SSG Ryan Maseth - You must be very proud!

(This is cross posted from MsSparky.com)
One year ago today, 24 year old Staff Sergeant Ryan Maseth was electrocuted and died in his shower at Radwaniyah Palace Complex in Baghdad.

The Army initially reported that Ryan, a decorated Green Beret foolishly took an electrical appliance into the shower and that was the reason for his death.

The Criminal Investigations Command (CID) closed Ryan's investigation on June 11, 2008 proclaiming Ryan's manner of death was "accidental". His mother, Cheryl Harris refused to accept this as the cause of death for her son.

Cheryl launched into her own investigation and took on the two Goliaths, DoD and KBR. She enlisted the assistance of Senator Casey, Senator Dorgan, Congressman Waxman, Jim Risen of the New York Times, Greg Mitchell and CNN. Anyone who would listen to her tell her story about the unsafe living conditions of our soldiers in the Middle East.

Soldiers came forward. Electricians came forward. Total strangers came forward. Offering pertinent information and support.

On July 11, 2008 Cheryl bravely testified before the Senate Democratic Policy Committee. Cheryl described, in heartbreaking detail, the cause of Ryan's death and the shoddy and unsafe electrical conditions of his building.

On July 30, 2008 The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform thoroughly chastised the DoD Inspector General, The Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA), The Army Contract Command, and KBR for shoddy work and total lack of oversight. The Committee presented evidence that was uncovered due to Cheryl's persistence and doggedness.

On August 29, 2008, the Criminal Investigations Command (CID) reopened its investigation into the cause of SSG Ryan Maseth's death. Currently the investigation is "open and ongoing".

Since Cheryl Harris waged war on the DoD and KBR several very positive changes have occurred with regard to the safety of our US Troops and civilians.

• Task Force Safe was implemented to inspect nearly 90,000 DoD buildings for electrical deficiencies and fire hazards.
• A Level III Corrective Action Request (CAR) was written against KBR for electrical deficiencies.
• KBR changed their hiring requirements for electricians and now requires them to be licensed. In order to attract qualified electricians, KBR has dramatically increased their wages.
• The DCMA oversight of the LOGCAP contract as clearly improved.
• Other families are coming forward and some have filed suit against KBR for the electrocution death and chemical exposures of their loved ones.
• And just maybe the DoD will think twice before trying to deceive a family member again.

It is my opinion there is only one logical conclusion to the cause of Ryan Maseth's death. So let's complete the investigation and move on to the next step.

Cheryl, on this day I have no words to comfort you. Nothing to dull the pain you must be feeling. But, I would like to say you are truly a hero. Because of your bravery and determination to find the truth US Soldiers and Civilians are safer. KBR is being called to task. And the DCMA is doing their job more effectively.

Cheryl, I can't help but think that on this day, as Ryan wraps his arms around you to comfort you, he whispers "Mom, not all warriors wear uniforms. Your strength and bravery humble even the most decorated soldier. I am so very proud of you."

May you find peace today my friend.

Debbie

aka Ms Sparky

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2008 - KBR's 5th Year Of LOGCAP Fraud, Waste & Abuse

(This is cross posted from MsSparky.com)

When I first came up with this idea to do a recap of KBR activity for 2008, I didn't think it would take me three days to do the research and compile all the info. I haven't been following everything that KBR has been up to. That would take a full-time "staff". I found out things I didn't even know were going on. And after all that research...all I can really say is...if it walks like a duck and talks like a duck....it must be a freakin' duck!

I tried to get my dates as accurate as possible. If I'm incorrect, send me an email and I will correct it. If I missed something, send me an email and I will add it.

January 2008

01/02/2008 - SSG Ryan Maseth is electrocuted in his shower and dies at Radwaniyah Palace Complex in Baghdad, Iraq due to shoddy electrical work. Army Criminal Investigations Command (CID) opens investigation into manner of death.
01/??/2008 - KBR employee, Dawn Leamon was drugged and brutally raped in her room at Camp Harper in Southern Iraq.

February 2008

02/27/2008 -KBR employee Tracy K Barker was raped in Basra, Iraq. - Another of KBR's rape victims to come forward Click HERE to read a very interesting post

March 2008

03/09/2008 - AP Exclusive - US troops may have become sick in Iraq from contaminated water supplied by KBR
03/12/2008 - Pentagon Dismisses KBR Contaminated Water: Troops Should ‘Just Drink Bottled Water’
03/19/08 - Cheryl Harris, SSG Ryan Maseth's mother files "Wrongful Death" lawsuit against KBR in Pennsylvania.

April 2008

04/09/2008 - Former KBR employees Dawn Leamon and Mary Beth Kineston testify before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee about their rapes in Iraq - Closing Legal Loopholes:Prosecuting Sexual Assaults And Other Violent Crimes Committed Overseas By American Civilians In A Combat Environment
04/28/2008 - Senate DPC Hearing - Contracting Abuses in Iraq:Is the Bush Administration Safeguarding American Taxpayer Dollars? - KBR employees working in Iraq stole weapons, artwork and even gold to make spurs for cowboy boots, two former company workers told Senate Democrats.

May 2008

05/09/2008 - Former KBR employee and Jamie Leigh Jones gang rape case goes to trial instead of arbitration!
05/25/2008 - 9 former KBR employees file suit for sodium dichromate exposure.

