Thank You for Your Service=?UTF-8?B?Pw==?=

Thank You for Your Service?

by Laurence M. Vance, lewrockwell.com
July 19th 2011

It is without question that Americans are in love with the military. Even worse, though, is that their love is unqualified, unconditional, unrelenting, and unending.

I have seen signs praising the troops in front of all manner of businesses, including self-storage units, bike shops, and dog grooming.

Many businesses offer discounts to military personnel not available to doctors, nurses, and others who save lives instead of destroy them.

Special preference is usually given to veterans seeking employment, and not just for government jobs.

Many churches not only recognize veterans and active-duty military on the Sunday before holidays, they have special military appreciation days as well.

Even many of those who oppose an interventionist U.S. foreign policy and do not support foreign wars hold the military in high esteem.

All of these things are true no matter which country the military bombs, invades, or occupies. They are true no matter why the military does these things. They are true no matter what happens while the military does these things. They are true no matter which political party is in power.

The love affair that Americans have with the military – the reverence, the idolatry, the adoration, yea, the worship – was never on display like it was at the post office the other day.

While at the counter shipping some packages, a U.S. soldier, clearly of Vietnamese origin in name and appearance, dressed in his fatigues, was shipping something at the counter next to me. The postal clerk was beaming when he told the soldier how his daughter had been an MP in Iraq. Three times in as many minutes I heard the clerk tell the soldier – with a gleam in his eye and a solemn look on his face – "Thank you for your service." The clerk even shook the soldier’s hand before he left.

I could not believe what I was seeing and hearing, and I am no stranger to accounts of military fetishes in action.

Aside from me not thanking that soldier for his service – verbally or otherwise – I immediately thought of four things.

One, what service did this soldier actually render to the United States? If merely drawing a paycheck from the government is rendering service, then we ought to thank every government bureaucrat for his service, including TSA goons. Did this soldier actually do anything to defend the United States, secure its borders, guard its shores, patrol its coasts, or enforce a no-fly zone over U.S. skies? How can someone blindly say "thank you for your service" when he doesn’t know what service was rendered?

Two, is there anything that U.S. soldiers could do to bring the military into disfavor? I can’t think of anything. Atrocities are dismissed as collateral damage in a moment of passion in the heat of battle by just a few bad apples. Unjust wars, we are told, are solely the fault of politicians not the soldiers that do the actual fighting. Paul Tibbets and his crew are seen as heroes for dropping an atomic bomb on Hiroshima. Before he died, Tibbets even said that he had no second thoughts and would do it again. I suspect that if the United States dropped an atomic bomb tomorrow on Afghanistan and Pakistan, killing everyone and everything, and declaring the war on terror over and won, a majority of Americans would applaud the Air Force crew that dropped the bomb and give them a ticker-tape parade.

Three, why is it that Americans only thank American military personnel for their service? Shouldn’t foreign military personnel be thanked for service to their country? What American military worshippers really believe is that foreign military personnel should only be thanked for service to their government when their government acts in the interests of the United States. Foreign soldiers are looked upon as heroic if they refuse to obey a military order to shoot or kill at the behest of their government as long as such an order is seen as not in the interests of the United States. U.S. soldiers, however, are always expected to obey orders, even if it means going to Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, or Libya under false pretenses.

And four, what is a Vietnamese man – who most certainly has relatives, or friends or neighbors of relatives, that were killed or injured by U.S. bombs and bullets during the Vietnam War – doing joining the U.S. military where he can be sent to shoot and bomb foreigners like the U.S. military did to his people?

And aside from these four things, I’m afraid I must also say: Sorry, soldiers, I don’t thank you for your service.

I don’t thank you for your service in fighting foreign wars.I don’t thank you for your service in fighting without a congressional declaration of war.I don’t thank you for your service in bombing and destroying Iraq and Afghanistan.I don’t thank you for your service in killing hundreds of thousands of Iraqis and Afghans.I don’t thank you for your service in expanding the war on terror to Pakistan and Yemen.I don’t thank you for your service in occupying over 150 countries around the world.I don’t thank you for your service in garrisoning the planet with over 1,000 military bases.I don’t thank you for your service in defending our freedoms when you do nothing of the kind.I don’t thank you for your service as part of the president’s personal attack force to bomb, invade, occupy, and otherwise bring death and destruction to any country he deems necessary.

Thank you for your service? I don’t think so.

Laurence M. Vance [send him mail] writes from central Florida. He is the author of Christianity and War and Other Essays Against the Warfare State, The Revolution that Wasn't, and Rethinking the Good War. His latest book is The Quatercentenary of the King James Bible. Visit his website.

Copyright © 2011 by LewRockwell.com. Permission to reprint in whole or in part is gladly granted, provided full credit is given.



Original Page: http://lewrockwell.com/vance/vance250.html

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Sexual Violence Against Women in the US Military: The Search for Truth and Justice

Sexual Violence Against Women in the US Military: The Search for Truth and Justice

towardfreedom.com | Jul 14th 2011 12:20 PM

An investigation into the alleged suicide of US Army Private Lavena Johnson points to a larger story of sexual violence against women in the military.

Do you know the story of US Army Private Lavena Johnson and her alleged suicide? If you get most of your news from the mainstream media, probably not, considering the mainstream media has mysteriously cowered from her story of how a loving and happy 19-year-old suddenly killed herself in 2005 while serving in Iraq.

But now that the Cold Case Investigations Research Institute of Philadelphia has agreed to tackle the case, perhaps the story of Lavena and the mysterious deaths of other US female soldiers on bases in Afghanistan and Iraq will finally become recognized by a much larger audience.

Each year the Cold Case Investigations Research Institute (CCIRI) takes on a high-profile cold case. Past investigations have looked into the murders of Tu Pac and Chandra Levy, for instance.

