Thursday, March 13, 2008

I Hate The War

Kelly Dougherty, the former sergeant who is the executive director of Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW), announced the start today of the Winter Soldier: Iraq and Afghanistan investigation into the US conduct of its wars, featuring testimony of IVAW soldiers. Dougherty promised that "Winter Soldier is the first event in an ongoing public awareness and outreach effort by IVAW. No longer will public debate on the Global War on Terror be framed solely by politicians and pundits. IVAW will use the ongoing Winter Soldier project to spread awareness of G.I. resistance among veterans and active duty troops and build strategic alliances ... to broaden and strengthen our strategy to end the Iraq occupation." The Winter Soldiers at IVAW are not relying on the mainstream media; "every minute of testimony, will be broadcast live and will be available to watch in an online on-demand library," said Dougherty. In addition, "There are hundreds of viewing events planned around the world where people will gather to watch testimony." Pro-war groups, including the Gathering of Eagles and Move America Forward, are protesting IVAW's Winter Soldier hearings.

The above is from John Stauber's "Iraq Veterans Against the War Conduct and Cover the 'Winter Soldier' Investigation" (PR Watch). Today on Uprising Radio, they broadcast excerpts from the original Winter Soldiers Investigation during Vietnam. And, as we noted in the snapshot today, Mark Benjamin wrote about IVAW's Winter Soldiers Investigation for Salon.
Raw Story covered it. KPFA's The Morning Show offered a preview of the hearings. Free Speech Radio News reported on it.

So those are your all stars, let's turn now to the Hall of Shame that is the bulk of Panhandle Media. The Nation offered up four blog posts written today and how many were about IVAW? Answer: None. (Peter Rothberg did an alert -- the same way he does when Katrina manages to get booked on TV -- Wednesday. Good for Rothberg -- and apparently Katrina had no bookings that day -- but, no, that doesn't cut it.) In addition, they're putting their latest edition to press and, like The Children of Karl, they offer up: "It's the War Economy, Stupid!" (who knew they were Jimmy Carville fans?), "War and the Working Class" and "The Wages of Peace." Yes, the money wasted is the GREAT TRAGEDY. If you're an out of touch, deranged idiot. Otherwise, you'd put the deaths of Iraqis, the rape of Iraqi women, the wounded Iraqis, the dead and wounded non-Iraqi 'security forces' who were sent into that illegal war by the leaders of their country far, far ahead of the looming economic nightmare. They like to use terms like "moral" at The Nation so one wonders whether "immoral" applies to doing three stories on the financial cost of the illegal war . . . for the United States only of course. Katrina, check your slip, your xenophobia's showing again or else it's a very low premium being placed on human lives.

Of coures, if they really cared about ending the illegal war, they would have told their readers about Samantha Power's revelation to the BBC last week that Bambi's 'pledge' to withdraw combat troops within 16 months of being sworn in as president wasn't really a pledge or at all binding. But they avoided that, didn't they? Tom Hayden finally writes again about the counter-insurgency and it's a curious little article that ends with:

Now in his 80s, Sheinbaum shakes his head about such analogies. As he wrote in 1966 in Ramparts, "Where is the source of serious intellectual criticism that would help us avoid future Vietnams?... Our failure in Vietnam was not one of technical expertise, but of historical wisdom."

Where is the source of serious intellectual criticism? That kind of begs that the Carr Center be noted, that Sarah Sewall (aka Sarah Sewer) be noted as well as who she's supporting (Obama) and how she was over the current counter-insurgnecy manual. It probably requires noting that Samantha Power (until last Friday Bambi's senior foreign policy advisor) gushed over the manual in blurb-form. But lie to the people, they'll never know better if they utilize The Nation as their only outlet. Ava and I pointed out in December that Sarah Sewer was bragging about getting her wish-list into a Bambi speech (and pouting that the media ignored the speech).

Democracy Now! ignored the hearings today. Couldn't even note it in a headline. Maybe Amy Goodman's smarting over the fact that some stations will be carrying Winter Soldiers Investigation live and that means her program will only air once a day on those stations? Why the WBAI originated program has to be aired twice on other stations when even WBAI doesn't carve out two hours each day for it is a question listeners of KPFA, KPFK and KPFT should be asking. That's an hour of local programming being lost just so that Goody's program can be both broadcasted and repeated.

The Progressive posted one new article today. It was Ruth Conniff gushing over an upcoming event! IVAW? Get real. She's writing about the lousy Take Back America conference (which demonstrated last year that it doesn't give a damn about the illegal war). It starts Monday so Ruthie had to hurry to get the word out on it. Strangely, next week is the anniversary of the illegal war but Ruthie's not overly interested or concerned except to note that John McCain has huge support in polls from 'anti-war' voters. Thanks for playing, Ruth, at journalism. (Once upon a time, Ruth could rock it out to the Replacements and refine any political argument down to the most penetrating observation. Those days seem so far away now.)

Mother Jones catisgates the MSM for what they don't report in a current story online but what Mother Jones doesn't report is IVAW's action.

In These Times can't find it (though they're picking up their "We Love Bambi!" coverage and also smearing Ralph Nader).

At the cesspool that is BuzzFlash descended to sometime ago, they've got half-trues and flat-out lies to promote Bambi but IVAW? Oh, please, they don't give a damn about the illegal war unless they can work it into a pro-Bambi story. What do they have up right now, 120 links, 130? Not one of them to IVAW or anything on the Winter Soldiers Investigation. Guess it's not important to them or else there were 129 must-reads on other things.

That's your pathetic 'left.' That's your idiotic, prolong the illegal war 'left.' Quit fooling yourself, quit wasting your money keeping deadbeats in Panhandle Media employed. Let them get real jobs.

I didn't realize it was going to be a problem (as noted at other community sites) for people to listen online to this evening's opening of the hearings. I wasn't there, I was listening with a group and Camilo Mejia (IVAW chair) spoke about the need to speak out and stand up, shared the way the Geneva Conventions were violated in Iraq with prisoners of war (sleep deprivation and sensory deprivation) and spoke of the growth of dissent. We (Kat, Ava and myself) were with a group of veterans and I honestly wasn't listening as I normally would because there was one veteran who couldn't hear due to a bombing in Iraq and I was signing for him. When I'm doing that, I'm not actively listening, I'm focused on the translation.

We're going to stay with that aspect for a moment. I believe Elaine's blogged about why I learned to sign. It was during Vietnam and there was a veteran present at a rap session (that's what it was called then) and I couldn't figure out why he wasn't speaking and why he was staring so intently. He was lip reading (attempting to because you can't always see lips). So when I found out what was going on, I learned to sign.

There's an organization that advocates for disabled soldiers. There are many, but I got complaints on one today. (We were meeting with a group of disabled veterans.) The organization in question has a website. The text at the website is the same text that's always up and that notes the basics of "about us," et al. The only new content is videos. The videos have no closed-caption option and there are no transcripts. Ava and I have gone over and over this point in our TV commentaries but let's try it one more time. Audio serves anyone can hear. Video anyone can hear and see if there's closed caption. Text serves those who can see (or is read to them by a reader -- a person or a device). If you're an organization that's sole purpose is to advocate for disabled soldiers, you need to be welcoming to them and when you just post one video after another, you're sending a message that you don't intend to but one that is being received.