June 2008

06/02/2008 - My first blog post about KBR and the soldier electrocutions. (It's important to me!)
06/11/2008 - The Army Criminal Investigations Command (CID) finds SSG Ryan Maseth's death was an "accident". (CID reopens investigation 08/29/2008)
06/20/2008 - Senate DPC Hearing - The Exposure at Qarmat Ali: Contractor Misconduct and the Safety of U.S. Troops in Iraq Former KBR employees testify about how KBR knowingly exposed US Troops and their own employees to Hexavalent Chromium (Chrom-6).
06/20/2008 - Group demands that California Public Employees' Retirement System (CALPERS) dump KBR Inc stocks. What a great idea!!!

July 2008

07/01/2008 - Senator Casey expresses concerns about KBR performing own electrical inspections.
07/09/2008 - Senate DPC Hearing - Safeguarding Taxpayer Dollars in Iraq: An Insider's View of Questionable Contracting Practices by KBR and the Pentagon Former Chief of the Field Support Command Division testifies to personally witnessing KBR submitting over $1 billion in unsupported charges.
07/11/2008 - Senate DPC Hearing - Contractor Misconduct and the Electrocution Deaths of American Soldiers in Iraq Mothers Cheryl Harris, Larraine McGee, Soldier Rachel McNeil and Electricians Debbie Crawford and Jeff Bliss testify to shoddy electrical work done by KBR. More videos and media coverage.
07/17/2008 - The H.R. HEART Act of 2008 goes into affect. KBR can no longer avoid paying millions in Social Security and Medicare taxes. To bad it's not retroactive.
07/17/2008 - Fisher v. Halliburton - KBR Lawsuit Revived - The “Good Friday Massacre.” Friday, April 9, 2004. KBR truck drivers were sent out on convoy when KBR was told they would be attacked.
07/18/2008 - Electrical Risks at Bases in Iraq Worse Than Previously Said
07/18/2008 - Senators Want Independent Safety Review of KBR's Electrical Work in Iraq
07/21/2008 - Larraine McGee, mother of SSG Christopher Everett file suit against KBR for his electrocution death at Camp Taqqadum.
07/30/2008 - Committee on Oversight and Government Reform hold hearings on Deficient Electrical Systems at U.S. Facilities in Iraq KBR's Tom Bruni, the DoD and DCMA are totally humiliated by the Committee for their shoddy work and lack of oversight.

August 2008

08/??/2008 - KBR changes it's qualification requirements for it's electricians requiring them to be licensed. It also increases journeyman wages to $3750 base and masters to $5000 base. Finally!!!
08/12/2008 - Curtis Coffey files suit. Iraq Injury Spurs Class Action Against KBR
08/27/2008 -KBR, Partner in Iraq Contract Sued in Human Trafficking Case - Suit Alleges Slavery
08/29/2008 - The Army Criminal Investigations Command (CID) re-opens the investigation into the cause of SSG Ryan Maseth's death.

September 2008

09/??/2008 - Task Force Safe is implemented to inspect the electrical wiring at 90,000 DoD facilities including those maintained by KBR.
09/03/2008 - Former KBR Exec pleads guilty to bribery and is sentenced to seven years.
09/11/2008 - KBR issued Level III Corrective Action Request (CAR) by the DCMA in Iraq.
09/27/2008 - Electrical Review Turns Up 3700 fires Not The 483 Reported!
09/29/2008 - IBEW Urges Electrical Safety In Iraq

October 2008

10/??/2008 - KBR claims all electrical work in Iraq was done to British Standards
10/10/2008 - Former KBR employee gets 3 years for child porn in Iraq
10/24/2008 - Pentagon Finds Company Violated Its Contract on Electrical Work in Iraq - NY Times

November 2008

11/24/2008 - Contractor (KBR) for military committed serious violations-CNN
11/26/2008 - Suit claims Halliburton, KBR sickened base - Ice tainted with body fluids, rotten food and contaminated water.

December 2008

12/03/2008 - KBR involved in Human Trafficking...again.
12/08/2008 - Indiana National Guard file suit against KBR for chemical exposure at Qarmat Ali water plant.
12/29/2008 - New York City Comptroller William C. Thompson, Jr., on behalf of the New York City Pension Funds demands answers. I hope more Pension Funds SELL their KBR and HALLIBURTON shares because of the Waste, Fraud & Abuse in Iraq!!!
12/31/2008 - The last day for Contractor Immunity in Iraq

What I'd Like To See For 2009

• I want to know if KBR is invoicing the DoD (and therefore the American Taxpayer) for the costs associated with defending itself in the cases of "wrongful death" of soldiers, the Qarmat Ali chemical exposures, the Human Trafficking suits, the employee rape suits and any other cases that have to do with LOGCAP.
• I would like to see the Army Criminal Investigations Command (CID) finalize their investigation in the Soldier electrocution cases, file criminal charges, and send out a press release on the above!!
• I would like to see the Army Criminal Investigations Command (CID) open an investigation into the chemical exposure of our soldiers and civilians at Qarmat Ali. Is there one already? Send me an email.
• I would like to start a "grass roots" campaign to get pension funds, retirement accounts and others to sell their shares of KBR and Halliburton stocks. Yes...they are making money now. But drug cartels make money too and we don't invest in them...at least knowingly. I could use some help here! Email me.
• I would like to see more Human Trafficking Organizations get involved in KBR's Human Trafficking in the middle east.
• I would like to see Congress demand an all out independent audit of KBR invoices and payments.
• I would like to see Congress find out exactly what KBR charged the DoD for man hours worked. Did they charge more than straight time for overtime? Did they charge uplift for every hour worked and then only pay for 40 hours?
• And most of all, what I would like to see for 2009 is KBR senior executives sentenced to prison for their part in the negligent deaths of US soldiers and US Civilians, human trafficking of third world laborers and the fleecing of the American taxpayer.

