCaskill have spoken out, and Jack Murtha and John Tierney are each holding hearings. But far too many members of Congress haven't said or done squat.
Where is the House Veterans Affairs Committee? Not a word about this scandal on their Web site home page. In the Senate, the head of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, Daniel Akaka (D-HI), issued a statement expressing concern over the Walter Reed abuses, and saying that he will be holding hearings in March on this issue and others. That's great. But it would be nice to hear from the chairman about what he plans to do right now about Mr. Kiley.
And where are the Republican members of Congress? You remember them, the folks who claim, early and often, to care so much about our troops. Why have almost all of them, save Bill Young (R-FL) and Tom Davis (R-VA), been so silent on this matter? And before you give Young and Davis a pass, they were in CHARGE of oversight on this matter while the Republicans controlled congress. Where were they while our soldiers were sleeping in their own urine? Why did Congressman Young go silent for two years after finding out about these atrocities?
Call your members of Congress, both Democrats and Republicans, and tell them that the wife of Congressman Bill Young (R-FL) says Lt. General Kevin Kiley, who is back heading Walter Reed, let an injured American soldier sleep in his own urine. Kiley needs to be fired as head of Walter Reed, and fired from the Army as well (incredibly, he's still the Army's Surgeon General!). We need our representatives in Congress to all speak out and make clear that the abuse of our vets is intolerable.
At the top of the blog we'll be counting the days that the US Army permits Urine Man, M.D. (aka US Army Surgeon General, Lt. Gen. Kevin Kiley) to remain at the helm of Walter Reed. Why Urine Man? Read on.