This is not a minor issue and it's one that Congress needs to remember it as well.

And it's apparently one of the many lessons of Vietnam that needs to be re-learned.

If it's still not clear, on Saturday, AP reported: "U.S. soldiers and Marines caught in roadside bombings and firefights in Iraq and Afghanistan are coming home in epidemic numbers with permanent hearing loss and ringing in their ears, prompting the military to redouble its efforts to protect the troops from noise. Hearing damage is the No. 1 disability in the fight against terror, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs, and some experts say the true toll could take decades to become clear. Nearly 70,000 of the more than 1.3 million troops who have served in the two war zones are collecting disability for tinnitus, a potentially debilitating ringing in the ears, and more than 58,000 are on disability for hearing loss, the VA said."

It may not be as 'sexy' or as 'new' as PTSD or other signature wounds of the Iraq War but it is a huge problem -- as it has been in every war -- and it's being ignored. (Including by PBS which should have the brains to grasp that if they're reporting on the war in any program, that program is required to have a transcript as well as the streaming option or they don't come off as concerned as they appear to think they are.)

It's over, I'm done writing songs about love
There's a war going on
So I'm holding my gun with a strap and a glove
And I'm writing a song about war
And it goes
Na na na na na na na
I hate the war
Na na na na na na na
I hate the war
Na na na na na na na
I hate the war
Oh oh oh oh
-- "I Hate The War" (written by Greg Goldberg, on The Ballet's Mattachine!)

Last Thursday, ICCC's number of US troops killed in Iraq since the start of the illegal war was 3974. Tonight? 3987. 26 away from the 4,000 mark. Just Foreign Policy lists 1,185,800. But remember The Nation saves its outrage for the dollars and not for the human cost.

As someone who remembers the original Winter Soldiers Investigation (and, note to Mark Benjamin, it was in Detroit because of the fact that the hope was to provide a link up for war resisters in Canada to testify via closed-circuit TV), I'd love to say I expected more from independent and 'independent' media. However, we've all lost our cherry on that one, right? We've all grasped how little the Iraq War matters to so many brave 'voices' who show up once or twice a year to tell us how they feel just awful about the illegal war. Just awful. But they don't do a damn thing and they never will. Currently, they're not covering Winter Soldiers Investigation and, if nothing else has revealed to you how little 'independent' media cares about ending the war so far, that should demonstrate to you that how few outlets really can qualify as independent media.

Tomorrow, the hearings will be broadcast at the Iraq Veterans Against the War home page an on KPFA with Aimee Allison (co-host of the station's The Morning Show and co-author with David Solnit of Army Of None) and Aaron Glantz hosting and the KPFA live stream will also be available at Glantz' War Comes Home as well as on KPFK, WBAI and at the Pacifica Radio homepage which notes its live coverage will be from (EST times) 10 in the morning to seven at night on Friday, nine in the morning until seven at night on Saturday and ten in the morning until four in the afternoon on Sunday. Viewing options and meet ups can be found at Iraq Veterans Against the War.

The e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com.







aaron glantz









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Iraq snapshot

Thursday, March 13, 2008.  Chaos and violence continue, the Archbishop is discovered dead, Congress gets the run-around on veterans healthcare, IVAW kicks off their investigation tonight, and more.
 
Starting with war resistance.  March 17, 2007 -- as the 4th anniversary of the illegal war was days away -- the War Resisters Support Campaign's Michelle Robidoux spoke outside the US Embassy in Canada.  Snowshoe Documentary Films captured the Toronto speech. 
 
Michelle Robidoux: Good afternoon, sisters and brothers.  I think people in this city who have been out on the streets marching against war over the past few years are familiar with the war resisters who have come up to Canada.  I want to introduce some of them to you today.  Jeremy Hinzman, Nga Nguyen and Liam, their son, who were the first to come up here -- first US soldier to refusing to fight in Iraq, to seek refuge in Canada and since Jermey arrived in January 2004.  We have seen an influx of people from every branch of the US military -- from the marines, the navy, the US army, national guardsman.  And I want to introduce other resisters you may not have met yet Phil MacDowell and Jamine Aponte.  They arrived here in October and are making their life here in Toronto and Steve Yoczik who arrived in December from Florida We have also some Vietnam resisters up here.  Tom Riley and Lee Zaslofsky who is the cooridnator of the War Resisters Support Campaign, who have been the backbone, the Vietnam resisters, the people who came up 35 years ago  opposing another illegal and immoral war.  We are at a crucial point in the battle to win asylum for war resisters  because this isn't just a legal battle.  We learned a lesson when we marched in our tens of thousands before the beginning of the invasion and occupation of Iraq we actually achieved something that many of us thought might not be possible the Canadian government made a decision in the teeth of the opposition on the streets to not send Canadian troops to Iraq and now we need to use that political pressure to make sure that we follow through.
 
 
That was a year ago.  Since then war resisters in Canada have been dealt a serious set-back when the Canadian Supreme Court refused to hear the appeals of Jeremy Hinzman and Brandon Hughey. Today, Canada's Parliament remaining the best hope for safe harbor war resisters have, you can make your voice heard by the Canadian parliament which has the ability to pass legislation to grant war resisters the right to remain in Canada. Three e-mails addresses to focus on are: Prime Minister Stephen Harper (pm@pm.gc.ca -- that's pm at gc.ca) who is with the Conservative party and these two Liberals, Stephane Dion (Dion.S@parl.gc.ca -- that's Dion.S at parl.gc.ca) who is the leader of the Liberal Party and Maurizio Bevilacqua (Bevilacqua.M@parl.gc.ca -- that's Bevilacqua.M at parl.gc.ca) who is the Liberal Party's Critic for Citizenship and Immigration. A few more can be found here at War Resisters Support Campaign. For those in the US, Courage to Resist has an online form that's very easy to use. That is the sort of thing that should receive attention but instead it's ignored.           

There is a growing movement of resistance within the US military which includes Matt Mishler, Josh Randall, Robby Keller, Justiniano Rodrigues, Chuck Wiley, James Stepp, Rodney Watson, Michael Espinal, Matthew Lowell, Derek Hess, Diedra Cobb, Brad McCall, Justin Cliburn, Timothy Richard, Robert Weiss, Phil McDowell, Steve Yoczik, Ross Spears, Peter Brown, Bethany "Skylar" James, Zamesha Dominique, Chrisopther Scott Magaoay, Jared Hood, James Burmeister, Eli Israel, Joshua Key, Ehren Watada, Terri Johnson, Clara Gomez, Luke Kamunen, Leif Kamunen, Leo Kamunen, Camilo Mejia, Kimberly Rivera, Dean Walcott, Linjamin Mull, Agustin Aguayo, Justin Colby, Marc Train, Abdullah Webster, Robert Zabala, Darrell Anderson, Kyle Snyder, Corey Glass, Jeremy Hinzman, Kevin Lee, Mark Wilkerson, Patrick Hart, Ricky Clousing, Ivan Brobeck, Aidan Delgado, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Stephen Funk, Blake LeMoine, Clifton Hicks, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Joshua Casteel, Katherine Jashinski, Dale Bartell, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Chris Capps, Tim Richard, Hart Viges, Michael Blake, Christopher Mogwai, Christian Kjar, Kyle Huwer, Wilfredo Torres, Michael Sudbury, Ghanim Khalil, Vincent La Volpa, DeShawn Reed and Kevin Benderman. In total, at least fifty US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum. 