Happy New Year

Ms Sparky

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When The Violence Is Brought To The Children: It Has Gone Too Far

Photo: Joao Silva/NYTimes

As reported in a story by Michael R. Gordon in the New York Times with the headline "Civilians Suffer in Sadr City's Daily Gun Battles"

BAGHDAD — Ayman, bleeding profusely from his arm, was rushed to Company B’s stronghold in Sadr City late Sunday afternoon.

A bullet had carved a bloody groove near his left elbow as he was going to fetch some bread from a market.

Seven children had been struck by a burst of gunfire from militia fighters who have been roaming through the streets near the American positions, his distraught father said.

But Ayman, 11, was one of the lucky ones. Four of the children, his father said, were dead.

With no functioning police force and the streets a battle zone, it could not be determined if the children had been caught in cross-fire or had been deliberately shot at by militia fighters, as Ayman’s father suggested.

Take a long look at this child's face, it could be the face of any child, of any of our own children.

While it is admirable, and no less than humanitarian of U.S. forces to administer to this civilian child's wound, it would not ever have been necessary, had the the Bushliburton administration not invaded Iraq in the first place, or withdrawn our forces years ago.

When will the United States stand down, bring our people home, and no longer be a reason for the suffering in Iraq and at home?

Ayman's blood, as is the blood of countless others is on our hands, our leaders, our government, our people should all be ashamed of ourselves.

When will all honest, moral Americans decide that enough is enough and we begin the process of reacquiring our moral authority?

Cross posted from BFD Blog!

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Putting a face on '4000'

Cross-posted to my new blogger blog:

"Razed By Wolves"

About "Razed": "This blog is intended to be an adjunct to my self-hosted site "My Buffalo River Home", consisting of snippets of news about events and people who make the world around us a dangerous, nasty place to live..."





From Crooks and Liars

Read on, at Crooks and Liars

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"Body of War" with Phil Donahue

Phil Donahue on his new documentary and the situation in Iraq
Friday March 28th, 2008

Phil Donahue and the DONAHUE show have been honored with 20 Daytime Emmy Awards, including nine for Outstanding Host and a George Foster Peabody Broadcasting Journalism Award.

There's more: ""Body of War" with Phil Donahue" >>

Iraq War: Bushliburton's Latest Milestone

Crossposted from BFD Blog!

Just in time for Easter, attaboy Georgie.

There's more: "Iraq War: Bushliburton's Latest Milestone" >>

Why we count the casualties

Some day soon, the 4,000th American service member will die in Iraq, and antiwar activists will mark that grim milestone with vigils, marches, and other actions.

When similar events marked the 3,000th American death, on New Year's Eve of 2006, the right wing accused us of "celebrating" the death toll.

It is anything but a celebration, of course.

We will mark the 4,000th death because it is an opportunity to remind the American people of the price we are paying for an unjustified war that will soon enter its sixth year. Unfortunately, although they continue to say overwhelmingly that the war was a mistake and should be dended, Americans have become numbed to the casualties, which have long ago slipped from the front page.

The Associated Press reports:

Fewer people know how many U.S. troops have died in the war in Iraq, even as public attention to the conflict has gradually diminished, a poll showed Wednesday.

Only 28 percent correctly said that about 4,000 Americans have died in the war, according to a survey by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center.

That's down from last August, when 54 percent gave the accurate casualty figure, which was about 3,500 dead at the time. In previous Pew surveys dating to 2004, about half have correctly given the rough figure for the approximate number of deaths at the time.

In the new poll, around a third said about 3,000 U.S. troops have died while about one in 10 said 2,000 deaths. Fewer overestimated the number of casualties: about a quarter put the figure close to 5,000.

The 4,000 figure, of course, is just the tip of the iceberg. To many Americans, some deaths -- those of Americans -- count more than others. And some don't count at all.

The 4,000th coalition death was recorded last August, but went largely unreported. That includes deaths of troops from 20 US allies, most of which have small numbers there.

If you're only concerned about American casualties, nearly 30,000 have been wounded. Many will never heal. Their lives have been permanently destroyed -- physically, emotionally, psychologically, or some combination of the three. They are brain-damaged, missing limbs and other body parts, scarred internally and externally. Those veterans, their families, our society, our country and its taxpayers will bear the costs of their injuries for the next 60 years or more, just as we continue to pay every day for Vietnam.

Every day our troops remain there, it is guaranteed that more of them will be permanently damaged. If you have a strong stomach, a photo essay in the New England Journal of Medicine will give you a taste of what kind of casualties and injuries are being treated. It's not pretty.

How many Iraqis have been killed or wounded? We don't seem to have the foggiest idea. Estimates range from 100,000 to more than a million, including military and civilian fatalities.

Another 4 million Iraqis have been driven from their homes, half having fled the country as refugees and the other have displaced within their own nation.

