Leishmaniasis from Gulf War to Iraqi Freedom Leishmaniasis  
      (Gulf War / OIF) 
The Survey of the Gulf War ground troops since November 1997 Gulf War Registry (OIF) 
CCEP failing, and ending up CPG thanks to NSO's Gulf War Council of 2000
DSBR in the news throughout the years DSBR news archives
The 1994 Reigle report ot the Senate The 1994 Riegle Report
Washington DC BVA hearings - Kirt Love BVA Hearing
Get your unit location data from OSAGWI Getting your CRUR
The Clinical Comprehensive Evaluation Program The CCEP Program
The VA Reserach Advisory Committee on Gulf War Illnesses The VA Research
      Advisory Committee 
      on Gulf War Illnesses 
The Army first inklings of the GW records The Army 
      Declassification 
      Project
The Chemical incidents and Alarms report Chemical Incidents
The Classified CENTCOM records, whay are all of them rated SECRET of higher. CENTCOM at NARA
The IOM's budget for Gulf War reports IOM report Budget
The OSAGWI's budget, only here. OSAGWI Budget 
The review words for scanning Gulf war records The Security Review 
      Protocol
The PAC Inventory list from NARA Presidential Advisory
       Committee ( PAC )
The Maxwell Air Force Base logs ( part ) Maxwell AFB Logs 
       Gulf War Records
The Air Force IRIS logs The Air Force IRIS logs
Gulf War Medical Information Medical Information
Links/Websites of Gulf War Veterans and Organizations Gulf War Veteran 
       Websites
Organization Organization
The Survey of the Gulf War ground troops since November 1997 Desert Storm Battle 
       Registry ( Survey )
The Anthrax VAERS report The Anthrax vaccine 
       and VAERS report
The Immune Serum Globulin report The ISG vaccine 
How to file Iraqi Assets claim with DOJ Iraqi Assets Claim 
        ( How to file )
Assorted gulflink topics Miscellaneous

Join the gulflink.org automated Mail List Gulflink 2007

Join the gulflink.org automated Mail List Gulflink 2006
Join the gulflink.org automated Mail List  Gulflink 2005
Join the gulflink.org automated Mail List  Gulflink 2004 / 2002
Join the gulflink.org automated Mail List The Gulflink
     Mail List

 


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Website debunking the Special Assistant 
for Gulf War Illnesses
CURRENT OSAGWI MISINFORMATION
FALSE CASE NARRATIVES
ENVIRONMENTAL EXPOSURES
REAL HELP FOR VETERANS
E-MAIL
green line
Updated: February  1st, 2009 
Come join our Organization as we face down the agency that lies about 
Gulf War issues. Deployment Health Support Directorate
 
1995 - 20,000,000 Gulf War military records declassified
1996 - 6,000,000 files given to OSAGWI to put on website
1996 - 1,700,000 files are medically relevant
1997 - 42,943 put up on gulflink.osd.mil website
 
At a cost of $150,000,000 less than .007% of the Gulf War Military 
records have been declassified for public release. 16 years later 
99.993% is classified , and the Pentagon has vowed to reclassify 
these records. This include Confidential Records that should have 
been released at the 15 year mark.
 
On February 14th 1999 I sent OSAGWI a FOIA asking for the bulk 
of its records names be declassified, and sent to me. I received a 
partial reply from General Vesser in a box with 2,877 pages, and 
two CD's. On the CD was the Structured database file and other part 
was a unstructured file. Again, only of the 42,943 files on the 
public server. In the Nov 5th1999 response letter from OSAGWI to 
me they explained they were processing the classified portion of the 
log sheets for me. That was the last I ever heard from them on paper 
concerning this FOIA. It remains mostly unanswered to this day 
on the other 6,000,00 files.
OSAGWI database file of 42,943 files 
OSAGWI response to me concerning partial response to FOIA
 
The Pentagon hides behind Executive Order 13292 so that the bulk 
of what happened in the Gulf remains hidden from the public. Except 
this is criminal intent to withhold information of neglect, misconduct, 
mishandling, and much worse during the Gulf War. The very same 
people who say nothing happened are the ones with full knowledge 
of those records, and vow to conceal them at all cost. The same people 
who lead us back to Iraq again under false terms, and created yet another 
disaster to live down.  
 