So far, CCIRI has had their own ballistic and forensic experts and a psychologist who is an expert on suicides, take a good look at the military’s investigative file and autopsy photos. All have serious doubts Lavena took her own life.

“There’s no question the military’s [investigation and conclusion of suicide] has problems,” says Sheryl McCollum, director of CCIRI. “If there are any signs of murder, you can’t automatically call it a suicide.”

But while the CCIRI has found the courage to take on this potential military cover-up, major media such as CBS News’s 60 Minutes and ABC News have attempted to report on Lavena’s death, but backed away from airing the story, even though both CBS and ABC spent thousands of dollars on Lavena, sending multiple teams to the home of the Johnsons. 60 Minutes also paid to have Lavena’s body disinterred for a second autopsy, this according to Lavena’s father, Dr. John Johnson of St. Louis.

“No one will touch Lavena’s story with a ten-foot pole,” says Dr. Johnson about the mainstream and corporate media.

He believes the Pentagon has a choking grip on a media industry that has become so financially injured, if 60 minutes or ABC News were to air stories such as Lavena’s, the military would pull advertising from those channels, he says.

“The military sure as heck don’t want to admit black female soldiers are being raped and murdered because they’re having a hard time recruiting and retaining black females,” he told Toward Freedom. “Major media stories of brutally raped black female soldiers would devastate recruiting.”

Indeed, the Pentagon has tried to intimidate reporters and editors working on stories about Lavena. Essence magazine, for example, was threatened to have their military ad dollars pulled if they ran a story on Lavena. The magazine eventually caved to the Pentagon running a watered-down story as the editors reportedly said their survival depended on military advertising, which in Essence’s case, is seeking young black women recruits, such as Lavena.

Nonetheless, Lavena’s family continues their effort to raise awareness about a daughter who loved serving her country and lived for making a difference to help others.

The US military was her destiny, says her father; she’s third generation Army. So it was no surprise to her family when the former violin-playing honor student was ordered to Iraq in 2005.

Though she always maintained a positive attitude, on July 18th, 2005, Lavena’s spirit took a tremendous turn for the worse, claims the military. On that afternoon, says the military, her brand new boyfriend of two months broke up with her via email from his home in Kentucky.

Scorned, she printed out the e-mails and retreated to her barracks at Joint Base Balad, this according to the military. Later that night she changed out of her camos and put on a jogging suit. She took the break-up e-mails and put them in a pocket, slung her M-16 over her shoulder as most soldiers did on this base and headed out to buy snacks at a military store – with a male friend the military refuses to name.

Once at the store, Lavena used her debit card to buy a six-pack of soda and M&Ms. The pair returned to the barracks, claims the military, but sometime after this Lavena left one more time, making her way to an empty tent owned by the contractor Kellogg Brown and Root (KBR), formally a subsidiary of Haliburton.

Just 24 hours before this fateful night, says her mother, Lavena called her with a global phone. Her daughter sounded happy, says the mother, as they made plans for her homecoming at Christmas and Lavena told her, “Don’t decorate the tree without me.”

But within the KBR tent, just one day after making plans for Christmas, Lavena was distraught beyond any hope after the breakup with her boyfriend – this according to the military. So Lavena found a can of aerosol, lit the break-up e-mails on fire, and lit the tent on fire. The military says Lavena then took her M16 and pulled the trigger. The happy soul and young life of Private Johnson was gone; a suicide.

This was the military’s official version of Private Johnson’s “non-combat related death”.  This official version of what was deemed a suicide was based on an investigation by the US Army’s investigative arm, the US Army Criminal Investigation Command (CID).

Soon after CID’s conclusion, the Armed Services Committees in the Senate signed-off. Case closed.

The story of Private Lavena Johnson, however, is far from over, as attested by the CCIRI’s decision to take on her case. What’s more, Lavena’s father says he has one simple reason to keep the pressure on the military: The evidence showing his daughter didn’t take her own life, but instead was murdered and possibly raped, is too great to take lying down, and the story of her being a jilted girlfriend simply a cover.

According to military documents, Lavena’s commanding officer, James Woods, told investigators that before her suicide, she was always smiling and that he did not see any changes in her behavior.

Two ballistics experts, Donald Marion and Cyril Wecht, told the family that Lavena’s wounds were not consistent with an M16 and the alleged exit wound from the top of her head looks more like a wound caused by a 9 mm pistol.

The US military’s autopsy of Lavena had revealed a busted lip, broken teeth, scratch marks on her neck, but no serious injuries. Yet after she was raised from the grave for a second autopsy, new X-rays would reveal a broken neck. Even stranger, the second autopsy also showed the military had removed part of Lavena’s tongue, vagina and anus, and didn’t tell the Johnsons, or document this in the first autopsy.

As implausible and twisted as it sounds, the taking of body parts, in some cases the heart or brain or both, has occurred to other bodies of female soldiers whose death’s were ruled  “non-combat related”.

Dr. Johnson believes the military took Lavena’s body parts so to hide what truly happened to his daughter: Military Sexual Trauma or MST.

“My daughter wanted to serve her country, and they’re going to insult her like this?” asked Dr. Johnson to this reporter. “The Army had the absolute chutzpah to say she killed herself. We believe she was raped and murdered by a contractor. If they had a daughter [that died mysteriously in a war zone] they would be acting the same way, there’s no doubt. And I’m not resting until something is done.”

Coincidentally, rape by contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan may not be an isolated thing committed by a rare predator. In July of 2005, Jamie Leigh Jones, then 20 and working in Iraq, alleged she was gang-raped and beaten by fellow KBR employees and locked in a shipping container by managers after she sought out law enforcement. Jones and her lawyers, who lost a federal civil suit against KBR in July, said nearly 40 other female KBR employees who worked in Afghanistan and Iraq told them stories of rape, beatings and sexual harassment.