But none of those Iraqi numbers seem to count. After all, the President says we're there to do them a favor and bring them freedom -- if they live to see it.

As we mark the 4,000th American death in Iraq, the war hawks will no doubt drag these numbers out again, revisiting the arguments from Death Number 3000, and remind us that there were 58,000 Americans killed in the Vietnam War, 36,000 in the Korean War, 405,000 in World War II and 116,000 in World War I.

So what's the problem with 4,000? Hardly worth mentioning, right?

That argument baffles me.

If you use use a false premise to launch an unjustified invasion, one death is too many.

Hundreds of thousands on both sides is inexcusable. Some would say criminal.

There's more: "Why we count the casualties" >>

Bushliburton's Military Supply Chain

Inspired by Edger's post titled Bush, Cheney Industries, Inc.

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151,000 - The Forgotten Number

Cross posted from BFD Blog!

We are all familiar with the number that is currently 3,921, but how many of the members of the American Executive and Legislative branches of government are familiar with, or have any interest in the number 151,000 which is an order or magnitude 38.25 times greater than 3,921.

It is without question that the death of 3,921 American service members at the hands of enemy combatants is a terrible tragedy for the American people. But what of the 151,000 Iraqi civilians, that have been killed in Iraq since the invasion by the United States in 2003? Those casualties are also a terrible tragedy for the American people, as are all of the other uncounted or unreported deaths of all other parties, whether civilian contractors of the United States or enemy combatants, occurring within the borders of Iraq since spring of 2003.

The number 151,000 comes from the latest survey conducted by the United Nations Word Health Organization, and could actually be as high as 223,000 in the estimation of the World Health Organization. The full survey results are available in the New England Journal of Medicine in an special article titled Violence-Related Mortality in Iraq from 2002 to 2006.

Logic dictates that those 151,000 deaths are the responsibility of president George W. Bush and the Bushliburton administration initially, but they are also the responsibility of the Congress of the United States for their inaction, and apparent complicity, after it was factually established that the administration's justification for starting the war was a sham, and that continuation of combat operations and occupation of the sovereign nation of Iraq is illegal.

The deaths of 151,000 Iraqi citizens are also on the hands of all of the American people, as long as we allow our government, through the actions and in-actions of the Executive and Legislative branches, to prolong our occupation of Iraq.

Now some might make an argument that had the United States not intervened, and not overthrown Saddam Hussein, that left to his own devices, Saddam might have by this time killed as many, or more, innocent people than that 151,000 figure. That is a hypothetical that one can only speculate about, but what might be worth considering, in that hypothetical situation, in which the United States never invaded Iraq and in which Saddam was never deposed, captured, tried and executed, is that just possibly, given Saddam's iron fist-ed control of the country, that inter-tribal violence, that inter-sect violence, that violence effected by internal insurgents and external agents of Al Qaeda or other government or extremist groups would never have been able to begin in the first place. Strange as it may seem, that Saddam Hussein, while left to his own devices might have murdered more of his own countrymen, it is also within the realm of possibility that he might have not exterminated the lives of his countrymen on a scale as large as the current death toll. We will never know. But what we can conclude, is that had the United States not invaded and occupied Iraq, the people of the United States would not have been complicit in any deaths, that the credibility and reputation of the United States in world opinion would not have hit rock bottom, as it has now.

Is it not time for the American people to demand that our government cease operating as an arm of big business interests and return to operating in the interests of the people? Is it not time for our government to accede to the will of the people and extract our country from the disaster that we have created in Iraq?

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The Uncounted

Ran across this post about the death of Sfc. Anthony Raymond Wasielewski from Ladysmith WI. My father was born in Ladysmith, and that's what initially caught my attention. He's never mentioned the Wasielewskis (and I DEFINITELY would have remembered the name) so I don't assume any connection other than that my dad was born in Ladysmith...a town name I've always liked. But back to the post.

[Sfc. Wasielewski] had been injured in Iraq last May and died at his home in early October. It appeared his death was related to his comabat injuries but from the article that was not conclusive. I wondered if he would be counted as a casualty of the war. I checked Iraq Coalition Casualty Count site and found he was not listed.

Recently I checked back at the site and found that Sfc. Anthony Raymond Wasielewski is listed in a separate count of "Post Iraq Deaths Not Confirmed By the DoD".......

It seems there are several soldiers who died from wounds received in Iraq, but the DoD does not include their deaths in the official count of the soldiers killed in Iraq.

Coupled with the news that the Pentagon has underreported the number of US servicemen and women wounded in Iraq by a whopping 40%, I wonder if anyone at the Pentagon could pass a 5th grade math test.

There's more: "The Uncounted" >>

The Shafting Of Our Patriots In Military Service - Part III

(In Part III of this series I note that the shafting of our military personnel continues unabated, I become more and more outraged thinking about how people as young as I was when I enlisted, who are just starting out in the world, are having their lives mangled and are then tossed away, like some used trash. All while the Blackwaters of the Disaster Capitalism Military/Industrial Complex commit crimes in the name of the American people and plunder our treasury. This is the first time, in the life of BFD Blog! that I take my voice from the third person (the editorial "we") and write in the first person, a turning point for me. While I cannot stand in the boots of our current military personnel, I feel such a strong affinity to them as my brothers and sisters, who proudly and courageously serve our country, and who deserve so much in return from us. -Big Fella)

I was outraged when I wrote the previous postings and my outrage continued when I read the article "Specialist Town Takes His Case to Washington" by Joshua Kors in the October 15 issue of The Nation.

