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Today's Must Read
Salon's headline, "The Army is ordering injured troops to go to Iraq," pretty much sums it up.
On February 15th at Fort Benning, GA, Salon reports,
Master Sgt. Jenkins and 74 other soldiers with medical conditions from the 3rd Division's 3rd Brigade were summoned to a meeting with the division surgeon and brigade surgeon. These are the men responsible for handling each soldier's "physical profile," an Army document that lists for commanders an injured soldier's physical limitations because of medical problems -- from being unable to fire a weapon to the inability to move and dive in three-to-five-second increments to avoid enemy fire. Jenkins and other soldiers claim that the division and brigade surgeons summarily downgraded soldiers' profiles, without even a medical exam, in order to deploy them to Iraq. It is a claim division officials deny.
Salon interviewed a number of the soldiers who were declared fit enough for deployment, including a soldier whose spine is "separating," one who "corkscrewed" his spine, one who "suffers from degenerative disk disease," and another with chronic sleep apnea.
As a captain at Ft. Benning tells him (the one with the corkscrewed spine): "It is a numbers issue with this whole troop surge... They are just trying to get those numbers."
Of course, this is just one Army base and just one unit. Maybe the perfunctory examination was the inspiration of one commander there. Or maybe not:
Other soldiers slated to leave for Iraq with injuries said they wonder whether the same thing is happening in other units in the Army. "You have to ask where else this might be happening and who is dictating it," one female soldier told me. "How high does it go?"
Comments (43)
Anonymous wrote on March 12, 2007 8:55 AM:not surprising
davis¹³ wrote on March 12, 2007 8:58 AM:I hear Jenna is in good shape.
Dave wrote on March 12, 2007 8:59 AM:Why would they even do that? I would think another military health care scandal is the last thing they want right now. That assumes they're thinking rationally, I know, but still...
Earl wrote on March 12, 2007 9:01 AM:How high does it go, this sending of injured soldiers back to Iraq? My guess is right back to the draft dodging, deserter president, and the five time deferred yellow bellied vice president. They are desperate, and will not let a little thing like someone elses life get in their way........vermin they are.
Anthony wrote on March 12, 2007 9:07 AM:When the hell will this adm. call-up a draft?
bluestatedon wrote on March 12, 2007 9:14 AM:I think this is a time for US Congressman Gingrey from Georgia to come out and blast these malingerers. As Gingrey pointed out last week, it's bad enough that guys missing arms, legs and eyes can't keep their own hospital rooms clean, but now they expect to not go back to Iraq simply because they can't wear body armor due to some teeny-weeny spinal injury? This is liberalism run rampant in our armed forces, and Bill Clinton should be held accountable!
TheraP wrote on March 12, 2007 9:17 AM:As long as the wheelchairs are armored!
dave t wrote on March 12, 2007 9:18 AM:Hey, you go to war with the army you have, not the army you want. After all, isn't that the compassionate conservatism foisted on those middle 10% voters?
Other example of this compassion can be found in New Orleans, Walter Reed and in the multiple tours required of our National Guard from one who couldn't complete his own tour.
Any other examples? we should start a list and beat them with it between now and 11/08.
Horatio Parker wrote on March 12, 2007 9:21 AM:"shame" is the security code, how appropriate
Well, during the Civil War, they had the Veteran Reserve Corps, composed of paritally disabled troops.
Of course, *they* were volunteers, but hey you can't have everything.
Mr. T wrote on March 12, 2007 9:23 AM:I like "davis13" comment the best! I'm still laughing and it's not even funny. She'll just go AWOL too, and show up in Germany claiming she's been assigned there all along. Someone has to test the alcohol to protect the soldiers from terrorist poisoning............
SteinL wrote on March 12, 2007 9:30 AM:Wouldn't right about now be the best time to have the real TANG papers appear, documenting Commander Bush's wonderful record of service and self sacrifice?
Dan Rather would appreciate being the conduit, I think.
Legalize wrote on March 12, 2007 9:36 AM:Well, you see, this is Clinton's fault because he got a blowjob.
Nestor wrote on March 12, 2007 9:46 AM:It's like this... if we assume Bush is right, well, then we owe him the lives of our sons and daughters if he says he needs them.
If we use our heads and see this for what it is, it makes sense to press for a draft of all children of rich, white republicans.