Besides a cold shoulder from the military, the Johnsons say Congress has hardly lifted a finger to help, either. A team of Congressional staffers did investigate Lavena’s death, but nothing official ever came of it.

One of the Congressional staffers, however, agreed to speak to Toward Freedom anonymously, saying when the Congressional team asked for Lavena’s autopsy photos, “the Army pushed back hard.” This staffer suggests if you believe the Army’s version of how Lavena died, you need to check your intelligence for a power outage. “The Army’s story is ridiculous,” scoffs the staffer.

Activists such as Army Ret. Col. Ann Wright, now a peace activist who’s currently sailing the Mediterranean with the Gaza Freedom Flotilla, says there are many more suspicious deaths of female soldiers and the military’s explanation behind them is simply not believable.

In fact, says Wright, there are 20-plus female soldier deaths under scrutiny, nearly all have occurred on bases in Afghanistan or Iraq. Of these 20, the military reports 14 were suicides, which includes Lavena Johnson. And like the Johnsons, many of these families refuse to accept the military’s explanation, believing their daughters died at the hands of fellow soldiers or contractors.

This much is clear: The mysterious deaths of female soldiers coincide with an increase in reported sexual violence against women in the military during a time when women are joining like never before. In 1970, female soldiers made up 1 percent of the entire armed forces; today, that number has jumped to roughly 15 percent, nearly 200,000 in all. As the numbers of female troops grow, the U.S. Department of Defense’s own reports bear out the rising problem of military sexual assaults in war zones: up 26 percent from 2007 to 2008, and another 33 percent over the following year.

One reason these numbers are spiking, says Wright, is because male soldiers know they can get away with it. In a 2008 Government Accountability Office survey that found 50 percent of military sexual-assault victims never even reported the crime because they felt their commanding officers would ignore the charges or worse, silence them is some way.

In a war zone, the air of intimidation following a rape, says Wright, can be ratcheted to another level simply because the victim is surrounded by violence and confusion.

“They’ll say, ‘You’re going to be dead by tomorrow,’” Wright says. “‘Raping you is just the cost of war. We’ll just chalk it up (your murder) to unsafe security.’”

John Lasker is a freelance journalist from Columbus, Ohio.



Original Page: http://towardfreedom.com/women/2474-sexual-violence-against-women-in-the-us-military-the-search-for-truth-and-justice

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Court: 'Don't ask, don't tell' will stay in place

Court: 'Don't ask, don't tell' will stay in place

staradvertiser.com | Jul 16th 2011

LOS ANGELES » The military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy is back in place for the time being, with one major caveat: the government is not allowed to investigate, penalize or discharge anyone who is openly gay.

A San Francisco federal appeals court ordered the military to temporarily continue the controversial policy in an order late Friday, the court's response to a request from the Obama administration.

The order is the latest twist in the legal limbo gay service members have found themselves in as the policy is fought in the courts simultaneous to its slow dismantling by the federal government, which expects to do away with it by later this year.

In its three-page ruling, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals said the ruling was based on new information provided by the federal government, including a declaration from Major General Steven A. Hummer, who is leading the effort to repeal the policy.

"In order to provide this court with an opportunity to consider fully the issues presented in the light of these previously undisclosed facts," the court wrote, that it would uphold an earlier order to keep the policy in place.

The court of appeals had halted "don't ask, don't tell" July 6 but the Department of Justice filed an emergency motion Thursday saying ending the policy now would pre-empt the orderly process for rolling it back, per a law signed by President Barack Obama in December.

The ruling was supported by Servicemembers United, an organization of gay and lesbian troops and veterans, but the group's executive director Alexander Nicholson voiced frustration over the slow process of dismantling "don't ask, don't tell." "The situation with finally ending this outdated and discriminatory federal policy has become absolutely ridiculous," said Nicholson. "It is simply not right to put the men and women of our armed forces through this circus any longer."

The Department of Justice said in a statement that it asked the court to reconsider its order "to avoid short-circuiting the repeal process established by Congress during the final stages of the implementation of the repeal."

It said senior military leaders are expected to make their decision on certifying repeal within the next few weeks. In the meantime, the Justice Department said "it remains the policy of the Department of Defense not to ask service members or applicants about their sexual orientation, to treat all members with dignity and respect, and to ensure maintenance of good order and discipline."

The Justice Department noted that the Defense Department has discharged only one service member since Congress voted to repeal the policy, and that was done at the request of the service member.

Last year's ruling by the appeals court stemmed from a lawsuit filed by the Log Cabin Republicans against the Department of Justice.

The gay rights group persuaded U.S. District Court Judge Virginia Phillips to impose a worldwide injunction halting the ban last October, but the appeals court granted the government a stay, saying it wanted to give the military time to implement such a historical change.

The Log Cabin Republicans asked the court Friday to deny the motion, saying "an on-again, off-again status of the District Court's injunction benefits no one and plays havoc with the constitutional rights of American service members."

The plaintiff said while only one service member has been discharged since the congressional vote, three others have been approved for discharge by the secretary of the Air Force but the processing of those actions have been "stopped in their tracks" by the court's order. Granting the stay the government wants would allow it to act on those discharges and also allow it to put recent applicants from gay enlistees in limbo, the group said.

Justice Department attorneys said in their motion Thursday the grounds for keeping the stay in place are even stronger today than they were when this court initially entered the stay, and that disrupting the process set out by Congress would impose "significant immediate harms on the government."

The chiefs of the military services submitted their recommendations on the repeal to Defense Secretary Leon Panetta last week. As soon as the Pentagon certifies that repealing the ban will have no effect on military readiness, the military has 60 days to implement the repeal, which could happen by September.

Lt. Col. Paul Hackett, a lawyer in the Marine Corps Reserve, said military officials are ready for the change and there is no need for a delay.

"We're already taking steps to implement it," he said. "Politicians do what politicians do for whatever their political need is. It's an election year, so somebody is obviously taken that into consideration. I suspect that's what driving this."