To briefly recap the story about Specialist Jon Town, and the other patriots in our military services that are in the same predicament:

Soldiers who passed all of the rigorous medical and psychological screening prior to induction in to the Army, who had no previous history of any psychological problems, or what the Army would term "personality disorder", were accepted in to the United States Army, trained and deployed to the theater of war in Iraq. These soldiers subsequently become casualties, suffering traumatic injuries to their bodies, including their limbs, external musculature, internal organs and to their brains. Injuries manifest in the physical scarring, and partial physical dysfunction or disintegration of their bodies and in the Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome that they chronically suffer. They return to the safety of our home shores and to the care of the Army Medical Corps with the expectation that in exchange for their service and sacrifices that they will receive the best medical, and rehabilitative care available in the most technologically and economically advantaged nation in the world. Instead, they are mis-categorized in a seeming widespread institutional standard operating procedure, as having "personality disorder", and thus are ineligible for benefits, and are "kicked to the curb" by the United States Army, with no further medical care, no rehabilitation, no partial or total disability benefits. Just used, abused and thrown away.

That was the story earlier this year, before Kors and The Nation and the wider media at large picked it up. Subsequently Jon Town was invited to testify before Congress, and as described in Kors' most recent story, while Town himself has finally been the beneficiary of the publicity surrounding his case, as reported by Kors (and no thanks to the U.S. Army, but rather the Department of Veterans Affairs):

Strangely enough, Town's big break came not from Matthews, NBC or even Senator Bond but from Lou Wilin, a reporter at the Findlay Courier, Town's hometown paper (circulation 23,000). After reading Town's story in The Nation, Wilin wrote a profile of the soldier, which ran in the newspaper's April 16 edition. The article caught the eye of an admiral in the VA who happens to live a few miles east of Findlay. The admiral flagged Town's case, kicked it to the Cleveland VA, which passed it to the Dayton VA, where case manager Janine Wert was ready to take action. Wert received Town's case the morning of April 19 and had the soldier in her office before the end of lunch. She listened to his story and cried.

"His childhood, high school and military history--none of it supports a personality disorder. When you're a teenager, there are certain things that pop up that are vividly obvious, red flags for personality disorder. Those aren't present in Jon's history," says Wert, a social worker with a master's degree in mental health. Wert says Town's PTSD and TBI symptoms were obvious from their first meeting. She was struck by the absurdity of the Army's diagnosis. "I have never in my life heard of personality disorder causing deafness," says the counselor.

Wert arranged an immediate doctor's appointment for Town and scheduled an evaluation by a VA medical board. On June 11 the VA ruled that Town was in fact wounded in combat. The agency declared him 100 percent disabled.

Town's VA rating guaranteed him disability and medical benefits for the rest of his life. The VA also provided the disability pay that Town should have received in the months following his discharge. On June 25, just weeks after his family's phone had been shut off, the specialist received a check for $20,000.

There may still be as many as 22,000 other soldiers in the same predicament as Town was. Put in their predicament by the United States Army, and then swept under the carpet as outlined by Kors:

Maj. Gen. Gale Pollock, acting surgeon general of the Army, was briefed on the problems with the Army's personality disorder discharges. Instead of correcting cases like Town's, she buried them. The surgeon general released a series of memos filled with fabrications. Pollock then informed wounded soldiers that their cases had been thoroughly reviewed by an independent panel of health experts when in fact no such review was conducted...

Andrew Pogany, an investigator for the soldiers' rights group Veterans for America, has been looking into personality disorder discharges for two years. The discharge, officially known as Regulation 635-200, Chapter 5-13, is simply a loophole, he says, to dismiss wounded soldiers without providing them benefits. Pogany says Town's case is a textbook example of how Chapter 5-13 is being applied. Town had no history of psychological problems and had served seven years, winning a dozen medals, before being discharged with a personality disorder.

The investigator was so disturbed by the Army's use of 5-13 discharges that he brought his research to Pollock. In late October 2006, he and Steve Robinson, Veterans for America's director of veterans affairs, met with Pollock and presented her with a stack of personality disorder cases, including Town's. The surgeon general promised a thorough review.

On March 23, five months after her meeting with Pogany, Pollock released her findings. Her office had "thoughtfully and thoroughly" reviewed the personality disorder cases and determined that all of the soldiers, including Town, had been properly diagnosed. Pollock commended the doctors who diagnosed personality disorder for their excellent work.

Four days later the military followed up with a press release, this one signed by Lieut. Col. Bob Tallman, the Army's chief of public affairs. Tallman's memo provided further detail on Pollock's review. A panel of behavioral health experts had reviewed the personality disorder cases, Tallman wrote, and they didn't stop at the stack of cases presented to the surgeon general. They "thoroughly evaluated and reviewed" all the Chapter 5-13s from the past four years at Fort Carson, where Specialist Town had been based, and determined that all of those cases had been properly diagnosed as well.

There was a glaring problem with Pollock's review. In the five months she spent "thoughtfully and thoroughly" reviewing the cases, her office did not interview anyone, not even the soldiers whose cases they were reviewing.