Anonymous wrote on March 12, 2007 9:50 AM:We should cease being shocked by the outrageous abuses and dishonor the Bush adminstration heaps on American soldiers. From inadequate numbers, training and equipment to trucking their dead bodies across America, allowing the maimed and dismembered to wallow in their own urine and feces, to sending physically and psychologically damaged men and women back into the killing zones, American troops are on the stinking end of a very, very s***ty Bush Republican stick. There are no sane or legitimate reasons or explanation for what America's leaders are doing to America's sacrificial lambs. The only way to SUPPORT our people is to REPLACE their military commanders and political exploiters. The first step is to IMPEACH the faux Commander-In-Chief for gross incompetence, criminal negligence and the murders of thousands upon thousand of innocent human beings.
jeffgee wrote on March 12, 2007 9:58 AM:Expect a draft when Cheney's next adventure in Iran turns out worse than Iraq.
elrapierwit wrote on March 12, 2007 10:32 AM:Well, I suppose this is one way to cut the army medical hospital costs. Make sure the wounded are sent back so they become casualties. That will certainly decrease the cost of caring for the wounded.
Another cost-effective method to limit the role of government and decrease the cost of the war, from the Bush administration.
Bearpaw wrote on March 12, 2007 10:39 AM:I'm sure some wingers will mock the "chronic sleep apnea" thing, but as someone who used to suffer from it -- and as someone who had a parent die from complications related to it -- it can be a serious condition.
Plus, given the effects of sleep apnea, it'd be dangerous as hell to have someone suffering from it in a combat role or most combat-support roles.
jill wrote on March 12, 2007 10:46 AM:Of course this is happening. The only thing that matters to the Bush Administration is saving face. The surge will happen, even if they have to send injured and unready troops.
Still think that Republicans are pro-troop? Still think that Republicans are pro-military? Still think that Republicans can run a war?
Richard L. Adlof wrote on March 12, 2007 10:55 AM:davis¹³,
" I hear Jenna is in good shape."
Jenna is the sister scheduled to be popping snowflake babies for the next two years because of her clean living. Baby Babs is scheduled to enter the Texas National Guard.
vIETvET67 wrote on March 12, 2007 10:59 AM:START UP THE DRAFT!!!
Criminal Medical Neglect wrote on March 12, 2007 11:04 AM:Criminal Medical Neglect by these military commanders:
- surgeon Lt. Col. George Appenzeller
- Capt. Aaron K. Starbuck,brigade surgeon at Fort Benning
- Col. Wayne W. Grigsby Jr., the brigade commander
- Army Surgeon General Lt. Gen. Kevin C. Kiley
As an Oral Surgeon, I would love to perform a Vasectomy on each one of these commanders listed above! And the results will be just as great as the care given to these wounded soldiers.
Demotions are needed now for these low life commanders! Knock them down to the lowest rank.
Scalpel please.
jay wrote on March 12, 2007 11:20 AM:This is what happens when you have a volunteer army and nobody volunteers.
Willie Williams wrote on March 12, 2007 11:38 AM:I have/had a friend that died from sleep apnea.
workingclassannie wrote on March 12, 2007 12:15 PM:If we can't impeach or prosecute the bastards, then when he leaves office, let's build a Monument of Shame.
Instead of the guys raising the flag at Iwo Jima, let's have the four horsemen of the apocolypse: Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, and Gonzalez, stomping on the flag, stomping on our soldiers, stomping on the innocents who didn't ask for this war.
johnnydoughey wrote on March 12, 2007 12:29 PM:I agree that some of this is Bush's problem. However, as long as we have politicians from BOTH parties willing to put their careers ahead of their country, this will continue. The saying used to be that talk is cheap, but these clowns in Washington are making millions from talking and not acting.
Want to give the troops good medical care?
Easy!
Allow them to see private doctors who can be fired or sued when they don't do the job! See how long the VA is in busioness then.
Think Bush and Cheney are breaking the law!
Impeach them! It may not work, but at least you are putting actions where your mouth is.
Want to slow down Washington corruption?
Put the same penalties in practice for congress and senate as in the real world. Send them to prison for wrongdoing.
A citizen can commit a crime which can affect a few people and spend many years in prison, but these clowns commit crime which are crimes against the state and humanity... crimes which may cause deaths for hundreds of thouisands, and, even if found guilty, can be protected by their other cronies, or be pardoned.