Friday's order lays out a schedule for anticipated objections and motions from both sides: the Log Cabin Republicans have until 5 p.m. Thursday to file opposition to today's motion, and the federal government has until 5 p.m. the next day to file a reply supporting it.

The court also asks the federal government to explain by close of business Monday why the information on implementation of the Repeal Act wasn't provided sooner.

On Saturday, a contingent of active-duty troops and veterans are expected to march in San Diego's gay pride parade.

Former Navy operations specialist Sean Sala is organizing what is believed to be the first military contingent of troops and veterans to lead a gay pride parade.

Sala said the parade group wear T-shirts showing their branch of service. They will walk with two horses — one draped in an American flag and the other with the rainbow-colored Pride flag — to honor service members and those who have died for equality.

Associated Press writers Pete Yost in Washington and Julie Watson in San Diego contributed to this report.



Original Page: http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/breaking/125685508.html

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Veterans wait too long for mental health services, reports say

Veterans wait too long for mental health services, reports say

by Steve Vogel, washingtonpost.com

Veterans diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental health issues often face “unconscionable” waits for treatment that leave them at risk of suicide, according to testimony at a Senate hearing Thursday and new reports from the Department of Veterans Affairs inspector general.

The reports come as VA faces unprecedented demand for mental health services from veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. More than 202,000 veterans from those conflicts have been seen for potential PTSD at VA facilities through March 31, according to data released Wednesday. This is an increase of 10,000 veterans from the last quarterly report.

Retired Army Spec. Daniel Williams, who suffered a traumatic brain injury in Iraq from a makeshift bomb that also left him with PTSD, told the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs Thursday that when he tried to reschedule an appointment to enable him to testify, he was told he would have to wait four months for a new date.

“I’m sorry not only do I have to go through this, but many of my fellow soldiers have to as well,” said Williams, who served with the 4th Infantry Division. He testified that he attempted suicide in 2004 after being unable to get psychiatric help but was saved when his gun misfired.

Williams, a resident of Homewood, Ala., described continued struggles battling red tape, waiting for appointments and trying to get attention at VA facilities. “It literally takes my wife nearly getting arrested by VA police,” he said.

“The VA system makes you want to give up and try something else,” added Williams, who testified on behalf of the National Alliance on Mental Illness.

Andrea Sawyer’s husband, retired Army Sgt. Loyd Sawyer, served on a mortuary affairs team in Iraq, where he processed many dead service members and civilians.

Upon his return in 2007, she testified, “I listened to his plans to slit his throat.” Nonetheless, it took months navigating his care through the VA bureaucracy, she said, and added that it remains a round-the-clock effort.

“I gave up my job in order to keep him alive,” said Sawyer, representing the veterans advocacy group Wounded Warrior Project. “That’s what I had to do.”

George Arana, VA’s acting assistant deputy undersecretary for clinical operations and management, apologized to Williams and Sawyer at the hearing. “These stories are just unacceptable,” Arana said.

“Any veteran who needs mental health services must be able to get that care rapidly and as close to home as possible,” said Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), chairman of the committee.

VA’s Office of Inspector General reported this week that several VA mental health clinics in Atlanta were found to have unacceptably high patient wait times. Some patients on an electronic waiting list attempted suicide, were hospitalized or went to the emergency department, according to the report.

The report said that facility managers were aware of long wait lists for mental health care but were slow to respond to the problem.

“We were not as quick as we should have been,” William Schoenhard, VA’s deputy undersecretary for health for operations and management, told the committee.

The report noted that VA tracks only the time it takes for new patients to get their first appointment. “This is simply unacceptable and must change,” Murray said.



Original Page: http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/hearing-veterans-wait-too-long-for-mental-health-services/2011/07/14/gIQAcAd7EI_print.html

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Gov=?UTF-8?B?4oCZdCBXYXRjaGRv?=g Criticizes Pentagon Center for PTSD, Brain Injuries

Gov’t Watchdog Criticizes Pentagon Center for PTSD, Brain Injuries

by T. Christian Miller, propublica.org
September 8th 2010

If you want more explanation about the military’s troubles in treating troops with traumatic brain injuries and post-traumatic stress, read no further than two recent but largely unnoticed reports from the Government Accountability Office.

It turns out the Pentagon’s solution to the problems is an organization plagued by weak leadership, uncertain priorities and a money trail so tangled that even the GAO’s investigators couldn’t sort it out. The GAO findings on the Pentagon’s Defense Centers of Excellence (DCOE) echo our own series on the military’s difficulty in handling the so-called invisible wounds of war.

“We have an organization that exists, but we have considerable concern about what it is that it’s actually accomplishing,” said Denise Fantone, a GAO director who supervised research on one of the reports. She added: “I can’t say with any certainty that I know what DCOE does, and I think that’s a concern.”

First, some background. After the 2007 scandal over poor care delivered to soldiers at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Congress ordered the Pentagon to do a better job treating soldiers suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury. The Pentagon’s answer was to create DCOE. The new organization was supposed to be a clearinghouse to foster cutting-edge research in treatments.

DCOE was rushed into existence in late 2007. Since then, it has churned through three leaders, including one let go after alleged sexual harassment of subordinates. It takes more than five months to hire each employee because of the federal government’s glacial process. As a result, private contractors make up much of the center’s staff.

“DCOE’s development has been challenged by a mission that lacks clarity and by time-consuming hiring processes,” according to the first report in the GAO series, focusing on “management weakness” at DCOE.

Just as concerning, the GAO says that it can’t quite figure out how much money DCOE has received or where it has all gone. DCOE has never submitted a budget document that fully conformed to typical federal standards, according to a GAO report released last month. In one year, the center simply turned in a spreadsheet without detailed explanations.