There should be FULL public disclosure, and we have the right to know 
what really happened in Iraq from 1990 to present.

How to complain to Veteran Affairs about your health care


Gulf War, and Operation Iraqi Freedom
February 1st, 2009: 2009 off to rocky start
 
First off I will say that I have seen some things going on 
just out of view that are offensive to me. The impression 
I am getting is that there are some people trying to pull 
there last stunts with Gulf War under the radar of the 
new administration. Because if President Obama 
endorsed there conduct then things are status quo in our 
circles rather than changing as they should be. 
 
Rather than rely on VA EA to keep the Gulf War Registry 
exam phone book posted I have transposed it to HTML for 
the Gulflink website. If you need to reach a VA Environmental 
Agents coordinator to set up a Gulf War Registry exam then 
look them up by state and then location closest to you in this 
directory. This one is current as of January 31st 2009.
Http://www.gulflink.org/directory.html
 
That being said I will for the moment leave this in the hands 
of Congress to see if they will do what's right to investigate 
this heading into 2009. If not then its time to take up the 
torch and protest these disparages. 
 
As for passing the the 2008 RAC report to the IOM for review, 
this is government waste at its worst. There is no justified 
reason to repeat these reports towards recommendations. 
At no time did PL 105-368 stipulate that the RAC recommendations 
had to go through IOM vetting. This is a farce in that its simply 
meant to stall those recommendations for 2 more years and 
then tank them stating "There isn't enough evidence to support 
this conclusion". Come on, VA worked hard at creating a LACK 
of data just for this very purpose through other thinly veiled 
studies that ignored many technical aspects to include GAO 
reports of data collection failures. Its time to simply service 
connect and move on. Create specialized care programs for 
Gulf War Illness, Agent Orange, Ionizing Radiation, Project 
Shad, and unique deployment situations. That these programs 
be available regardless of a rating status and repeatable rather 
than one time visits. The failing of the WRIISC should be noted 
as it also applies to PL 105-368, and that it didn't serve the vets 
as we had intended in 1998 with this law. 
 
Oh I could go on about this and in more detail. But, the focus 
should shift. As there is a potential here to change this within 
the ranks of VA itself without a massive startup cost. That shift 
would be at VA Environmental Agents, of which already has 
teams in place nation wide to deal with this. They just have there 
hands tied by bad management that is unapproachable from the 
Bush administration days. What is needed is to start from scratch at 
the top of VA EA with new management, and realign those assets 
with the help of the veteran community ( VSO'S, grass roots, and 
such ). But, its a closed door program there that has gone stale. 
So its doomed these issue by reverting back to old practices rather 
than new ones. More of the same will fix things, that sounds like 
the very tactics of corrupt corporate CEO's giving out bonuses for 
failure. VA is just mimicking the private sector in hanging on to 
career people who had been promoted to the highest level of there 
incompetence. The question here is will the new administration listen 
to the vets on this or parade on with blinders on. 
 
Other than this one major obstacle to progress there is at least 
something happening in the mean time on Gulf War issues. We have 
2 committees in full swing this year. We have 6 known meetings 
of which most takes place the first 5 months of this year. The down 
side is VA has ignored GW advisory committee recommendations 
for so long that its doubtful they will adhere to any of them this year. 
So it looks like it maybe up to Congress to save the day here with 
any recommendations by making them mandates. 
 
For now here is the meeting schedules:
 
February 18 - 19, 2009 - ACGWV meeting - VA Medical Center, Decatur, GA 
 
February 23-24, 2009 - RAC meeting - Dallas Texas,

March 18 - 19, 2009 - ACGWV meeting - Waco, TX (venue TBD)

April 7 - 9, 2009 - ACGWV meeting - Washington, DC (venue TBD)

June 29-30, 2009 - RAC meeting - Boston MA
 
November 2-3, 2009 - RAC meeting - Washington, D.C. 
 
Progress could happen this year, but wont happen unless change 
is really on the horizon. What I have seen this week tells me that 
things are status quo with VA. That contempt for the veterans such 
as myself borders right up there with civil rights violations of long 
ago. That a modern form of racism still exist when dealing with Americas 
veterans. That we do not have the same rights as other citizens in 
this country. That if this administration cannot help change that then 
things are worse than ever rather than improving. As long as the Feres 
Doctrine exist there is inequality in America demeaning the value 
of human life itself. The last frontier of discrimination in America are 
the American soldiers, and they deserves far better than this.
 