Information on war resistance within the military can be found at The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline [(877) 447-4487], Iraq Veterans Against the War and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters. Tom Joad maintains a list of known war resisters. In addition, VETWOW is an organization that assists those suffering from MST (Military Sexual Trauma).    


Meanwhile IVAW has a DC action this month:

In 1971, over one hundred members of Vietnam Veterans Against the War gathered in Detroit to share their stories with America. Atrocities like the My Lai massacre had ignited popular opposition to the war, but political and military leaders insisted that such crimes were isolated exceptions. The members of VVAW knew differently.
Over three days in January, these soldiers testified on the systematic brutality they had seen visited upon the people of Vietnam. They called it the Winter Soldier investigation, after Thomas Paine's famous admonishing of the "summer soldier" who shirks his duty during difficult times. In a time of war and lies, the veterans who gathered in Detroit knew it was their duty to tell the truth.          
Over thirty years later, we find ourselves faced with a new war. But the lies are the same. Once again, American troops are sinking into increasingly bloody occupations. Once again, war crimes in places like Haditha, Fallujah, and Abu Ghraib have turned the public against the war. Once again, politicians and generals are blaming "a few bad apples" instead of examining the military policies that have destroyed Iraq and Afghanistan.         
Once again, our country needs Winter Soldiers.           
In March of 2008, Iraq Veterans Against the War will gather in our nation's capital to break the silence and hold our leaders accountable for these wars. We hope you'll join us, because yours is a story that every American needs to hear.
Click here to sign a statement of support for Winter Soldier: Iraq & Afghanistan


March 13th through 16th are the dates for the Winter Soldier Iraq & Afghanistan Investigation. Dee Knight (Workers World) notes, "IVAW wants as many people as possible to attend the event. It is planning to provide live broadcasting of the sessions for those who cannot hear the testimony firsthand. 'We have been inspired by the tremendous support the movement has shown us,' IVAW says. 'We believe the success of Winter Soldier will ultimately depend on the support of our allies and the hard work of our members'." IVAW's co-chair Adam Kokesh will, of course, be participating and he explains why at his site, "But out of a strong sense of duty, some of us are trying to put our experiences to use for a good cause. Some of us couldn't live with ourselves if weren't doing everything we could to bring our brothers and sisters home as soon as possible. The environment may be unking, but that is why I will be testifying to shooting at civilians as a result of changing Rules of Engagement, abuse of detainees, and desecration of Iraqi bodies. It won't be easy but it must be done. Some of the stories are things that are difficult to admit that I was a part of, but if one more veteran realizes that they are not alone because of my testimony it will be worth it." The hearings will be broadcast throughout at the Iraq Veterans Against the War home page an on KPFA March 14th and 16th with Aimee Allison (co-host of the station's The Morning Show and co-author with David Solnit of Army Of None) and Aaron Glantz hosting and the KPFA live stream will also be available at Glantz' War Comes Home.
 
Mark Benjamin (Salon) writes today, "It is unclear whether Winter Soldier: Iraq and Afghanistan will gain wider attention from the media and the public, but its organizers say that today's technology could make a difference.  'The modern soldier carries a digital camera almost as a sidearm,' explained O'Brien.  The group says that potentially explosive photos and video from Iraq displayed at this Winter Soldier investigation will help 'expose the human consequences of failed policy' in the war zones.  The searing images from Abu Ghraib, of course came to light because soldiers working inside the prison made use of their personal digital cameras."  Norman Solomon's IPA has put out a news release on the action and quotes Adam Kokesh declaring, "There are too many veterans returning from futile occupations with heads full of lies and hearts full of sorrow.  Minds full of bad memories and bodies full of shrapnel.  Fists full of anger and families full of confusion.  It's not a strong place from which to make yourself politically relevant.  But out of a strong sense of duty, some of us are trying to put our experiences to use for a good cause.  Some of us couldn't live with ourselves if we weren't doing everything we could to bring our brothers and sisters home as soon as possible."
 
The action starts this evening (7:00 to 9:00 pm EST) and will stream at IVAW online and the hearings will close Sunday afternoon.  Kelly Dougherty explained in a press release last month, "We've heard from the politicians, we've heard from the generals, we've heard from the media -- not it's our turn.  It's not going to be easy to hear what we have to say.  It's not going to be easy for us to tell it.  But we believe that the only way this war is going to end is if the American people truly understand what we have done in their name."
 
Staying with veterans, this morning the US House Committee on Veterans' Affairs' subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations held a hearing entitled "Care of Seriously Wounded After In-Patient Care" attempting to address what happens to the wounded veterans after their immediate wounds are treated.   US House Rep Harry Mitchell is the chair of the committee and he explained in his opening remarks, "We are here today to hear from veterans, their families, and the Department of Veterans Affairs about the long-term care of our most severely wounded Afghanistan and Iraq veterans.  We know that DoD and VA provide the excellent inpatient healthcare for these warriors.  But many of the most seriously injured require extensive outpatient care, some of them for life.  Their families need care and assistance as well.  Unfortunately, once these veterans leave the hospital, the care they receive does not seem to be on par with what they received directly following their injury.  I think we can do better."  US House Rep Nick Lampson introduced Casey Owens and noted, "Care for veterans such as Edward Wade and Casey Owens was by trial and error, as there was no system of care in place for these new types of injuries -- both external and internal.  Casey expressed to me his worry that there are still issues with care for polytrauma patients today.  And I was most impress with his concern for those who will come after them and his hope that they will not come to Congress with the same exact issues, complications, and frustrations as we are hearing today."
 
Among those testifying were Casey Owens who served in Iraq (Marine Corporal) and was wounded while serving his second tour of duty.  Both of his legs were amputated.  Ted (Edward) Wade lost his arm from a roadside bombing while serving in Iraq (Army Sgt.) and his wife Sarah Wade testified to the subcommittee.  Sarah was advised by 'experts' at Walter Reed Army Medical that her husband would be a 'vegetable' (which he is not) and the couple had to fight the military just for him to obtain the medical care he was owed.
 
