Obama Could Issue an Executive Order to End the Wars Tomorrow (Yes, It's That Simple)

By Nora Eisenberg, AlterNet. Posted January 29, 2009.

Bush's incompetence and malice resulted in VA facilities being unprepared and then refusing to provide medical care to suicidal veterans in desperate need of care. We sued VA to raise awareness about the issue and force the courts, the Congress and the VA to act.

VA documents revealed during our trial proved there was an epidemic and that VA was lying about it. In response to our lawsuit, VA set up a toll-free suicide-prevention hot line. In the first 15 months of operation, more than 85,000 people called it, and more than 2,100 rescues were made. …

The murder-suicide cluster at Fort Carson, and the suicide cluster among Houston-area Army recruiters are just the tip of the iceberg of a serious and expanding nationwide problem. We can either start bringing our troops home now and provide prompt high-quality care, or we can continue the current wars and watch a social catastrophe continue unfolding before our eyes.

NE: In the 1991 Gulf War, stress and PTSD was misused to explain the causes of Gulf War syndrome or illness. What are the possible culprits in psychiatric ailments of today's new veterans, besides stress and trauma and situational depression? Could neurotoxins be involved again? What about traumatic brain injury of a more subtle variety -- where there's no apparent injury? How can we insure that it doesn't take 18 years to distinguish affective and cognitive disorders stemming from organic disease from essentially psychological conditions?

PS: PTSD is real, and it is adversely impacting Gulf War veterans. VCS encourages veterans from all wars experiencing readjustment concerns to seek VA care, as it may save their life, their marriage, their job and their peace of mind.

Yes, the many neurotoxins on the battlefield, plus repeated traumatic brain injury will make diagnosing PTSD more difficult, especially since some TBI wounds are not detected by current technology. … Between multiple deployments that exacerbate PTSD and TBI, and the induction of an unknown number of what would have been unfit recruits in 2000, it may be difficult to sort out some cases.

All we can hope for is that DoD will tighten recruiting standards, provide the mandated pre- and post-deployment medical exams for PTSD and TBI, and then provide treatment. We can also hope that DoD and VA continue expanding research to better understand and treat PTSD and TBI.

NE: Since the 1991 Gulf War, the U.S. has used depleted uranium. The RAC has identified neurotoxins and not DU as the major culprits. Still, others like Pentagon researcher Alexandra Miller have provided compelling evidence about the dangers of DU. What's your thinking about DU and veterans' health? Is it an issue for Gulf War veterans? Veterans of today's wars?

PS: Depleted uranium is a very serious toxic hazard for our troops, period. Neurotoxins are also dangerous. The scientific research conducted by the military on lab animals links DU with cancer and birth defects. DU remains a very serious issue for Gulf War veterans because hundreds of thousands of veterans were exposed to DU during Desert Storm in 1991. The exposures were from shrapnel, inhaled dust and infected wounds.

The issue is equally serious for our Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans because DU remains in our military's weapons arsenal. The Pentagon and VA have engaged in one of the most dishonest propaganda campaigns ever by spending millions of dollars of taxpayer money to promote the mistaken idea that DU is as harmless as table salt. … Once the current wars end, the military's stubborn opposition to releasing facts about DU should wane. That is yet another reason to want to end the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

To learn more, read the many excellent reports on DU written by Dan Fahey, including his recent testimony about DU before the Institute of Medicine.

NE: Let's talk about toxic exposures in the current wars. Brown water, open incinerator pits, industrial and military sites leaking toxins -- there has been concern about all of these in relation to troops' and veterans' health. What do you see as the scope and nature of the problems? What should/could be done?

PS: The widespread presence of toxins remains a serious concern. What should be done? First, Defense Secretary [Robert] Gates should order that the cover-up stop. He should demand that the facts about battlefield exposure levels and exposure durations be revealed in a transparent process.

Second, Gates should make sure our soldiers receive their pre- and post-deployment medical exams, as required by law. This will further document exposure levels and durations for individual service members.

Third, Gates should order that exposures be eliminated or mitigated as much as possible by returning our troops home. Unfortunately, the last step may prove difficult given the existing battlefield conditions where immediately fighting the enemy in the present always trumps concerns about the long-term adverse health impact of environmental hazards.

NE: I was horrified to read about soldier's being killed by electrocution due to faulty electricity under the watch of Kellogg Brown and Root. Can you talk about KBR, Halliburton and/or other U.S. corporations in relation to soldiers' and veterans' health?

See more stories tagged with: iraq, vietnam, 9/11, torture, afghanistan, robert gates, barack obama, blackwater, mercenaries, george w. bush, military contractors, ptsd, walter reed, department of defense, depleted uranium, gulf war, jeremy scahill, veterans affairs, gulf war syndrome, paul sullivan, veterans for common sense, bonus army, post-traumatic stress dis, penatgon, phil sheldon

Nora Eisenberg is the author of the novels The War at Home, a Washington Post Rave of the Year 2002, and Just the Way You Want Me, awarded the 2004 Gold Prize for Fiction from ForeWord Magazine, the weekly of independent publishing. Her new novel, issued this month by Curbstone Press, is about troops returning home from the 1991 Gulf War, and the unexpected price of war for young victors and their families.

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