The Defense Department says that DCOE got $168 million beginning in fiscal year 2010—but the GAO isn’t buying that number: “Because of unresolved concerns with the reliability of funding and obligations data provided by DOD (Department of Defense), we cannot confirm the accuracy of figures related to DCOE.” The GAO report reproduces this disclaimer no fewer than five times.

DCOE concurred with the bulk of the GAO’s findings and promised to fix its accounting errors and prevent them from happening again.

In its defense, DCOE has never had an easy job. It was created on the fly and tasked to deal with some of the most complicated mental-health issues in the military’s history. In addition, it has faced stiff bureaucratic resistance, with some Pentagon officials questioning its usefulness..

The Pentagon said that DCOE was conducting a “comprehensive review” to improve its operations.

“There is still substantial work to be done,” said Cynthia O. Smith, a Pentagon spokeswoman. “We must ensure we are properly allocating resources and establishing priorities to take care of our service members.”

One telling GAO footnote suggests the extent of the obstacles the organization has faced. In Pentagon war games, the enemy is generally represented by the color red. When Congress ordered up its improvements in 2007, the Pentagon created a special committee to push through reforms that led to DCOE’s creation.

The special committee decided to call itself the “Red Cell.” Why? “The daunting task facing this team would likely make them the enemy of everyone else in the bureaucracy they sought to change,” the GAO says.



Original Page: http://www.propublica.org/article/gao-raps-pentagon-centers-for-post-traumatic-stress-brain-injuries?utm_source=socmed&utm_medium=twitter&utm_content=tweet5&utm_campaign=TBI

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Pentagon suspends DADT in wake of court ruling

Pentagon suspends DADT in wake of court ruling

by ANDREW TILGHMAN, armytimes.com
July 8th 2011 11:57 AM BY - STAFF WRITER | POSTED : FRIDAY JUL 8, 2011 11:57:55 EDT

The Pentagon has ordered a halt to all separations of gay troops under “don’t ask, don’t tell” and will begin accepting applications from prospective recruits who identify themselves as homosexuals.

Related stories

Appeals court halts enforcement of DADT (July 6)

Air Force: 2 asked to leave service under DADT (June 27)

Officials: Half of force trained on DADT repeal (June 6)

The moratorium issued Friday came after a ruling Wednesday by a federal appeals court in California ordering the Defense Department to immediately stop enforcing the law. The court said the law is unconstitutional because it treats gay Americans differently under the law.

Disucss

Court-ordered halt on DADT

Meanwhile, defense officials will continue to prepare for the law’s formal repeal, which Congress approved in December. The law will be formally repealed 60 days after the defense secretary and chairman of the Joint Chiefs “certify” that it will not adversely impact military readiness.

Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates said he expected certification to occur in late July or early August.

It remains unclear whether the Pentagon will seek to appeal Wednesday’s court ruling, which would have to go to the Supreme Court, Pentagon spokesman Marine Col. David Lapan said Friday.

Troops are currently undergoing training programs to clarify the law and ensure a smooth transition to its repeal. Most of that training is expected to be completed by this summer, yet there is no requirement that 100 percent of the force must be trained prior to repeal, Pentagon spokeswoman Eileen Lainez said.

In October, the Pentagon raised the bar for separation of gay troops by requiring the civilian service secretaries and the Pentagon’s top lawyer to approve any separation. Since then, four troops have been separated under the law.



Original Page: http://www.armytimes.com/mobile/index.php?storyUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.armytimes.com%2Fnews%2F2011%2F07%2Fmilitary-DADT-Pentagon-court-ruling-070811w%2F

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Iraq War Veteran Spared From Deportation, Prosecution

Iraq War Veteran Spared From Deportation, Prosecution

huffingtonpost.com

WASHINGTON -- A military veteran who was facing deportation will likely be allowed to stay in the United States after he was released from immigration detention earlier this month, in part thanks to help from Rep. Frederica Wilson (D-Fla.).

Navy Reserve Petty Officer Elisha Dawkins, 26, entered a pre-trial diversion program on Tuesday that will spare him from federal charges for allegedly lying when he applied for a U.S. passport in 2006, a crime that could have landed him in prison for 10 years.

Dawkins, who served in Iraq and Guantanamo Bay in the Army and Navy Reserve, was born to a Bahamian woman in either the U.S. or the Bahamas, but has American birth certificates and knows no other country, his attorney Clark Mervis said. But he has unknowingly faced deportation since the age of 8 after his mother was deported back to the Bahamas.

Dawkins joined the Army after high school and served in Iraq, and then attended nursing school, joined the Navy Reserve and served as a photographer in Guantanamo Bay.

When he returned to the United States, he was arrested for allegedly lying when he applied for a U.S. passport in 2006 -- a crime that could have sent him to prison for 10 years -- and placed in removal proceedings.

Wilson, who represents the district where Dawkins grew up, heard about his story and intervened on his behalf, writing a letter to Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano.

"It was a tear-jerker for me when I realized all of his service," Wilson told HuffPost on Tuesday. "The real tear-jerker was that he spent two months in detention."

Story continues below Advertisement

Wilson pointed out an administration policy that allows military combat veterans pathways to citizenship, and Dawkins' detainer was lifted on July 1. Under the pre-trial diversion program, charges will be dropped in 90 days for his alleged lying on passport documents.

Now, his lawyer is working toward citizenship for Dawkins.

"If he was starting from scratch, he would clearly be eligible under the provisions that allow combat veterans to naturalize, so we feel like at the end of the day he will be a United State citizen," Mervis said.

But until Congress acts on some type of immigration reform, more veterans could face detention and deportation, Wilson said. The solution would be to pass the DREAM Act, she said, which allows some undocumented young people who entered the U.S. as children to stay if they attend school or join the military.

"What we need to do as a nation is adopt the DREAM Act," she said. "Until we do that, we will always have people who are patriots who will suffer unjustly."