Casey Owens: While some of the problems I have encountered have been resolved, many have not.  The learning curve of VA's system is steep and its bureaucratic maze is hard to understand.  It has been thirty years since the last major war and what lessons has the VA learned since then?  Did no one expect another war or learn anything from Viet Nam? What have the educated and highly paid personnel who have been appointed to correct the system been focusing their attention on?  While the system continues to be broken, where is all the government funding going that is supposed to be fixing the system and what are they doing with?  A tremendous problem that I have encountered is the double standard of the VA and the Department of Defense's claims and rating for veterans.  It took me three to five months of agonizing appointments and addendums to finalize my Medical Board, which was performed by competent and qualified military and civilian personnel.  After I had completed my medical boards, I thought I was finished with that process only to find out I was not.  When I enrolled in the VA, it took almost another year and a half to finalize those claims.  It is actions like that make veterans avoid the VA.  My qualms is not that the VA does not have nough programs in place to benefit veterans or the adequacy of it, rather, it is the bureaucracy and red tape that are the problems.  While many problems have been addressed, it is time for SOLUTIONS.
 
Sarah Wade followed Casey Owens.
 
Sarah Wade: As an above elbow amputee with a severe TBI [traumatic brain Injury], Ted was one of the first major explosive blast "polytrauma" cases from Operation Iraqi Freedom, Walter Reed Army Medical Center or the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) had to rehabilitate.  Much of his treatement was by trial and error, as there was no model system of care for a patient like Ted, and there still is no long-term model today.  His situation was an enormous challegne, as Walter Reed was only able to rehabilitate an amputee, not a TBI, the VA was able to nominally treat a TBI, but not an above elbow amputee, and neither were staffed to provide appropriate bheavioral health care for a patient with a severe TBI.  Because Ted could not access the necessary services, where and and when he needed them, he suffered a signficant setback in 2005, that put him in the hospital for two weeks, and would take a year to rebound from.  Ted has made a remarkable recovery by any standard, because we have strayed from standardized treatment, and developed a patient-centered path.  I had to educate myself about, and coordinate, additional outside care.  Often, access to the necessary services required intervention from the highest levels of government, or for us to personally finance them ourselves.  But despite our best efforts, Ted is still unable to easily receive comprehensive care for all of his major health issues, due to shortcomings in the current system, and because of the time his needs demand of me, I have been unable to return to regular work or school.  We have been blessed to have family, with the means to see us through these difficult times, and help with the expenses. I was fortunate to have the education, of growing up in Washington, D.C. and learning about the workings of the various Federal agencies.  Our situation is not typical though.
 
Wounded War Project's Meredith Beck addressed the issue  of how active duty and retired veterans have different benefits, noting "an active duty patient can be seen at a VA Polytrauma Center to treat his Traumatic Brain Injury.  However, while at the VA facility, the servicemember, due to his duty status, cannot enoy VA benefits such as Vocational Rehabilitation or Independent Living Services that can he helpful in his recovery.  Alternately, as mentioned previously and unbeknownst to most families, a medically retired servicemember cannot use his/her TRICARE benefits to access private care as TRICARE does not cover cognitive therapy once retired."  Using Sgt. Eric Edmundson's story as an exmpale (he suffers from "a severe brain injury in Iraq"), Beck explained the need for more research on veterans (Eric Edmundson is making progress that many did not believe would be possible) .  She advocate for the VA to "initiate a pilot program partnering with local universities to provide such a care/respite initiative for those with brain injury" and to have graduate students be matched with veterans in their own communities "so than an individualized program can be developed."  Beck made the case for compensating the primary caregiver noting pointing out that often "the spouse or parent" of a wounded veteran "is forced to leave his/her job to provide the necessary care for their loved one, leaving the entire family to suffer from an adverse economic situation.  In these cases the VA relies on the family member to assist in the servicemember's care, but has been denied financial compensation."
 
The administration provided Madhulika Agarwal  (Chief Patient Care Services Officer of the Veterans Health Administration in the government's VA), Lucille Beck (Rehabiliation Services) and Kristin Day (Veterans Health Administration) and Argawal mainly wanted to throw out a lot of words that really meant nothing.  Wow! Another phone line set up!  can the administration do anything besides set up these phone lines?  Online!  They've set up some online stuff.  Harry Mitchell may have shocked the adminstration by pointing out that there are "people who don't access the website, people who can't access the website."  The questioning of the the government provided witnesses was best done by Reps Mitchell and Shelley Berkley.
 
At the end of Sarah Wade's testimony, she referenced a young mother who was caught in the maze of attempting to get her husband the care he needed and having no resources.  The marriage ended, it was all just too much.  Mitchell noted this example and stated that the need for "total care."  He also seemed to grasp the urgency of addressing this problem -- putting him far ahead of many members of Congress as well as the trio testifying on behalf of the administration who had a lot of plans of someday improvements causing Mitchell to point out, "These people are living right now . . . It's great to have long term vision but they need help right now."  He spoke of the need to "have a trust in government" and what sort of impression was being created by those struggling in the current system of veterans healthcare.  "It's not just soldiers," he reminded, "they are recruiting families, not just the soldiers" and the families are part of the total care.
 
Mitchell: There was an office, the Office of Seamless Transition. . . . It was supposed to be a point of contact. . . . This office was disbanded almost immediately after it was created and yet we continue to talk about a seamless transition from DoD to VA.  Do you know why this office was disbanded?
 
Agarwal: Sir, we do have seamless transition in our office --
 
Mitchell: So it exists still?
 
Dr. Madhulikia Agarwal, sent by the administration to testify, had no idea.  In fact, she rarely was able to answer any question.  She could mouth words but rarely did they address what she had been asked.  For example, problems were repeatedly pointed out, things not being done, things being done slowly.  When these various details were pointed out, repeatedly there was no answer.  Rep Shelley Berkley asked, "Doctor, why . . . just now is a comprehensive list of seriously injured veterans being developed?  Isn't this something that should have been done all along, that the department should have been tracking?"  Agarwal maintained that it was been tracked "and there's a list."  Follow this exchange:
 
Berkeley: When did the list start to be created?
 
Agarwal: In fact, very soon.  We have . . . [blah, blah, blah]
 
Berkley: Let me make sure I understand what you say because I don't think you understood me question: How long ago did you start the list?
 
Madhulikia: I have to take that back and get back to you.  I don't know when we started the list.
 
Berkley: In the last year?  In the last two years?
 
Agarwal didn't know and tossed the question to Kristin Day who believes it was "approximately 2005" but Day apparently had trouble following as well because the list she was referring to was not a systematic list to keep track of the wounded (and types of wounds).  "So it's a refund list is what I think I am hearing you say," commented Berkley. 
 
The three witnesses sent by the administration appeared to require a fourth because none of them knew anything.  Berkley moved on to the issue of foster homes and how "we have unfortunately found that many times when we have volunteers that their attention isn't always what we'd hope they would be.  What kind of screening procedure do you have or plan on having?  What kind of background cehcks will you be doing on these volunteers?"  The answer was a hem and a haw topped of with a huge portion of disappointment leading Berkley to state, "I want to make sure I fully understand . . . Doctor, if you don't do criminal checks, that's criminal."
 
The point appeared lost on Dr. Madhulika Agarwal.
 
