VA Caught Being Sleazy – But Bush Profiteer Buddies Walk
[Credit to Michael Leon at MAL Contends]
Madison, Wisconsin—The Bush administration has refused to prosecute even one case of contractor fraud despite the multi-billion-dollar swindling and war-profiteering scandals in Iraq, but pursues a vigorous enterprise to marginalize, investigate, and prosecute veterans receiving disability benefits in an attempt to fabricate a fraud crisis among veterans who were injured and traumatized during their service to their country.
One administration initiative to investigate 72,000 cases of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) was halted in 2005 after a storm of outrage from veterans’ groups and democrats.
The casualties continue to mount after they come home …
Since 2003, the suicide rate for active-duty soldiers has continued to rise. The Army camouflages the real numbers as non-combat-related accidents. Veterans’ suicides are not included on official casualty lists because they are not considered service-related deaths.
This administration’s policies regarding PTSD and combat-related suicide are consistent with their claims to support the troops while making budgetary decisions that endanger them. In the past six years, more than 22,500 soldiers, most diagnosed with PTSD or traumatic brain injury, have been dismissed from service with a diagnosis of “personality disorder,” which, considered a pre-existing condition, absolves the VA of all responsibility for their future care. Despite cries of foul from psychiatrists, veterans’ rights groups, injured soldiers and their families, and even the military officials required to process these dismissals, the practice continues and successful appeals are almost non-existent. “The Army Times” reports a backlog of some 600,000 veterans’ benefits claims on appeal. On average, it takes the VA 177 days to process an original claim and 657 days to process an appeal. If psychically injured veterans die with their case under appeal, the case dies with them.
Growing list of wounded spurs questions about veterans’ care
Title 38: Pensions, Bonuses, and Veterans’ Relief
Blaming the Veteran: The Politics of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
US Department of Veterans Affairs: Official PTSD Checklist
We must not let the VA or this A-Bomb-A-Nation get away with marginalizing our returning veterans like they have in the past. Iraq and Afghanistan are sending PTSD home in record numbers, some they return right back into combat. They are quite aware of combat trauma, they are sending psychologists into the battlefield to keep the warriors functional as long as they can. Could low recruitment have anything to do with this tactic? What will these soldiers turn in to after band aid psychological treatment? Does Bush think it is cheaper to let them get killed or massacre innocents? Keep the pressure on the VA through your congressman & senator!
