VA POLICY FOR HALF A CENTURY LEADS TO CHRONIC PATIENT ABUSE
ANTI-VETERAN SYSTEM TURNS VETS AGAINST VETS
by G. DUFF
After every war, the VA seems to "retrench" in a war of their own, a war against the men returning from war, the wounded, the broken and most of all, the deserving. Long an organization, one of the largest in the world, headed by "political hacks", often appointee’s with no ability, little or no combat service (with some notable exceptions) and a willingness to turn a blind eye to suffering, the VA continues down this path.
Even with billions spent for new buildings and top medical staff, VA policy and procedures still prevent patients from receiving proper diagnosis and treatment, especially if that diagnosis will lead to a compensation claim. An unwritten (and sometimes written) rule at the VA is to push problems "under the rug", be they PTSD, which, after two World Wars, Korea and Vietnam was only "invented" in 1982, the problem of the one year or more waiting period for common referral appointments or the inability of the "medical side" to communicate with the "compensation side".
When you combine a broken VA with a military that deploys the disabled, purposefully misdiagnoses the wounded or unfit and advocates "stop loss" programs that border on slavery, we find we have created a threat to our national security. 75% of new enlistees in our "volunteer army" (Marine Corps included) have chosen to leave service immediately after their initial contract, even though current GI Bill gives them little or no real benefits as veterans.
The same President who got us into the same war that destroyed the Soviet Union (Afghanistan…the one where we made Osama bin Laden the military leader of the Islamic world) has threatened to veto a new GI Bill. Being an election year, even many Republicans, usually immune to whining veterans, jumped ship.
Our VA and volunteer Army are led by people who are hardly soldiers or qualifed public servants. We have ended up with a broken system run by Washington insiders whose only goal has long been shown to be keeping their own jobs and following the money trail to "Oz", the land of "milk and honey" where working for corrupt contractors is the payoff for a lifetime of looking the other way.
LISTEN WHILE OUR LEADERS SPEAK
One of the contributing factors that allows the VA in particular to ignore the needs of its clients is the fact that service organizations, such as the VFW and American Legion, known for their conventions, drinking establishments and right wing politics. They are also known for their powerful influence on VA policy, putting them hand in hand with the Republican party in keeping Vets from receiving proper treatment.
A common way of keeping veterans at each others throats is by manipulating veterans from different services, different wars and different levels of service, such as National Guard and Reserve, to turn on each other in a fight for limited resources available to returning vets.The current “dance” is playing retiree’s against veterans, active duty against our exhausted and overused reserve and national guard units and leaving out the existing and highly abused Vietnam veterans entirely.
None of the new programs being offered will impact benefits for older vets, many of whom were denied disability for decades and decent treatment for longer. Stories about GI bill benefits for Vietnam vets being so much better than those offered now are simply lies. Only disabled veterans, a small minority, qualified for the programs being claimed as available to all.
We know the newspapers remember vets twice a year, November 11 and May 30. 363 days a year vets and the unending wars we are now involved in are fodder for the sports section or to be slipped in between carpet ads on page 3. The administration along with the intelligence services and the Pentagon have polluted every news and information source available with disinformation, misinformation and outright lies, all bought and paid for with taxpayer money. We pay millions each year to keep a "lie machine" going and scream bloody murder when troops coming home from war want medical care, the jobs they were "guaranteed" when they left and a chance for an education.
Congress is much the same. Realizing that vets and servicemen may be able to swing an election, and that anti-government feeling is at an all time high, to some degree even in our own military, efforts are being made to put a caring face on a government that has been in this war for 5 years without lifting a hand for the troops.
Another election is being planned out by PR firms, military contractors and armies of consultants whose only purpose is to sell lies to the American people. Lies about Iraq and Afghanistan are easy. Under our new and very undemocratic regime, returning soldiers are subject to recall for years at a moments notice. It will take years before the American people will be able to learn what their "ultra-secret wartime government" has done in the dark of night. A sign appropriate for Washington: "USED SOULS, 5 CENTS……RETURNED BY SATAN AS DEFECTIVE EVEN FOR HELL"
DURING THIS TIME, THEY HAVE LITTLE OR NO RIGHTS TO FREEDOM OF SPEECH, THUS ASSURING THE MILITARY WILL REMAIN FREE TO MISMANAGE WAR AFTER WAR WITH SHODDY LEADERSHIP, POOR WEAPONS AND TONS OF CASH FLOWING INTO THE RIGHT HANDS.With dozens of retired officers on the Pentagon payroll to “get the word out” for the Republican party and other vets divided, abused and dispirited, and the American people only waking up because gas hit 4 dollars a gallon, little meaningful reform is likely.
This year, even Rolling Thunder presented a list of demands to the Whitehouse. Bush didn’t even know there were issues about a conspiracy in the Army to misdiagnose PTSD and the thousands who have died because of it. Things that are debated in congress, reported on the news and on the front pages of newspapers can’t make it into briefings.
Whitehouse Press Secretary Scott McClellan, for years the “MOUTH OF CHENEY” has jumped ship and written a book exposing the inherent lying and incompetence of the administration. With an army of rats "heading for the hills", now spewing stories of how they, as Washington insiders were lied to for years…..didn’t know…….weren’t told……..misled……Cheney did it……it makes me sick.
Blaming elected (maybe elected, we here in Ohio have our doubts) officials for idiocy and dishonesty when nobody seems to care is a waste of time.
Until vets and retirees get on the same page
Until vets from every war and every service stand together
Until military leadership shows some morality and backbone
Until the service organizations stop being a big part of the problem.
Until the lazy and corrupt news media begins telling the real story
Until the American people wake up and take control of their country
Until Americans realize that patriotism is more than flag waving and photo’s taken with the troops
We will remain a debt ridden and hated backwoods theocracy known for ignorance and extremism and, after years of abusing our troops, shopping the world for mercenaries to supplement the armies of them we currently pay.Is it really necessary to destroy our economy so that our kids have nowhere else to support themselves other than fighting wars started by baboon clones in Washington?
Gordon Duff is a Marine Vietnam Veteran and regular contributor.
Gordon Duff posted articles on VT from 2008 to 2022. He is a Marine combat veteran of the Vietnam War. A disabled veteran, he worked on veterans and POW issues for decades.
Gordon is an accredited diplomat and is generally accepted as one of the top global intelligence specialists. He manages the world’s largest private intelligence organization and regularly consults with governments challenged by security issues.
Duff has traveled extensively, is published around the world, and is a regular guest on TV and radio in more than “several” countries. He is also a trained chef, wine enthusiast, avid motorcyclist, and gunsmith specializing in historical weapons and restoration. Business experience and interests are in energy and defense technology.
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