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Original Page: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/12/iraq-war-veteran-deportation_n_896323.html?1310502107&ncid=edlinkusaolp00000008

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Epidemic: Over 400,000 Traumatic Brain Injuries for Vets Coming from Iraq and Afghanistan

Epidemic: Over 400,000 Traumatic Brain Injuries for Vets Coming from Iraq and Afghanistan

by Conn Hallinan, alternet.org
June 21st 2011

"We are facing a massive mental health problem as a result of our wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. As a country we have not responded adequately to the problem. Unless we act urgently and wisely, we will be dealing with an epidemic of service related psychological wounds for years to come." -- Bobby Muller, President Veterans for America

"The multiple nature of it [multiple tours and longer deployments] is unprecedented. People just get blasted and blasted and blasted." -- Maj. Connie Johnmeyer, 332nd Medical Group

According to official Defense Department (DOD) figures, 332,000 soldiers have suffered brain injuries since 2000, although most independent experts estimate that the number is over 400,000. Many of these are mild traumatic brain injuries (mTBI), a term that is profoundly misleading.

As David Hovda, director of the Brain Injury Research Center at the University of California at Los Angeles, points out, "I don't know what makes it 'mild,' because it can evolve into anxiety disorders, personality changes, and depression." It can also set off a constellation of physical disabilities from chronic pain to sexual dysfunction and insomnia.

MTBI is defined as any incident that produces unconsciousness lasting for up to a half hour or creates an altered state consciousness. It is the signature wound for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, where roadside bombs are the principal weapon for insurgents.

Most soldiers recover from mTBI, but between five and 15 percent do not. According to Dr. Elaine Peskind of the University of Washington Medical School, "The estimate of the number who returned with symptomatic mild traumatic brain injury due to blast exposure has varied from the official VA [Veterans Administration] number of 9 percent officially diagnosed with mTBI to over 20 percent, and, I think, ultimately it will be higher than that."

Serious consequences from mTBI are increased when troops are subjected to multiple explosions and "just get blasted and blasted and blasted," in the words of Maj. Connie Johnmeyer. Out of two million troops who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan, over 800,000 have had multiple deployments, many up to five times or more.

But mTBI is difficult to diagnose because it does not show up on standard CAT scans and MRIs. "Our scans show nothing," says Dr. Michael Weiner, professor of radiology, psychiatry and neurology at the University of California at San Francisco and director of the Center for Imaging Neurodegenerative Disease at the Veteran's Administration Medical Center.

They do now.

An MRI set to track the flow of water through the brain's neurons, has turned up anomalies that indicate the presence of mTBI. However, the military has blocked informing patients of results of the research, and if history is any guide, the Pentagon will do its best to shelve or ignore the results.

The DOD has long resisted the diagnosis of mTBI, as it has avoided paying for a successful - but expensive - way to treat it. The price of that resistance is escalating suicide rates and domestic violence incidents among returning soldiers. In 2010, almost as many soldiers committed suicide as fell in battle.

MTBI is hardly new. Some 5.3 million people in the U.S. are currently hospitalized or in residential facilities because of it, and its social consequences are severe.

A Mt. Sinai Hospital study of 100 homeless men in New York found that 80 percent of them had suffered brain trauma, much of it from child abuse. A study of 5,000 homeless people in New Haven discovered that those who had suffered a blow that knocked them unconscious or into an altered state were twice as likely to have alcohol and drug problems and to be depressed. It also found mTBI injuries were correlated with suicide attempts, panic attacks, and obsessive-compulsive disorders. And a recent study by Dr. Elaine Peskind of the University of Washington School of Medicine found that mTBI is a risk factor for developing Alzheimer's disease.

In spite of the documented consequences of mTBI, the military has been extremely tardy in dealing with it. Part of the problem is military culture itself. The Pentagon found that 60 percent of the soldiers who suffered from the symptoms of mTBI refused help because they feared their unit leaders would treat them differently. Many were also afraid that if they reported their condition it would prevent them from getting jobs as police and fire fighters after they got out of the service.

Even if soldiers wanted treatment, there are few resources available to them. "There are two things going on regarding vets," says Col. (ret) Will Wilson, chair of the American Psychological Association's Division 19 (Military Psychology). "One, there are not enough care providers available, and, two, there are not enough people focusing on the problem outside the military."

Indeed, there are not enough military psychologists to treat the problem, and since the military pays below-market rates for civilian psychologists, up to 30 percent of private psychologists are unwilling to take on soldiers as patients. The cheapest and easiest solution is to shoot up the vets with drugs. A study by Veterans for America found that some soldiers were taking up to 20 different medications, many of which canceled out the effect of others.

The situation appears to be even worse for National Guard and Reserve units, who make up almost 50 percent of the troops deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Veterans for America found that such troops "are experiencing rates of mental health problems 44 percent higher than their active duty counterparts" and that their health care is generally inferior.

A Harvard study found that 1.8 million vets under 65 have no health care or access to the Veterans Administration. "Most uninsured veterans are low-to-middle income workers who are too poor to afford private coverage but are not poor enough to qualify for Medicaid or free VA care," the study found.

Treating mTBI injuries is difficult, but by no means impossible. Dr. Alisa Gean, chief of Neuroradiology at San Francisco General Hospital, who has worked with wounded soldiers at U.S. Army's Regional Medical Center at Landstuhl, Germany says the old conventional wisdom that brain damage was untreatable is wrong. "We now know that the brain can heal. It has an intrinsic plasticity that allows it to recover, and this is particularly true for the young brain."

A recent study by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology found that "neurons in the adult brain can remodel their connections," thus "overturning a century of prevailing thought."

One method that has worked effectively is cognitive rehabilitation therapy (CRT) that retrains patients for tasks like counting, cooking, and memory. But CRT takes time and it can be expensive, ranging from $15,000 to $50,000 per patient. However, the DOD's health program - Tricare - refuses to endorse CRT, because it says there is no scientific evidence that justifies the expense involved.