December 26th, 2008: Looking to Obama and 2009
 
So far this has been a slow year filled with potential 
but quite disappointing. On two separate occasions VA 
has saw fit to use the IOM to deny benefits based on the 
sporadic and under whelming reports on Gulf War Illness. 
Having sat in on these meetings over these many years I 
and others have argued the thin nature of these reports. 
So to take such a hostile action based on the findings comes 
across as nothing more than contempt for those veterans. 
If they cannot prove absolutely without doubt there isnt a 
problem then they should side as "Benefit of the Doubt" or 
other wise known as "Reasonable doubt". Peer review isnt 
worth much when your using biased reporting data and heavily 
biased as well as over funded negative research that was 
designed for the express purpose of being used in this 
fashion. The IOM has little objectivity other than to its 
contractor, and has been spoon fed its materials to its 
recommendations which is reporting bias.
 
The RAC report in November was quite a disappointment 
having waited so long to see it. Once more its vastly over 
written considering its main selling points hover around one 
study by Dr. Han Kang. The report lacks vision and continues 
to be a status quo tool to a very small group of people bent 
on pushing Neurology at the expense of all else. This narrow 
tunnel vision report doesn't provide any real plan that 
would benefit Gulf War veterans in the next 5 years. After 6 
years of grabbing at straws it seems this report misses many 
golden opportunities that slowly others are catching on to. 
However, something is better than nothing - it just doesn't 
deserve all of the GW attention and funding when the bulk 
of our programs have faltered from lack of attention. It needs 
a bigger scale and revitalization from within that needs to be 
addressed on more than funding a ever dwindling supply of 
researchers running out of ideas based on old information. 
Which is no surprise that VA would hand over this report to 
the IOM for review, the predictable result is 2 years from now 
the IOM will denounce the recommendations based on a lack 
of concrete data. Not enough information to go on. A stall 
tactic on the part of VA to drag this out 2 more years. A 
waste of tax payer money on another needless report.
 
Participation should be the key selling point now. Bring in the 
vets to reassess where things are as of 2009. The programs 
managed by Environmental Agent remained static for more 
than a decade without true revision even in the face of scrutiny 
and government chastisement ( i.e. GAO report and such ).
Walk into a VA medical center today and ask them for a Gulf 
War Registry exam. Guess what, most facilities do not know 
they even have a "Environmental Agents Coordinator" much 
less displays or signs to find one. They are invisible even among 
the folks that should know of them. The end result is the Gulf 
War Registry failed to be a reporting tool on the current state of 
the veterans because it wasn't comprehensive. Only 5% saw 
a follow-up exam much less a Phase II exam they should have 
gotten. To look into issues like "Leishmaniasis" which were 
largely unreported because no one in the early days knew of it 
or had a reliable test for it. These programs need to be dynamic 
and fluid to change. Instead they are archaic dinosaurs designed 
to die a slow death on purpose.
 
The WRIISC program was supposed to be the specialized 
clinical answer to the Registry. Instead it was twisted to fail 
through obscurity as well. Its primary failing point is veterans 
simply cant get to it. That bottleneck being its location and 
transportation to it. Its on the East Coast and unless your 
walking in the DC area or New Jersey your not getting in. 
Then add to the fact its a one time deal that last 3 days and 
you cant get a effective baseline that requires time to find.
 
The Secretary of VA informed Congress in January 2008
that there needed to be 9 new presumptions added to
Gulf War Illness. Brucellosis, Campylobacter Jejuni,
Q Fever, Malaria, Mycobacterium Tuberculosis,
nontyphoid Salmonella, Shigella, Visceral Leishmaniasis,
West Nile Virus. This is good news in that this is needed 
but so far to date Gulf War Illness doesn't really have its 
own category. Its not really recognized except under 
undiagnosed Illnesses so in truth VA needs to concede there 
are issues ( such as ALS, primary brain cancers, and so on ) 
that warrant a unique rating category. So our benefits 
programs should be revised in 2009 in favor of the veteran 
knowing that there are MANY unique issues to our plight.
 