Asked how he could call the surgeon general's review "thorough" when no soldiers were interviewed, Tallman said he could not. "Let me be honest with you," he said. "I know nothing about this memo and little to nothing about the review." Tallman said the memo bearing his name was actually ghostwritten by Pollock's office. The lieutenant colonel added that as far as he knew, Pollock conducted no review at all.

Pollock's office quickly admitted that it had ghostwritten the Tallman memo but assured veterans' groups that the surgeon general had indeed conducted a review. In an e-mail Pollock's chief spokeswoman, Cynthia Vaughan, explained that the surgeon general did not want to interview soldiers because she felt they had no medically valid information to share. "Calling a soldier who underwent a 5-13 Chapter in 2003 and asking him (in 2007) to recall his mental condition in 2003 does not hold medical validity," Vaughan wrote...

The surgeon general tried to quell veterans' groups by emphasizing that, as stated in the March memos, the comprehensive review was conducted by a panel of health experts and that those experts "did not provide the initial evaluations." This wasn't a case of one doctor reviewing his own work, the surgeon general said.

Both of those assurances crumbled on May 4, when Army Times reporter Kelly Kennedy revealed that in fact there was only one reviewer: Col. Steven Knorr. Knorr was a strange choice to be the sole reviewer. He was far from an objective observer. As chief of Fort Carson's Behavioral Health unit, Knorr had overseen all the original diagnoses and, in his capacity as a psychiatrist, also diagnosed several soldiers with personality disorder.

Months earlier Knorr had spoken out in defense of the Army's practice of not interviewing soldiers' family or friends before labeling their condition "pre-existing." Unlike his staff, he said, family members are not trained to recognize signs of personality disorder, so speaking to them would be of limited value. "The soldier's perception and their parents' perception is that they were fine. But maybe they didn't or weren't able to see that wasn't the case..."

In the same interview, published in The Nation, Knorr said there was a simple reason why in so many cases the lifelong condition of personality disorder isn't apparent until after troops serve in Iraq. Traumatic experiences, he said, can trigger a condition that has lain dormant for years. "[Troops] may have done fine in high school and before, but it comes out during the stress of service," he said. Knorr's assertion was a sharp break from the accepted medical understanding of personality disorder and provoked a flood of angry letters from psychiatrists and veterans' leaders.

Veterans were further agitated by a vivid profile of Knorr, by NPR's Daniel Zwerdling broadcast in late May. Zwerdling details a memo written by Knorr in which he advises his doctors that trying to save every soldier is a "mistake." "We can't fix every Soldier," the memo states. "We have to hold Soldiers accountable for their behavior. Everyone in life beyond babies, the insane, and the demented and mentally retarded have to be held accountable for what they do in life."

Knorr's memo, which he posted on his office's bulletin board, warns his doctors not to take soldiers' descriptions of their ailments at face value. "We're not naïve, and shouldn't automatically believe everything Soldiers tell us," the colonel writes. Knorr also urges his doctors to discharge troubled soldiers quickly--as he puts it, "Get rid of dead wood."

If I understand what I have read, and it is accurate, then as an institution the United States Army Medical Corps has ignored all of the pre-qualifying screening that was conducted upon military recruits prior to induction, it has ignored the anecdotal reports coming from these soldiers, ignored the symptoms displayed by those same former recruits, subsequent to their deployment and experiences in the war zone in Iraq, ignored any available pre-induction history from family and associates of the former recruits, and ignored the prevailing findings and opinions of the medical profession as a whole, so that the Army Medical Corps and the Army as a whole, can just use, abuse and then wash their hands of any further responsibility for those patriotic sons and daughters of America, and those willing non-American citizens who have all volunteered to serve the United States.

I have been stewing over this since the last article by Joshua Kors appeared in The Nation, feeling anger, and disgust with our government and its institutions, and trying to think what I and other Americans who are outraged about this situation might be able to do to help turn things around for our wounded military personnel. I recently contacted Joshua Kors, and asked him if he had seen any progress with this issue since his last article was published in The Nation a month ago. Kors told me:

Not much in the power structure has changed since my articles. Nobody has yet to be held responsible, and the pre-existing Personality Disorder discharge system is still fully in place. That goes not only for soldiers who came back with psychological wounds, like PTSD, but also physical wounds, like the deafness and leg injuries discussed in my series.

Somehow, the fact that nothing has changed between Kors' first article and the intervening time after his second article is not surprising. Maybe it should also not be surprising that the situation for our soliders may be even worse. On November 15, Jason Knobloch, reporting via the Veterans For America web site wrote:

In today’s news, a soldier who had gone AWOL from Fort Drum, NY, because he wasn’t getting adequate treatment for his post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) was apprehended as his lawyer was negotiating his surrender to Army authorities. According to the report, Sgt. Brad Gaskins’ mental health began to deteriorate during his second tour in Iraq after he saw an improvised explosive device (IED) slaughter a family of four, and it only got worse from there. When he returned, he was diagnosed with PTSD in an outside facility, treated, and then returned to his unit. When he got back, the trouble began again, and when Gaskin asked to receive more treatment at the same hospital, he was told more time off would jeopardize his chances of receiving a medical release, and later almost stabbed his wife, after which he went AWOL. Fort Drum’s mental health facility currently has a staff of 31, with plans to add seventeen more, to serve 17,000 soldiers.

Also on November 15, AFP (Agence France-Presse) reported:

The US military is experiencing a "suicide epidemic" with veterans killing themselves at the rate of 120 a week, according to an investigation by US television network CBS.