Want to change it? Pass a law preventing pardons!
Both parties continually ask us to support them, but at the end of the day, they are all at the same dinner parties, eating lobster, and laughing at how easy it is to once again pull the wool over the gullible eyes of the american public, because, after all, it's not about us... it's about THEM!
Richard L. Adlof wrote on March 12, 2007 12:30 PM:Email your Senator and Congress person. Explain how you feel and what you think abour this crap. Inquire what they are going to do about it. Remind them of when their next election is . . .
Write your local news rag. Pound on the editors until this is head-line news.
E-mail FOX opinion-cast until they block your address as spam or report on this.
johnnydoughey wrote on March 12, 2007 12:30 PM:I agree that some of this is Bush's problem. However, as long as we have politicians from BOTH parties willing to put their careers ahead of their country, this will continue. The saying used to be that talk is cheap, but these clowns in Washington are making millions from talking and not acting.
Want to give the troops good medical care?
Easy!
Allow them to see private doctors who can be fired or sued when they don't do the job! See how long the VA is in busioness then.
Think Bush and Cheney are breaking the law!
Impeach them! It may not work, but at least you are putting actions where your mouth is.
Want to slow down Washington corruption?
Put the same penalties in practice for congress and senate as in the real world. Send them to prison for wrongdoing.
A citizen can commit a crime which can affect a few people and spend many years in prison, but these clowns commit crime which are crimes against the state and humanity... crimes which may cause deaths for hundreds of thousands, and, even if found guilty, can be protected by their other cronies, or be pardoned.
Want to change it? Pass a law preventing pardons!
Both parties continually ask us to support them, but at the end of the day, they are all at the same dinner parties, eating lobster, and laughing at how easy it is to once again pull the wool over the gullible eyes of the american public, because, after all, it's not about us... it's about THEM!
OhSnap wrote on March 12, 2007 12:31 PM:Do these people have a soul? This administration is committing immoral after immoral travesty. Will Congress do anything?
GabrielOak wrote on March 12, 2007 12:40 PM:There is a scene in the classic David Lean film "The Bridge on the River Kwai" in which Colonel Nicholson, played by Alec Guiness, goes into the POW hospital and orders the sick and wounded soldiers there to go to work on the Kwai Bridge, in order to finish the bridge within the scheduled Japanese completion date. When Allied commandos blow up the bridge in the end, there is another scene in which the British medical officer, played by James Donald, is shown croaking "Madness, madness!" in disbelief. We have now entered the seventh circle of hell in George Bush's surreal war in Iraq.
Lisa wrote on March 12, 2007 12:42 PM:This is what happens when you have a war that was fought over a lie. Nobody wants to fight in that war. Talk about screwing over the one's who fight your battles.
Mark R. Brown wrote on March 12, 2007 1:31 PM:I wonder if they're sending this guy back?
http://tinyurl.com/ys9oce
voicesraised wrote on March 12, 2007 4:17 PM:The overwhelming impression that unbidden comes to mind is that of the newly-rendered quadruple amputee Black Knight accosting King Arthur, "Come back, you coward! It's only a flesh wound!"
Oh, wait. That was just an over-the-top parody of a highly-romanticized mythical leadership figure. Nothing like real life inside the Beltway today. Guess I forgot to take my irony supplement again.
Nick Stump wrote on March 12, 2007 4:19 PM:A draft is a good idea, if everyone has to serve--no deferments. Our rural men and women are already serving over there in great numbers. A fair draft would allow every family the same shot at serving and the Army wouldn't be filled with people who need work and money for college.
Our draftees have served with honor in Vietnam and WW2.
As soon as we see a draft without exemption, these buffoons in Congress will figure out a way to end the war. Nothing like the threat of sharing sacrfice to turn a Republican into an antiwar zealot.
johnnydoughey wrote on March 12, 2007 4:32 PM:Just curious...
tk wrote on March 12, 2007 7:10 PM:Does anyone remember when the last time Washington passed any law without some exemptions?
two things if its not too late.
It's entirely possible that many (majority?) of these injured soldiers in question wanted to go back to their battle buddies downrange, no matter how bad their injuries are, maybe with the expectation/hope that they would be ordered to "easier" duty once they report.