Veterans need a centralized era specific facility that is easily 
identifiable, easy to access, friendly, with specialist rather 
than general medicine clinicians, that veterans can go back 
to numerous times regardless of benefits. Well, that family 
members such as spouses and children can also go to.
Not a one time throw away program designed to fail before 
you walk in the door. 
 
The VA Advisory Committee of Gulf War Veterans has met three 
times now: June 17 – 19, 2008, September 24 – 25, 2008,
November 19 - 20, 2008 in Washington DC. Most of this has 
been data collection trying to get some bearing of where 
things are in 2008. The committee visited the Washington DC
VAMC, and the Baltimore VAMC but was limited to a conference 
room session rather than any walk through in depth viewing. 
The WRIISC wasn't visited, but rather we heard a presentation 
from them. So its felt fairly hands off. Its hard to get a feel for 
a program if you dont see it working in person. The committee 
will be traveling to the following locations in early 2009:
 
  • January 14 - 15, 2009 - Seattle, WA (venue TBD)
  • February 18 - 19, 2009 - Atlanta, GA (venue TBD)
  • March 18 - 19, 2009 - Waco, TX (venue TBD)
  • April 7 - 9, 2009 - Washington, DC (venue TBD)
  • http://www1.va.gov/gulfwaradvisorycommittee/
  •  
    Its hard to say heading into 2009 if a broad enough view 
    assessment will be made of the overall problems to get 
    something either on the books or congressionally mandated 
    unless the veterans speak up. So far the impression I get is 
    there will be very little REAL outreach to look for them. The 
    part missing is a heavy media presence in advance to let 
    veterans know where to impart there energies. The ACGWV 
    will wrap up long before it finds enough of these folks in late 
    2009. The committee tenure is too short to do more than a 
    contact surface skimming of things before it concludes. Then 
    in December 2009 the RAC once again become the only 
    show in town. Except the RAC deals only with Research 
    and isn't designed to deal or recommend anything else.
     
    There is a real problem here that is further compounded by a 
    total break down of communication with the Pentagon on our 
    issue. They are now totally non-responsive to any request 
    made for help. Total snow job stall tactics including a made 
    up problem so that they don't have to answer the phone at the 
    one time DOD Gulf War Hotline. So without substantive 
    government records ( all classified ) the burden of proof is 
    kept from us. Another deliberate stall tactic. 
     
    This legacy passes onto President Elect Barack Obama to 
    deal with the government sins of the past when it comes to 
    Gulf War vets. What will be his stance when asked in 2009? 
    More cover-up, conspiracy, and contempt, or maybe a time 
    to come clean about the past war as well as how it was 
    handled afterwards. A real time to heal. 
     
    2009 will be a very unique year unlike anything in 10 years no 
    matter which way this all plays out. 
     
    The only constant is change.
     
    July 25th, 2008: Holding ones breath
     
    The June ACGWV meeting was a disappointment in that 
    VA itself didn't provide us much of value to work from. We 
    spent a fair amount of time on the basics but no real meat 
    and potatoes materials to base any hard plans on. So this
    meeting in September is supposed to be a little more 
    informative, and maybe enough to make a outline for the 
    18 months ( 15 months by Sept ) for us to draw some 
    conclusions for the final report. 
     
    ALS clusters in Gulf War. 
    Duke University did a fair study in which it found by using GIS 
    data of where soldiers where and the incidence of ALS in the 
    military, that there were hotspots for contracting this. Not long 
    after this announcement VA stated it would service connect 
    soldiers with ALS. Still what is the cause? We are getting closer 
    and closer to that particular cause. 
     
    No Service Connection for Sarin 
    It seems the Secretary of VA is not going to allow for the 
    "benefit of the doubt" when it comes to Sarin in the Gulf War. 
    This faulty conclusion drawn up by the IOM in its Volume 1 
    report lacks a variety of data to include specific GAO reports 
    that support the possibility of Sarin during the Gulf War. The 
    biggest glaring fact is that Khamisiyah is a real place filled with 
    chemical weapons that were inventoried on camera, then it was 
    blown up improperly upwind of American troops. Yet, for the 
    millions spent trying to dispute this more than 90,000 were 
    notified by the Department of Defense that they were exposed. 
    Its quite clear that PL 105-277 has failed the American soldiers 
    on this and this fact is being exploited unfairly. Technicalities. 
     