Turning to Iraq.  Archbishop Paulos Faraj Rahho is dead.  He was leaving the Catholic Church in Mosul when he, his driver and two others were stopped on February 29th and the Archbishop was kidnapped while the three others were shot dead.  Throughout the kidnapping, Pope Benedict XVI has issued mutliple appeals for the Archbishop to be released.  The kidnappers had requested a ransom and then increased the amount they were asking for.  After that contact appeared to break off.  Reuters reports that the Archbishop's corpse was discovered in Mosul today "half-buried in an empty lot" and "Police said it was not clear whether Rahho, 65, had been killed or died of other causes.  He appeared to have been dead a week and had no bullet wounds, police at the morgue in Mosul said.  He was dressed in black trousers and a blue shirt."  AP reports, "After two weeks of prayers and searching, officials at the archbishop's church received a phone call from the kidnappers on Wednesday, informing them that he had died and where he was buried, Monsignor Shlemon Warduni, the auxillary bishop of Baghdad, told The Associated Press."  Spero News notes, "In a letter to the Patriarch of Babylon of the Chaldeans, His Beatitude Emmanuel III Delly, Cardinal [Francis] George called today's killing 'callous' and one which 'demonstrates the particularly harsh realities faced by Christians in Iraq and the lack of security faced by all Iraqis'."  Chaldean.org notes, "The Chaldean community around the world stand numb and in disbelief as news of Archbishop Paulos Faraj Rahho of Mosul is dead.  Outcry from world leaders swayed no influences as fanatical terrorists proved once more that no women, children, medical providers, and now spiritual leaders are safe from their killing spree." They also note that the ransom requests led to requests by the Church to speak to the the Archbishop and that's what led to their being informed he was dead and "had been dead for at least five days before his body was found this morning by some members of the Church, following information provided by the kidnappers themselves."  Frances Harrison (BBC) notes, "Archbishop Paulos Faraj Rahho is thought to be the highest-ranking Chaldean Catholic clergyman to be killed in the violence in Iraq."  March 11th, US House Rep Jeff Fortenberry raised the kidnapping of the Archbishop in an open hearing (by two subcommittees, click here). 
 
Staying with the topic of kidnappings, Hannah Allam (McClatchy Newspapers) reports, "U.S. authorities in Baghdad have received five severed fingers belonging to four Americans and an Austrian who were taken hostage more than a year ago in Iraq, U.S. officials said ednesday.
The FBI is investigating the grisly development, and the families of the five kidnapped  contractors have been notified, American officials said on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to discuss the case publicly."  She lists the five as Jonathon Cote, Joshua Munns, Paul Johnson Reuben, Bert Nussbaumer and Ronald J. Withrow.  McClatchy Newspapers reports today that the mother of the last man listed (Ronald J. Withrow) was only informed her son had been kidnapped January 2, 2008 despite the fact that her son was kidnapped January 5, 2007.  (The FBI was the agency that informed her finally.)
 
Meanwhile Erica Goode (New York Times) reports that "American soldiers accidentally shot and killed a young Iraqi girl in Diyala Province on Wednesday, and three soldiers were killed in a rocket attack in the southeast, as a wave of deadly violence continued." CBS and AP quote US Major Brad Leighton stating that the victim looked to be "around 10 years old."  This follows the US attack on a bus of mourners.  9 is the death toll in yesterday's snapshot, but Goode reports it was actually 16 and quotes bus passenger Qasim Salih Jaber say very clearly was an attack but the US military continues to deny involvement. Joshuas Partlow and Saad Sarhan (Washington Post) also note bus driver Zeki Abdul Qader in their report: "They shot me with small arms from the beginning of the bus to the end, the whole side, then they shot this rocket."
 
Turning to some of today's reported violence . . .
 
Bombings?
 
Sahar Issa (McClatchy Newspapers) reports a Baghdad car bombing that climed 9 lives and left forty-eight wounded.  Ned Parker and Tracy Wilkinson (Los Angeles Times) report the dead now numbers 18 (they cite Iraqi sources).  Steve Lannen (McClatchy Newspapers) notes, "The explosion occurred on al Khayam Street in Bab al Sharji neighborhood, not far from a bridge leading to the GreenZone."  Also Sahar Issa (McClatchy Newspapers) reports a Baghdad bombing that wounded five peiple, a Baghdad car bombing, a Kirkuk bombing claimed 3 lives and left seven wounded, car bombing outside of Kirkuk claimed 1 life and left ten people wounded and a bombing outside of Kirkuk left three Iraqi forces wounded.
 
Shootings?
 
Sahar Issa (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 3 members of the "Awakening" council members were shot dead in Salahuddin Province, while 1 police officer 2 more "Awakening" council members were shot dead in Tikrit.  Reuters reports Qassim Abdul-Hussein ("head of the circulation department for al-Muwatin nespaper) was shot dead in Baghdad.
 
Kidnappings?
 
Sahar Issa (McClatchy Newspapers) reports four members of "Support Forces of Baiji" were kidnapped "between Baiji and Tikrit at dawn today" and Mwaffaq Raheem Kereem was kidnapped outside Kirkuk.
 
Corpses?
 
Sahar Issa (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 3 corpses discovered in Baghdad and 1 corpse discovered outside Erbil.
 


Only 28% of the public knows that nearly 4,000 Americans have died in the Iraq war, and attention to the conflict has gradually diminished, a survey by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center found.      
In the poll released Wednesday, around a third said about 3,000 U.S. troops have died and about one in 10 said 2,000.
 
Take a tour of broadcast and print independent media and see if you can't figure out why that is?  Meanwhile NOW on PBS asks what the biggest threat to democracy is and you can post your answer here.
 

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Other Items

We're starting with the opening statement from Robert Verbeke that was delivered to the Senate on Tuesday (this was noted in the snapshot yesterday, but we're noting it in full this morning):