At least 6,256 US veterans committed suicide in 2005 -- an average of 17 a day -- the network reported, with veterans overall more than twice as likely to take their own lives as the rest of the general population.

While the suicide rate among the general population was 8.9 per 100,000, the level among veterans was between 18.7 and 20.8 per 100,000.

That figure rose to 22.9 to 31.9 suicides per 100,000 among veterans aged 20 to 24 -- almost four times the non-veteran average for the age group.

It seems that the Army is doing too little, and too late. It seems that a major obstacle to turning this situation around is General Pollock, the army's Acting Surgeon General, who may have forgotten her original medical training and lost any compassion she might have once had as she became a professional military bureaucrat. It seems this is what happens when a renegade administration, thinks that it can build an empire in the name of "democracy" by waging a phony war "on the cheap", when in fact, it has become quite an expensive war in terms of selling billions of dollars of U.S. Treasury securities to foreign governments (as of September 2007 mainland China held $396.7 billion in U.S. Treasury securities) and then turns around and disburses much of those borrowed funds to its partners in the private sector. Helping those private sector businesses leverage massive profits off the backs of current and future tax payers as they pursue the Bushliburton administration's Disaster Capitalism agenda (as laid out by Naomi Klein in "The Shock Doctrine-The Rise Of Disaster Capitalism").

The current treatment, or lack of appropriate treatment by the United States Army Medical Corps and the army as an institution of our government, toward the men and women in service to our people, is not acceptable to this veteran, and should not be acceptable to any veteran or any American citizens for that matter.
-Big Fella

(Coming In The Next Posting: What We All Can Do To Change This)

There's more: "The Shafting Of Our Patriots In Military Service - Part III" >>

The Shafting Of Our Patriots In Military Service - Part I

(The following is the first of four related posts, and was originally posted at the BFD Blog! in March of this year, it's original title was "The Shortchanging Of Our Citizen Soldiers". Over the past few months the issue of the mistreatment of our military volunteers has not abated, but it seems to have just festered. As an American citizen I must say that continuation of this state of affairs is untenable, particularly in service to a phony war. As a veteran of the Vietnam era, this state of affairs has never been acceptable, under any circumstances, and I cannot stand by, silent, while this continues. -Big Fella)

In April of 2005, Sgt. Joe Baumann and his California National Guard unit were deployed in Bagdad when an incoming AK-47 round ripped apart his abdomen. While ricocheting around, the bullet also ignited tracer rounds that set the then 20 year old on fire. Baumann now "...walks with a cane, suffers from back problems and has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder that keeps him from sleeping and holding a job", according to an article in the Los Angeles Times by Rone Tempest, he also has flashbacks, trouble with concentration and memory retention, and has anger-management problems, according to an article by Erin Allday in SFGate the online version of the San Francisco Chronicle.

There is no surprise around here that he has anger-management issues, anyone would who was transported from civilian life to the streets of Bagdad, two years after victory was declared, so he could be targeted by a sniper and suffer traumatic and debilitating injuries, and then return home and learn that the United States Army wants to kiss him off with a check for a pitiful $8,000.00, or in his words,

The Army acts like they just want you to get out the door as fast as possible at the lowest possible cost without taking into account how you are going to live for the rest of your life. Here's your $8,000; just go.

An army Physical Evlauation Board rated his disability at only 20% and in their wisdom decided 8 grand would cover his troubles, both up to this point, and for the remainder of his life. If the three officers of this board had ruled his disability at 30% or more, Baumann would be eligible for military retirement pay, family health care and PX and commissary privileges for life. Apparently the army is stretched for money, just as many units were sent in to combat not properly equipped with armor, many of our citizen solders and career military are being shortchanged in terms of medical care and just compensation when they return stateside and try to return to a more or less normal life.

What is wrong with this picture? The answer is simple: an Administration in Washington that does not use common sense or its conscience in making decisions, but which is driven solely by a political agenda, resulting in mismanagement in everything they have undertaken during the past six years. Fat cats in Washington, D.C. drunk on power and responsive only to the big business interests who profit from the war and their domestic and international policies, fat cats who have exercised a pervasive strategy of undermining our rights and freedoms and pissing on the constitution, without putting any of their own skin in the game.

It is time for the Legislative branch of the government to find some backbone and hold the Administration accountable to the American people and take back the consitutionally guaranteed freedoms that have been systematically undermined by "loyalists". The subpoening of Karl Rove and Harriet Miers in the face of President Bush's defiance is a start in the right direction, let's hope that this is just the beginning of better things.

There's more: "The Shafting Of Our Patriots In Military Service - Part I" >>

One Military Community's Ultimate Sacrifice

(Cross posted from BFD Blog!)

This is the front page of today's The Olympian, a local paper for those who reside in the Olympia, Washington area. Every person pictured on the front page was living, likely building a family, and building a career of service in the military as a part of the local community surrounding Ft. Lewis, Washington:

They all gave their lives in an unjust, immoral war that they had no say in, and deserve our thanks, honor and respect, and should live on in our memories as part of the price we are paying to service the greed and power of the Bushliburton administration and their corporate sponsors.

Read brief biographies of these patriots in this story in The Olympian.

Download your very own copy of The Olympian front page for October 10, 2007. The download is a .PDF file and it will give you a large, clear picture of the front page. Use the .PDF as "wall paper" for your computer, pass a copy along to family and friends; pass a copy along to your representatives in Congress.