However, an investigation by T. Christian Miller of ProPublica and Daniel Zwerdling of National Public Radio found that the vast majority of researchers, even those associated with the DOD, sharply disagreed with Tricare's evaluation of CRT. According to the two reporters, "A panel of 50 civilian and military brain specialists convened by the Pentagon unanimously concluded that cognitive therapy was an effective treatment and would help many brain damaged troops."

The therapy is also endorsed by the National Institutes of Health, the National Academy of Neurophysiology and the British Society of Rehabilitative Medicine.

Instead of accepting the advice of its own researchers, however, Tricare hired ECRI- a company which had already done a study concluding that CRT was ineffective-to examine the therapy. But critics charge that the study was so narrow, and the assumptions behind it so loaded, that it was almost a given that the study would conclude the benefits of cognitive therapy were "inconclusive." Outside researchers blasted the ECRI study, one of them describing it as "hooey" and "baloney."

In spite of the criticism, then Deputy Secretary of Defense Gordon England concluded, "The rigor of the researchhas not met the required standard."

However, Miller and Zwerdling concluded that Tricare's resistance to CRT was not about science, but the bottom dollar. According to the reporters, a Tricare-sponsored study found "that comprehensive rehabilitative therapy could cost as much as $51,480 per patient. By contrast, sending patients home from the hospital to get a weekly phone call from a therapist amounted to only $504 a patient."

Defense Secretary Robert Gates has already made it clear that he intends to cut the military's $50 billion annual health budget. No matter how effective CRT is, it's not likely to get past the brass, who would rather spend the money on weapon systems than on healing the men and women who they so casually put in harm's way.

So far, the military has put the clamps on the new MRI technique. Dr. David L. Brody, an author of the study, told the New York Times that researchers were blocked from giving the MRI results to patients."We were specifically directed by the Department of Defense not to so," adding, "It was anguishing for us, because as a doctor I would like to be able to help them in any way. But that was not the protocol we agreed to."

Given that mTBI is so difficult to diagnose, and sufferers are many times told there is nothing wrong with them, that seems an especially cruel protocol. "Many of them [the doctors] were hoping we could give results to their care providers to document or validate their concerns."

In the end it will come down to treatment, and whether the wounded vets will get the care they need, or sit by a phone and wait for their once a week call from a therapist.



Original Page: http://www.alternet.org/story/151376/epidemic%3A_over_400%2C000_traumatic_brain_injuries_for_vets_coming_from_iraq_and_afghanistan?page=entire

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Veterans' Group Says Stop Deploying Traumatized Troops

Veterans' Group Says Stop Deploying Traumatized Troops

by Joshua Philipp, m.theepochtimes.com

The Iraq Veterans Against the War claims thousands of troops are being sent to war while suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), traumatic brain injury (TBI), or military sexual trauma (MST).

In a move to stop the redeployment of troops suffering from trauma, Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) launched its first strategic campaign, Operation Recovery: Stop the Deployment of Traumatized Troops.

The veterans hope to help troops who are already suffering from traumatic experiences to avoid getting pushed over the edge by being forced back into a war zone, according to Joe Callan, IVAW Western Regional Field Organizer, who served in the Marines for 11 years.

“We don’t want them to have to go back,” Mr. Callan said. “There are many soldiers who do want to go back in, and there are many soldiers who don’t want to deploy, that have to deploy even with these traumas.”

Currently, troops with PTSD and psychiatric conditions may or may not be deployed, depending on their situation, according to Maria Tolleson, media-relations officer of the U.S. Army Office of the Surgeon General.


Before deployment, soldiers undergo a face-to-face screening process that identifies those at risk. “Providers make a recommendation to commanders about deployability of soldiers; commanders use their best judgment based on mission requirements, etc. and make the final decision, taking into consideration medical recommendations,” Tolleson said.

Soldiers who are identified as having PTSD or behavioral or mental health issues that may become worse by deployment are then given another assessment by a behavioral health expert, according to Tolleson.

Regulations about deployment for troops suffering from PTSD or similar issues are outlined in the Health Affairs Policy issued in November 2006 on Deployment Limiting Psychiatric Conditions. Soldiers who are determined to be non-deployable are given a profile on their limitations, but “if their psychiatric situation is stable, they may be deployed and followed up by a behavioral health provider in theater,” Tolleson said.

“There is a waiver process that must be utilized for soldiers considered non-deployable with psychiatric conditions,” Tolleson said, adding that “commanders may NOT deploy a soldier whose waiver was denied.”

“Our goal is that the troops who are fit to deploy do deploy, and those that are not fit to deploy get the type of treatment they need so they can deploy,” Tolleson said.

Caring for Veterans

A complete withdrawal of the 50,000 remaining U.S. troops in Iraq is scheduled for 2011, and a troop drawdown in Afghanistan is planned for July 2011.

More than 2 million U.S. service members have been deployed to war zones in either Iraq or Afghanistan, and more than 40 percent (831,169) of them served two or more deployments, according to data collected by Veterans for Common Sense.

The VA has had 143,530 PTSD patients who were veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan, according to March 13, 2010, data collected by Veterans for Common Sense.

Although the main objective of the IVAW Operation Recovery campaign is to stop the redeployment of troops suffering trauma, it has other concerns that may be on the way to resolution.

The IVAW campaign description states, “The VA doesn't have the resources to serve all those in need; too often service members are conveniently denied care or access to quality mental health screenings.”

The Obama administration recently changed the standards that troops need to meet in order to receive PTSD treatment and other mental health care.

Previously, troops needed to provide documented proof of an incident (stressor) that would cause them to have PTSD. During his July 10, 2010, weekly address, President Barack Obama announced that the VA will no longer require troops to prove a stressor in order to get treatment.