STATEMENT OF ROBERT VERBEKE
FATHER OF DANIEL VERBEKE
FOR PRESENTATION BEFORE THE SENATE COMMITTEE ON VETERANS' AFFAIRS
MARCH 11, 2008
Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee, thank you for this opportunity to testify.
My son and I have a unique association with this committee as Dan was born in 1983 in Illinois and we have been residents of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania since 1988. We both have served in the U.S. Navy.
I appreciate your time and interest in my experiences with the military and the VA and my views on what can be strengthened or improved. My immediate thoughts upon receiving the invitation are that there are many areas of care and support that are severely lacking. It is important to note that my needs for support are directly tied to Dan's needs. That is, take care of Dan's needs and most of my needs will be met. Dan's experiences are my experiences.
My son, ABE3 Daniel R. Verbeke, was injured on December 5, 2005 during combat operations in Operation Iraqi Freedom while serving aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt, CVN-71. Dan sustained critical and life-altering injuries, which included a head/brain injury, collapsed lung, fractured vertebrae and fractured ribs. Dan has progressed with the healing of his physical wounds but suffers from severe Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). He has steadily improved over the course of the past twenty-seven (27) months. He does not have functional use of his arms or his legs; he cannot eat, drink or speak though he has begun to vocalize basic words - 'Hi', 'Uh-Huh', 'Yea' and most recently 'No'. He is able to express emotions of anger, sadness and he will laugh. He attempts to use his left hand to help in brushing his teeth and shaving. He is able to communicate very reliably through eye movements and blinking. Oh, he has a great smile too!
Immediately after Dan's injury he was flown to Kuwait and then moved to Balaad in Iraq. It was in Balaad where a craniotomy was performed that resulted in saving his life. Days later he was flown to Landstuhl and then immediately moved to a private German Hospital, as there were no neurosurgeons at Landstuhl. He then was moved to Bethesda NNMC and subsequently to the Richmond VAMC polytrauma unit. While at the Richmond VA location I became unsettled with the type and level of care my son was receiving. I subsequently removed him from VA care to a private care facility that specializes in and has years of experience in Traumatic Brain Injury Rehab. We soon learned that this decision was the best decision I have ever made for my son.
My experiences with the military have been superb. Dan has received a tremendous amount of ongoing support from his shipmates. There have been numerous visits and interactions and in each case they have served to ‘perk him up'. He really enjoys being with them. There is a very real bond with them that will never go away. I would also like to point out that his ship's Captain, Captain Haley, has been a big supporter and I thank him. Immediately after Dan's injury Captain Haley authorized and dispatched a CACO who joined us in Germany and remained with us until after Dan had been medivac'd to Bethesda. Senior Chief LeTourneau was exemplary in her role supporting us. I would also like to mention that the ongoing assistance from Navy SafeHarbor has been invaluable. I have many words of praise for LCDR Ty Redmon and the team working with him. The military has acted and continues to act as part of our extended family.
My experiences with the treatment at the Richmond VAMC can be characterized as not good - not good at all. For the most part, the people who treated Dan were nice and caring people. What I learned immediately after leaving there, however, was they didn't know what they didn't know. That is, their skills, capabilities, resources, staffing, treatments, therapies and therapy techniques all fell extremely short of what we immediately experienced at the Bryn Mawr Rehabilitation Hospital. The Richmond VAMC was not accomplished in coma emergence and severe TBI and did not have the cutting-edge experience with a case as severe as Dan's.
The VA therapists and physicians had little or no experience with patients of the condition of Dan. The level of therapy and the techniques cannot be compared to the therapy Dan received while at the Bryn Mawr Rehab. The Bryn Mawr Rehab therapists are much higher skilled; they focused on stimulation constantly while performing therapy. The techniques in each of the disciplines of Physical, Occupational and Speech Therapy are far more advanced. Although the Speech and Physical Therapists at Richmond tried, they just did not have the expertise and they were very lacking in the techniques and resources that Dan received immediately upon transfer to Bryn Mawr Rehab. The Richmond Occupational Therapist is another story. Recovery from a TBI is about therapy and stimulation. While this therapist treated Dan she very rarely spoke to him, I continually witnessed sessions that would last longer than 45 minutes where she would not say more than a few words to him. When I commented on this, the VA reaction was to shift Dan's therapy sessions to a time when I could not be present. They didn't fix the problem - they ignored it! I escalated the issue to the attending physician and but were no changes.
After we returned to Pennsylvania I learned that while at Richmond VAMC, Dan was mis-diagnosed on a medical condition that resulted in receiving medications that masked a very serious condition. He was ignored while in significant pain with the explanation that it was 'tone'. He was unable to get blood work done over a weekend to properly treat him following a seizure and we were told they could not have the results analyzed over the weekend as people were 'off''. Private care hospitals across this country perform these routine tests 24x7 and within minutes. He had an open wound that penetrated all the way to the bone on his right foot the entire time at Richmond (4-5mo) where the condition worsened and was only treated by a nurse. Immediately after being placed in private care, he was treated by a doctor specializing in wound care and under his treatment the wound closed in one month. Dan was in pain the entire time at Richmond.
The medical treatments and diversity of physicians treating Dan dramatically changed when we arrived at Bryn Mawr Rehab. At Richmond, Dan was treated by the resident physician and the attending. No specialists treated my son other than the neurosurgeon who performed his cranialplasty just before we left Richmond. Immediately after arriving at Bryn Mawr Rehab Dan was seen and treated by numerous specialists. It was a real eye opener and completely different level of care and aggressive effort invested in my son's accurate diagnosis, treatment and recovery.
Very shortly after moving Dan to Bryn Mawr Rehab he was seen by a physician specializing in 'tone management'. Tone is explained as the elasticity or tension of Dan's muscles. His TBI injury resulted in tone problems, that is, certain parts of his body muscles tightened up and would not move freely. It is a by-product of the great condition his body was in at the time of his injury. I clearly remember the physician's words when he first saw Dan. His words were 'Who did this to him?' That physician is also a member of the Armed Forces and has served in Iraq. He was angry at how my son had been treated.
The Richmond VAMC personnel very quickly scaled down Dan's therapy and for some disciplines discontinued his therapy sessions. They stopped therapy at a time when therapy and stimulation were most important in helping him progress, despite my efforts to persuade them to continue these treatments.
Quite frankly, the VA personnel were much more concerned about training the family than treating my son. Just one of the far too many examples is the very first meeting that was held to update me that occurred about two weeks after Dan arrived at Richmond. The entire agenda was to discuss family participation and training. I was with Dan and helping the staff nine to twelve hours each day - seven days a week. During that meeting I challenged them and asked why weren't we talking about what they would do to help my son. I stressed that should be the priority. My conclusion was they didn't know what to do or how to really help Dan. They simply did not have the knowledge, experience, skills, and resources.
On many occasions there were comments about cost and what items cost. Dan's care and treatment should not have been compromised by cost. Yet, it certainly was. - time and time again. I learned that lesson very quickly when I experienced his treatment plan outside the VA system.
I am prepared to provide many more examples far too much like these.
Dan was treated at Bryn Mawr Rehab until December of 2006. He emerged from vegetative state and progressed to a minimally conscious state. He was inconsistently responding and a decision was made to move him to a skilled nursing facility while awaiting surgery to correct contractures of both ankles. While in the nursing facility he continued to receive therapy.
While at Bryn Mawr Rehab I was contacted by the local Philadelphia VA and met with them to discuss Dan's status and possible future plans.
In September of 2006, Dan's neurologist and rehabilitation doctor advised me that we should begin to consider if we wanted to move Dan home because he felt we would soon need to move Dan from Bryn Mawr Rehab either to home or to a skilled nursing facility. Therapists from Bryn Mawr Rehab evaluated our home and we began to make architectural plans for modifications based on their recommendations. A representative from the Philadelphia VA was involved and their recommendations were included in the plans.
At this time I raised my concerns of next steps and my deep concern of suggestions of moving Dan from the rehab to skilled nursing with Congressman Jim Gerlach's office. I subsequently met with another VA representative in November of 2006. During this meeting I explained my concerns and desires for my son. The VA representative listened and suggested he take me on a tour of the Coatesville VA Hospital Facility. I agreed and he proceeded to take me there and showed me a ward where Dan would be placed. It was a 'locked' dementia ward. He was quite proud of the facility and mentioned that because of my son's injury he would have a private room - when one became available. The entire ward stunk of odor from patients who needed to be cleaned. He wanted to place Dan in a dementia ward, indicating an appalling lack of understanding of the needs of a TBI patient. Immediately upon leaving the Coatesville VA facility I vowed my son would never be placed in a VA center again.
Dan had surgery to correct his ankle contractures and returned to the Bryn Mawr Rehab for two weeks in early March of 2007. The short stay was to confirm the surgery would enable the therapists to begin standing him. Standing has been found to help a TBI patient in their recovery and it has helped Dan. Following that stay he was moved to the Manor Care facility. Manor Care is a skilled nursing and rehabilitation center. The vast majority of the patients there are very aged people.