    Sarin may not have been the only factor, but to insult American 
    Soldiers based only on the IOM findings is little more than badly 
    based conclusions at the expense of the soldiers. I for one saw 
    a bunker demolition next to my unit during the war that later was 
    reported to me as the biggest of its kind since WWII. Yet, DOD 
    refused to investigate it after I reported it to them. Hundreds of 
    these demolitions took place besides Khamisiyah, and the "burden 
    of proof" is still classified and hidden at USCENTCOM. But, for some 
    reason these just magically didn't happen. Which is my current 
    argument with this committee over "Burden of Proof versus Benefit 
    of the Doubt". We are still to this day not getting the benefit of 
    the doubt on what we saw. 
     
    The ACGWV committee website is now at: 
    http://www1.va.gov/gulfwaradvisorycommittee/  
    But, its not going to do very much or be very informative from what 
    I understand. Maybe as time goes by that will change but there 
    is a lack on enthusiasm to do anything with it other than rudimentary 
    information. I wanted more and it seems that I am being ignored on 
    this. 
     
    The Gulf War Spouse and Children Registry 
    Its funding lapsed in 2003 and it was quietly disbanded with 
    little notice or fanfare. There is no curiosity to reinstate it or question 
    its its results though the GAO did years back. I have brought it up 
    repeatedly and yet its being ignored. 
     
    Gulf War Clinic 
    Simply put we need one. The WRIISC has totally failed in this 
    respect and PL 105-277 has not been revised to cope with this 
    problem. We need a specialty clinic for our plight and though its been 
    referred to there is no effort to construct or assemble one. 
     
    What is missing in all of this are the voice of veterans speaking 
    of what is going on around them, or the lack of. Not for me I mean, 
    I hear from several vets each week. What I mean is people addressing 
    this new committee, VA, DOD, and Congress with there concerns. 
     
    Well, September will be a ideal month for this the VA RAC and the 
    VA ACGWV meetings. One is research and one benefits. ALS will 
    be taking front stage. So I encourage you to speak up because it 
    matters right now.
     
    June 14th, 2008: Committee meeting on Gulf War Veterans 
     
    The first meeting date was set for June 17th, 18th, and 19th at the 
    Hamilton Crown plaza hotel 2 blocks away from the DC VA 
    headquarters. The first 2 days will be committee legal Mumbo 
    Jumbo. The 3rd day we will get to outline the structure of how 
    we will function the next 18 months. 
     
    The committee web page will be up soon, for now this is the 
    temporary page with basic information:
    http://www1.va.gov/advisory/page.cfm?pg=49 
    The only minor snag in all of this so far is that there is no final
    agenda sheet for next week yet. So things will be last minute 
    on what will happen. Which this time around can be attributed 
    to this being a new committee. Otherwise it still has that new 
    committee smell heading into the show room.
     
    The "Gulf War Review" is back in print after a 2 years lag between 
    publications. To say it was disappointing after a 6 month stall on 
    its content would be a gross understatement. Just shows the 
    people who manage it have long out lived any usefulness they 
    might have had. This is the problem with legacy government, 
    hanging onto people who don't produce beneficial results. Which 
    is one of the many reasons for this new committee. 
     
    Well, after almost 7 years later we have something in place besides 
    the RAC for dealing with our issues. Hopefully this will be a most 
    active committee with many things happening rather than a flash 
    in the pan group that fade away before anyone even knew we 
    existed. That hinges on June 19th and how everyone works together. 
     
    See you there.
     
    May 1st, 2008: Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans 
     
    I was quite shocked to see that in the mail Monday morning a letter from 
    the Secretary of VA welcoming me to the new committee. I do not even 
    know how to respond to this as I truly didn't think I would make it on even 
    after a blitzkrieg of effort to get on. Including multiple nominations from 
    some prestigious people. To all of this I say "Thank You so much" and to
    Secretary Peake "Thank You Sir". I hope I do this position honor in the coming 
    18 months. 
     