An additional $16 billion in funding was also announced for the VA, raising its budget to $114 billion, which is the highest it’s been since the years following the end of the Vietnam War.

In an Aug. 23 speech, Vice President Joe Biden said the administration had launched “one of the largest, most comprehensive programs in American history to support our returning veterans and their families long after their military service is over.”

Changing Culture

Mr. Callan was with a light-armor and reconnaissance battalion during his three tours in Iraq. Nearly a third of his platoon were wounded during his second deployment in 2004 and 2005. They were in “a ton of firefights,” and they were hit with at least 18 IEDs.

After the fray, two soldiers went to go see the psychiatrist, referred to as “the wizard” among the troops. One of them was released on a behavioral disorder, while the second got off as a conscientious objector. “They both got out, but they had to fight really hard to get to go see the psych,” Mr. Callan said.

According to Mr. Callan, things may have changed quite a bit since then because in 2005, the mentality surrounding PTSD was that “if you have PTSD, you’re weak, or you couldn’t hack it,” whereas “now it’s more like anybody can get it.” “It’s not so much that you can’t hack it. These things are awful, and you’re having a normal reaction to some really awful things.”

“It’s much more recognized now,” he said.



Original Page: http://m.theepochtimes.com/index.php?page=content&id=43524

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Veterans Die Facing Mountains of Red Tape

Veterans Die Facing Mountains of Red Tape

by Lena Groeger, m.wired.com
June 29th 2011

When Clay Hunt returned home to Texas after two combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, the struggle didn’t end. Tormented by flashbacks and post-traumatic stress, he sought medical help from the Department of Veteran Affairs – but faced a pile of paperwork. While waiting for help, he turned his energy towards helping his fellow veterans, raising money for the wounded and appearing in public service announcements for veterans struggling, like him, with the psychological trauma of war.

Hunt took his own life on March 31, 2011. His disability checks arrived five weeks later.

Tragically, Clay’s story is not unique. Every day, 18 veterans of the nation’s armed forces become casualties by their own hands. One thousand more attempt to take their own lives every month. The numbers are as grim for active duty and reserve soldiers: The Army just reported 27 suspected suicides for the month of May, higher than any other month this year.

“Those numbers are just the tip of the iceberg,” Paul Rieckhoff, executive director of the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, tells Danger Room. “This is a problem that’s clearly out of control.”

As Obama promises a drawdown of troops in Afghanistan and Iraq is coming to a close, the number of soldiers returning home is only rising. But after fighting for their country, these veterans are forced to fight a health care system that is not sufficiently able to help them. Last month the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals berated the Department of Veteran Affairs for delays in treating veterans who have the combat-related mental injuries that put them at an increased risk of suicide.

“The VA’s unchecked incompetence has gone on long enough; no more veterans should be compelled to agonize or perish while the government fails to perform its obligations,” the judges wrote in the majority ruling.

But it may be years before the situation improves. As of 2010, the VA had a backlog of over 1 million benefits claims. Veterans can wait a year or more for disability checks, and weeks for mental health referrals. The problem is only getting worse, with the influx of troops from Afghanistan and Iraq. Meanwhile, the rate of suicide for veterans is three times higher than the general public, according to a 2006 study.

“We’re almost 10 years into the war, the backlog has gone up, and it doesn’t look like things are getting better,” Rieckhoff says.

While the number of stories like Clay Hunt’s are on the rise, the concern over veteran suicides is not new. Over seven years ago, the Bush administration commissioned the VA to overhaul its mental health system. The “Mental Health Strategic Plan” that followed promised all sorts of improvements: better screening for at-risk veterans, more urgent health care, less waiting time for treatments and benefits claims. But a 2007 report (.pdf) by the Office of the Inspector General concluded that much of that plan had not been implemented. It found that almost two-thirds of the Veterans Health Administration facilities lacked a suicide prevention strategy to target returning Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, and 70 percent didn’t have a system to track veterans who showed risk factors for suicide.

Since then, the VA has made continued efforts to strengthen its suicide prevention program. The Veterans Crisis Line (1-800-273-8255) was opened in 2007 to provide telephone access to trained counselors 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

“The hotline has grown tremendously over the last four years, to about 500 calls a day,” says Janet Kemp, the national director of the VA’s suicide prevention program. In April, the hotline fielded more than 14,000 calls, the most ever for a single month. Kemp credits the hotline with saving over thousands of lives, but admits that the VA could do better.

“People do wait too long to get the services they need,” says Kemp. “Hopefully we’re putting those into place.”

The hotline guarantees medical attention to anyone in a crisis situation, but not every case appears to be an immediate crisis. For thousands of veterans at risk of suicide, theirs is a much slower, but no less urgent, predicament. Risk factors for suicide are complex, but psychological illnesses like post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are clear culprits. One study found that the risk of suicide doubles for men with psychological conditions. For women, the risk is five times as high.

Unfortunately, these are exactly the mental disorders that President Obama has called the “signature wounds of today’s wars.” An unprecedented number of veterans are being diagnosed with PTSD, and the increased use of explosives by hostile forces in Afghanistan and Iraq raises the risk for traumatic brain injury. Currently an estimated 20 percent of soldiers with combat-related injuries also have traumatic brain injury (compared to 12-14 percent of Vietnam War veterans), which can lead to further mental health problems, and even suicide.

The psychological toll of war, a flood of returning troops and an overburdened VA healthcare system has proven to be a deadly combination. There are some options for veterans – the IAVA has put into place an online community for veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan, to ease the transition back to civilian life. It’s not enough.

“I don’t think we’ve seen a sustained national effort around suicide, period,” said Rieckhoff. “This needs national attention, and there needs to be a demand for services. We need help.”

Photo: U.S. Air Force



Original Page: http://m.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/06/veterans-die-red-tape/

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