In March 2007, we decided to proceed with the home modifications and requested approval for a VA Housing Grant. The VA confirmed the strict requirements of the grant, which included that Dan's name be placed on the deed of the home. Because I declined, we subsequently had to settle for the very limited amount of $14,000. Construction began in May 2007 with the VA knowledge of our plans and intent.
My experiences with the Philadelphia VA are extensive and uniformly quite frustrating. Every interaction with them has been arduous and verging on combative at times. They continually demonstrate their inability to establish and execute plans. They have been completely unable to meet Dan's needs.
During the spring of 2007, I met with a representative of the Independent Living and Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment group to discuss what opportunities that group had to help my son. During that meeting and in later interactions, I was advised by the VA person that she could approve financial assistance and was confident she could get a higher amount approved by the Philadelphia VA. She then decided that she could get a greater amount approved if she filed for a grant to the Washington office. The recommendation was that we halt the construction on our home until the approval was obtained for the grant. I refused and suggested that she expedite the approval process. At the time I also asked her to just get the Philadelphia financial assistance approved. She decided instead to proceed with the grant request from Washington. I waited five months until we received the decision that the assistance had been denied. Clearly my decision to proceed with the home construction was the proper decision. If I had waited, we would have significantly delayed the preparations for our home. The end result is Dan received nothing! There was no assistance. My conclusion is she either did not know what she was doing or she should have followed my direction and gained the Philadelphia approval.
On October 15 of 2007 I had a conference call with the Philadelphia VA and advised them the modifications to our home were nearing completion and that I intended to move Dan home on November 20. I requested their assistance in funding Dan's required ongoing therapy and in providing the necessary supplies and medications. Keep in mind they had full knowledge of the intent and had been in the loop on the home modifications since the preceding year. This call was to advise them of the planned date. I very quickly learned they had no concept of how to establish even the most basic plan of action to transition Dan home. On multiple occasions following the call I asked for an executable plan - I'm still waiting. They could not tell me what actions they would take, when the plan would be complete or even who was responsible. November 20 came and went and I did not have the supplies or medications nor did I have a transition plan. It is inexplicable to believe they could not plan and execute. I have personally witnessed similar patients while at Bryn Mawr Rehab who were transitioned home in a matter of days yet the VA has not been able to accomplish this in many months.
After applying regular pressure on the VA, on February 21, 2008 I finally received the last of the initial supplies and medication items. It took more than four months to get these items. There were multiple instances of the wrong item or quantity being shipped, which required additional interactions with the VA. Why does it take four months to get items that are readily available?
During many conversations with them I requested a plan to re-fill Dan's medications and to obtain newly-prescribed medications. I still do not have an acceptable plan for newly-prescribed medications. The VA "solution" will take longer than 24 hours at best. It is completely unacceptable to wait that long. When I challenged them to deliver a more adequate plan their response was it was my fault because I had not identified a full service pharmacy for them to use. Their position consistently is that it is my fault. How can it be my fault that they cannot provide what my son needs? They can't plan or execute, they have known of our plans for more than a year. The only logical conclusion is that they just don't care.
After months I still have not received a transition plan for therapy and in-home assistance. They have received full evaluation reports on Dan's therapy needs and have received detailed orders from his physician about the type of care he needs and they continue to ignore them.
I could go on and on as I have numerous examples. Essentially my experience with the Philadelphia VA is:
Make statements and do not live up to what they say
Unresponsive - months to get transition plan in place
Unwilling and unable to provide skilled care recommended by doctor
Unable to fill supplies requests timely - takes many months
Unable to provide medications STAT - takes more than 24 hours - they have no capability to meet an immediate need once he is transferred home. Their solution requires out-of-pocket cost for Dan
Every decision that is made is based on cost impact - not what my son needs
They ignore primary care physician's orders
I have been informed by VA personnel that it is against the law for them to work past 4pm.
Unable to establish and execute a simple plan - they can never tell me what, when and who is going to take actions. No dates - no commitments. All they tell me is they are moving as quickly as they can.
They are already backing off any type of long-term therapy commitment - contrary to neurologist order
Unwilling to fund his therapy needs - pushing the responsibility to private insurance
Payment of his van to the dealer required my personal involvement and took three months after it had been previously approved by the VA
Owe Dan money for reimbursement - more than 90 days - no one follows up
No ownership. No one owns a problem to resolution
• Unprofessional - comments, can't plan, can't execute
It is clear to me that the focus should be what is best for Dan and what he needs. His needs for medications, supplies, therapy, etc. should be paramount in everyone's mind. Instead, the concern is where he can be shoehorned into the "system" and what an item or service, such as therapy, will cost and whether the VA or TriCare should fund the expense. It should be noted that since leaving the Richmond VAMC all of Dan's costs for care have been funded by TriCare with Dan paying the co-pays and cost shares. The VA has not participated in absorbing any of Dan's medical costs. That includes everything - surgeries, rehab, nursing, transportation, medications, disposable items, etc.I'm dealing with VA personnel who have known for more than a year of our plans to move Dan home as recommended by his physician. They have had a very long time to assist with a plan for transition. Quite frankly, I regret getting them involved. They have turned a very simple transition into a complete debacle.
I have worked for a major corporation for many years and fully understand the requirement to have policies, processes and procedures that can be leveraged across organizations and businesses. But, there are always the 'big deals' that come along that require exceptions and actions that are not the norm. That's why the procedures and policies are there - to handle the norm and recognize when exceptions are necessary. The exceptions require a program office approach with a person or persons who have the responsibility and authority to make the quick decisions and direct the organizations on what is to be done. It requires a delegation of authority and shifts in accountability. It results in the 'big deals' moving quickly and smoothly. Dan and others like him are 'big deals'. They are the exceptions. There are not many who have been injured like my son. The VA can't cope with his needs and there is certainly no coordination within the departments and organizations of the VA. Complicate that with the inclusion of the private care element and TriCare and the systems and processes just break down.
For more than a year Dan's condition has been such that his neurologist and primary care physician believe it best for him to be transitioned home. To accomplish this required extensive modifications to our home and a huge out-of-pocket family expense. When this decision was made (in very early 2007) I engaged with the Philadelphia VA for assistance and once again I have experienced the inability of the VA at essentially every turn to execute even the smallest task without painstaking involvement and rework. They are not in the least bit concerned about serving and meeting my son's needs. They have repeatedly demonstrated they are unwilling and unable to assist.
Dan wants to and should come home. Yet, the VA has demonstrated they are unable to assist. This is unacceptable.
The problems and experiences clearly point to major systemic issues that must be addressed. Dan is a 'big deal', but he is not alone. These problems are not unique. They demonstrate major gaps and breakdowns in the level of care and complete failure to meet their unique needs. My son and others like him served their country proudly. The focus must be on what is best for Dan, the type of care he needs, deserves and earned in service to this country. Instead the military and VA have made and continue to make financial decisions. Those decisions are totally unacceptable if we care about the health and life of my son and others like him. They are 'big deals'. They need a different level of care and attention; they need regular stimulation and appropriate therapies, delivered by people experienced with this type of injury.
The level of care is complex and needs immediate and dramatic change but the issues we face are not. I constantly reinforce with the VA to do something for me don't give me more to do. Yet, they fail to understand. Their idea of help was to send me the link to a brain injury website. Give my son and those like him the in-home care they need - timely medication availability, nursing, ongoing therapy, stimulation, respite assistance, training, compensation for caring for their injured loved ones and relieve the huge financial burdens. We should not have to fight for these. Yet we do. Remember, one of the VA's first responses was that Dan should be in a dementia ward. Their most recent plan insulted me with a statement that they expected family participation in his care. Just what do they think has been going on? They really don't understand and quite frankly their attitude is appalling.
My belief is that the best ways to help the family is to dramatically improve the care for the inured. Stop the scrimping on care cost. Provide ongoing assistance to the families in terms of helping them - do things for them.
Thank you for the opportunity to share my experiences and my views on what can be strengthened or improved. I hope you understand that my only concern and priority is Dan and his care. I am not alone. Each of these serious injuries is unique and demand flexibility in care and cannot be served adequately with rigid processes and systems. The burden is placed entirely on the family because we do not trust the system to provide for our injured. Our experience has taught us that.
I'm asking for your assistance.
Thank you for allowing me to speak today.