These are the faces from just one local community who paid the ulitimate price, when you think about them, think also of the thousands of other sons and daughters who have also been sacrificed in the name of our country, and think about what you can do to stop the carnage.

There's more: "One Military Community's Ultimate Sacrifice" >>

Iraq's Unclaimed Dead

Via RawStory...

Iraqi volunteers bury more anonymous victims of violence now than during Saddam's rule: CNN

Every month in Iraq hundreds of victims are struck down by sectarian violence or massive bombing campaigns, and a small band of volunteers has taken it upon themselves to give the unclaimed dead a proper burial.

"We've been doing this for 20 years, under Saddam, but the numbers have increased, as have the difficulties," Sheik Jamal al-Sudani, who leads the volunteers, tells CNN correspondent Michael Ware. "Because now it is as if the streets are flowing with blood."

Before the US invasion of Iraq deposed dictator Saddam Hussein, the volunteers buried up to 40 people every month. In the war's worst months, that figure increased 50-fold as volunteers buried an average of more than 2,000 anonymous war victims, Ware reports.

As the war stretches through its fifth year, several hundred bodies remain unclaimed every month. The unidentified bodies of men, women and children are found on Iraqi streets and sewers as well as in bombing ruins; some are "so mangled and charred, they're unidentifiable," CNN says, while others are Sunni victims whose families are too fearful from their own lives to visit Iraq's Health Ministry morgue, which is controlled by Muqtada al-Sadr's hard-line Shiite followers.

The Shiite volunteers led by al-Sudani bury victims of all religions, and the bodies are photographed and catalogued in a database before they are buried in the Muslim tradition.

Volunteers take the bodies from Baghdad 150 miles away to Najaf where they are buried in hand-dug graves. Because of the high numbers, two victims often have to share a grave.

Al-Sudani laments the necessity of his work in the war zone.

""Now you see Iraqis' houses, meant to be a family's safest place, have become like graves for their families, because any minute, any second, they're ready to die by explosion, airstrikes or car bombs," he says. "And no man, and no government, American or Iraqi, can fix it because now that will take a miracle."

The following video is from CNN's Newsroom, broadcast on September 14:

There's more: "Iraq's Unclaimed Dead" >>

RIP: Sergeants Mora and Gray

Cross-posted at Decline and Fall.

As General Petraeus testifies in the dog and pony show on Capitol Hill this week, news comes that two of the seven soldiers who wrote the brilliant New York Times Op-Ed “The War as We Saw It,” Sgt. Omar Mora and Sgt. Yance T. Gray, died when their cargo truck overturned. They were scheduled to come home in November.

These soldiers understood the pointlessness of their mission, and they understood the enormous sacrifice that they were asked to make, and have now made, in service of that pointlessness. Their honest and incisive assessment cut through the usual blather of the Iraq debate with an eloquence and an authority that has rarely been seen in the tired platitudes that pass for American political discourse:

To believe that Americans, with an occupying force that long ago outlived its reluctant welcome, can win over a recalcitrant local population and win this counterinsurgency is far-fetched.

Simple, erudite and brutally honest. Three qualities that are in short supply on Capitol Hill this week.

As Petraeus, Crocker and their Administration bosses spin their statistics and pat themselves on the back for the “Anbar miracle,” remember what those seven, now five, soldiers wrote:

[W]hile creating proxies is essential in winning a counterinsurgency, it requires that the proxies are loyal to the center that we claim to support. Armed Sunni tribes have indeed become effective surrogates, but the enduring question is where their loyalties would lie in our absence. The Iraqi government finds itself working at cross purposes with us on this issue because it is justifiably fearful that Sunni militias will turn on it should the Americans leave.

A real political solution requires that the proxies, be they Sunni tribes bought and paid for by us, the central Iraqi government, or any other group working with us, actually be working toward the goal of a unified Iraq. If they aren’t, they are just using us to strengthen their hand until the opportunity to jump ship arises. This is the Achilles’ heel of any lofty goals the Masters of War ever had of bringing democracy, peace and stability to Iraq. This is what should be honestly discussed on the Hill this week.

America owes it to them to have this discussion.

R.I.P.

**UPDATE** Thank you, Blue Girl, for the no-subscription-required link to The War as We Saw It at Behind the Times, who re-posted it and is leaving it at the top of the page all day in honor of Sergeants Mora and Gray.

There's more: "RIP: Sergeants Mora and Gray" >>

Spinning Right Into the Ground

Another month of missed benchmarks, another "surprise" visit from Il Douche'™, ("surprise" as in if we announced beforehand, too many people would try to kill us, so "shhh!") into Iraq. What's running through the spin cycle this time around? "The Surge is Working, The Surge is Working!" To illustrate how well the "Surge" is working, he landed in Al-Anbar province, which not only was not part of the surge, but has been largely handed back over to local Sunni leaders to pacify. In fact, Bush met with a number of local Sunni leaders, to thank them for their help in beginning to stabilize the region. Yeah, just one problem with all that; these leaders may have American blood on their hands.

But, seriously, ya gotta do what ya gotta do, right? Otherwise, you know the "terrists" will follow us home (yeah, he's still saying that).

Crossposted at Welcome to the Revolution and Watching Those We Chose

There's more: "Spinning Right Into the Ground" >>