Second, there will not ever be another draft
Cheryl wrote on March 12, 2007 7:43 PM:Sound like another story for Dana Priest.
Jack wrote on March 12, 2007 7:43 PM:Kiley retired today. I bet that the Walter Reed fiasco is only part of the reason. Anyone responsible for Doctors lying about the medical condition of their patients should be put in prison, retired or not.
Owen wrote on March 12, 2007 10:53 PM:Support our troops indeed.
johnd wrote on March 12, 2007 11:19 PM:Scandal mongering and outrage, this is our currency?
It's hard to spend.
Please notice how right wingers get all ballistic at even no name lefty bloggers (or even blog commenters) for calling Republicans facists and comparing them to Hitler. Or when people compare anything Republican to Osama Bin Laden. This warrants the right wing civility brigade to thouroughly villify any left leaning commenter who dare compare the patriotic public serving Republicans to known evildoers. That's because they know sliming them is effective.
But watch them dish it out. With a 12" wide brush, the "left" is brutally and willfully broad brush mocked constantly for being traitors, appeasers, anti-semites, terror sympatizers, defeatists, political opportunists etc. whenever the right wing commentators feel like it.
You may not like it, but you can't win a fight your opponent is playing for blood by appealing to his sense of fairness and being outraged and indignant when they keep bullying, cheating and acting hypocritical.
Many Republicans are weak, scared, greedy cowards who exist to further their priveleged constituency's interests in order to gain personal favor and wealth with the powerful.
They can be beaten because they are outnumbered and immoral. They love it when their opponents think they are going to embarass them out of power because they have no shame.
When these details like crippled rank and file soldiers being ill cared for in medical facilities or sent back to battle creep out into the public domain we all think the wrongness of their ideology is coming home to rooost for them.
For the 30% who still support Bush, it's the opposite. These cynical sociopaths feign surprise and bemoan "bad apples" while all the while secretly believing that this proves how right they are and how so many of the "unclean" must be brought to bear at the boot.
Listen to what they say. When Coulter says Edwards is a fag, it means that Edwards is suspected of laying back, planting seeds, timing the unleashing of a most vicious attack on everything Republican - the warmongering, the outsourcing, the unionbusting, the corruption the corporate shmoozing, everything.
They don't find it disturbing that they are called bully's, that's what they want. The fight won't actually be with fists, but with words and the winner will be the one percieved as the strongest. The ones that say "but they called me names" will lose.
jm wrote on March 13, 2007 12:02 AM:workingclassannie:
How soon we forget about Ashcroft...
Gonzalez is just a puppet, Ashcroft invented the Patriot Act after he lost to a dead man. Say that again...the man became Attorney General because he needed work after losing to a dead man.
Richard L. Adlof wrote on March 13, 2007 2:16 AM:I just sen the following e-mail to
Congressperson Berman:
Senator Feinstein:
Senator Boxer:
The Army is sending troops into harm’s way who are physically incapable of performing the service requested of them due to infirmity. Are you aware of this matter? What steps are you taking to remedy this situation? I request that you inquire into the situation promptly.
Questions need to be asked of the following officers, as it appears that they are in the chain of command that is responsible for the decision:
Lieutenant Colonel George Appenzeller- Surgeon
Captain Aaron K. Starbuck,- Brigade Surgeon at Fort Benning
Colonel Wayne W. Grigsby Jr. - the brigade commander
Army Surgeon General Lieutenant General Kevin C. Kiley
This is unacceptable and a breach of our obligations to those who serve of nation and needs rectified immediately. I grow tired of praying that those who lead our nation find the sense Tzadeck (Justice) and Tzadaka (Charity) to do what is necessary and responsible.
Respectfully,
Richard L. Adlof
#### XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
North Hollywood, CA #####-####
PS - Below is the attached story as it appeared on http://www.tmpmuckraker.com today (03/12/07):
JB wrote on March 14, 2007 11:34 AM:Gee, I guess that cartoon with the quad amputee soldier being classified as "battle hardened" by Rummy was only pissing off the Bush administration becuase it was true.
gmat wrote on May 23, 2007 2:41 AM:i am a soldier who has been getting treated for a dislocated elbow+compartment syndrome. I have beed on dead man's profiles for 10 months and now right before deployment they tell me im fit for duty. this is in mannheim, germany