While Verneke offered truth on Tuesday, Richard Bernstein (International Herald Tribune) offers non-stop crap in a column supposedly about protest of the illegal war. The idiot's tired column could have run in any year of the illegal war and feels dusted off with the only 'update' being Bernstein's love for the escalation. He trots out the 'there's no draft!' nonsense. At one point, noting the War Resisters League protest directed at the IRS, he quotes them stating "Just as some soldiers have the courage to resist the war, we -- taxpayers -- should have the courage to resist paying the taxes that send soldiers to war" and if you think that's going to be the lead in to his finally noting IVAW has a DC action this month -- Winter Soldiers Investigation which starts today -- you're wrong. He never notes it, he never notes a war resister. It's the same crap we've read over and over from the last five years.

Far more relevant is this from AP:

Only 28% of the public knows that nearly 4,000 Americans have died in the Iraq war, and attention to the conflict has gradually diminished, a survey by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center found.
In the poll released Wednesday, around a third said about 3,000 U.S. troops have died and about one in 10 said 2,000.

3987 is the current number of US service members killed in Iraq since the start of the illegal war -- 13 away from the 4,000 mark.

Why would they not know that? How could they? The illegal war is not a concern of Panhandle Media. In her laughable forthcoming book, Amy Goodman's again on her high horse but the reality is she has five hours of broadcast time each week and she ignores the illegal war (headlines is not exploring it -- maybe she thought booking a Kurdish lobbyist was exploring?). Since the fall of 2006, she has not interviewed one war resister who has emerged (and there have been plenty to emerge -- including Eli Israel, the first to resist while stationed in Iraq -- she's never even mentioned Eli Israel's name on her program). She has plenty of time to pimp Barack Obama -- the pro-war 'anti-war' candidate.

Last week, Samantha Power (while still his foreign policy advisor) told the BBC that, if elected, Barack Obama did not feel bound to his 'pledge' to remove all combat troops from Iraq in 16 months as he has repeatedly stated (promised) throughout the campaign.

Goody covered that in a single sentence in headlines. The Progressive and The Nation ignored it. All three outlets -- and many, many more -- had plenty of time to gas bag till the cow comes home on how Bambi pees rainbows but none made time to explore that reality.

The Iraq War is an after thought and if you want to know what hurts resistance to it, it's Panhandle Media which should be fueling the sentiment but is far too busy trying to elect the corporatist, centrist candidate that they have falsely portrayed as 'anti-war'.

They ignore the dead, they ignore the wounded [on all sides for both], they ignore resisters. They gas bag non-stop about Saint Bambi and work overtime to paint Hillary as pure evil. That they have time for, that they make time for. But don't kid that they give a damn about the illegal war, let alone ending it. They don't. They don't cover it, they don't explore it, they have other things to do. And that's why there is a disconnect for some Americans with regards to the illegal war.

But when it's time to promote whatever bad book they've just published, they're giving interviews maintaining how important the illegal war is to them. It's all a fake out, just one may way to try to grab some money. Actions speak louder than words and there actions have demonstrated that the illegal war is not their concern. (Two examples: Amy Goodman waiting until January 25th to explore the Iraq War in one story on Democracy Now! -- apparently nothing happened and nothing mattered in Iraq for the entire month of January until that day, despite having five hours to broadcast each week; The Progressive's Matthew Rothschild ignoring Samantha Power's revelations to the BBC re: Bambi's non-promise but rushing in, after a week's silence, to maintain that Ferraro is out of line. Out of line is the fact that Rothschild has no African-American columnist in the magazine he publishes -- this despite just hiring two more, two more White men. But Geraldine Ferraro's the problem?)


For those of us who lived through Vietnam, we can remember an active independent media (called the alternative press then) that didn't ignore the war. Need another example? As 2007 progressed, The Nation magazine's website dropped their "Iraq War" folder on the main page. They did, however, add new gas bags to scribble "This is what it means to be me" (and when your life has no meaning, you have no point in scribbling) and to add even more, non-stop gas bagging on the political horse race. If even a third of the time gas bagging on Bambi was used to explore the Iraq War, it would make a huge difference.

IVAW's action begins today. We're only promoting that action while it's taking place. A visitor e-mailed some suggestions of other events and while that was kind, members made the decision that we'd just promote IVAW -- even members in other countries. This is a very important action and it is not getting the attention it needs (check out Bernstein's column for instance or The Progressive or . . . go down the list) and will address the realities of Iraq. It was felt that too many organizations are connected to people like Tom Hayden who talk a good game when there's nothing else to talk about but who do nothing at all. Most recently, Pru noted that Mr. "We Need to Hold Both Barack and Hillary's Feet To The Fire" still hasn't emerged with a column regarding Samantha Power's revelations and her feeling was that the bulk of our 'leaders' had made themselves useless. The IVAW action matters. On Friday, we'll note SDS' action because they are also actually working. Others? If they do anything worth noting, we'll note it but we're not interested in publicizing their upcoming event where, for a few days, they pretend like the illegal war matters to them. (This will probably be the topic for tonight's entry, just FYI.)

The e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com.



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