    The membership is as follows: 
     
    Chairman
    Charles Cragin
     
    Members:
    Martha Douthit
    Henry Falk, M.D., M.P.H.
    Mark Garner
    Lynn Goldman, M.D., M.P.H.
    John Hart, M.D.
    William Jones ( Rusty )
    Kirt Love
    Daniel Ortiz
    Daniel Pinedo
    Thomas Plewes
    Valeria Randall
    Edward R. Reese ( Randy )
    Steve Robertson 
    Here is the charter:
    Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans Charter
    http://www.gulflink.org/acgwv/newcover2.jpg
    http://www.gulflink.org/acgwv/page2a.jpg
     
    There isn't much to report yet as this is all very early on other than trying
    to get the biographies done. So I am just waiting for what is next and 
    hope that we get under way soon. Very much like Lelia Jackson and 
    Laura O'Shea at VA Policy and Procedure, they have been most
    pleasant and professional. They are quite busy trying to get everything 
    organized. 
     
    March 20th, 2008: Gulf War Advisory Committee in Federal Register 
     
    On March 6th the Federal Register posted the new VA committee with
    some explanation of its function. The bad news was VA put a 18 month 
    termination date on this committee. Which is hardly enough time to find 
    anything before it wraps up. 
    Federal Register Notice - New Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veteran
     
    What is truly new is bringing back the spouses and children of Gulf War 
    vets back to the table. For many years DOD and others have tried to gloss 
    over the birth defects and other spousal issues. The Gulf War Spouse and 
    Child Registry at VA was terminated. These people never went away, they 
    were driven away from DOD / VA. So now they have a platform once again 
    to address there now 17 year old issues.
     
    Media coverage so far has been limited to Texas, but here it has been 
    front page news:
     
      
     
    In the news Beatrice Golumb published a report on AChEIs 
    problems and the enzymes that work to clear them. That 
    Pyridostigmine Bromide may have played a factor in this 
    disruption of bodily functions. 
     
    More and more the term "Metabolic syndrome" is being heard 
    in the news as several factors in metabolism, and weight gain 
    become a ever mounting issue. Hopefully in Gulf War circles 
    there will be more attention to this and not just put all our eggs 
    in one basket that neurology is the answer. 
     
    The new "Gulf War Review" was supposed to be out in December 
    2007. Its late March 2008 and for some reason the front office at 
    VA has still been holding this up. The good news in this is that 
    enough time passed that VA agreed to put in the new Gulf War 
    committee into the publication. Which gives something for veterans 
    to participate in. 
     
    The VA WRIISC program started a new clinic in Palo Alto, California. 
    They should be announcing it shortly for those vets on the west 
    coast who cant seem to get a a referral. I myself had problems 
    here in Texas getting a DC referral, and had to take special 
    measures. Then VA came up with a excuse trying to say the 
    WRIISC cannot do multiple visits. VHA handbook 1303.5 does 
    not stipulate the number of visits one can make to the WRIISC. 
    You think this would be for trying to find answers for vets, which 
    is what we originally fought for in 1998 with PL 105-368. 
     
    The "Gulf War Brain Bank" has been the best kept secret of our
    issue for a while now. It appears VA wants to keep it that way just 
    like the tissue vault at the AFIP. They don't want to promote it or 
    discuss it publicly though for a year the doors have been open. 
    Sounds like they want it to fail by making sure vets don't know 
    about it. 
     
    The RAC meets in Boston MA on April 7th and 8th 2008. Absent 
    for almost a year, the attention will be around Dr. Haley and the 
    Southwestern University funding. There will be a change of guard 
    as Kimberly Sullivan, Ph.D. becomes the new Scientific Coordinator. 
    The RAC will be in a office in Boston and has a new email address:
    rac@bu.edu . What is noticeably missing is a phone number again. 
    Something hopefully the new committee will have to answer veteran 
    questions. 
     
    I am not overly optimistic here on any of this as veteran involvement 
    hasn't been pushed for real. Its hinted at. But, its still like prying a 
    ring off the finger of a dead man to get answers even on little things. 
    This is a far cry from the way things were in 2000 as DOD and VA 
    have learned that keeping grass roots away keeps things silent. 
    So I still have to work twice as hard as usual to stay on top of things.
     
    February 23rd, 2008: New Gulf War Advisory Committee 
     
    In September 2006 I had pushed the idea of the need for a coordinating 
    board on the RAC. Something that could operate between agencies and 
    function beyond the charter of the RAC for Gulf War vets. After a hour 
    of deliberation with Jim Binns I was talked down to a smaller entity, 
    an advisory committee. This wasn't exactly what I wanted but had a 
    greater chance of happening. So in November the idea was pitched 
    to VA with little fan fair. But, but February 2007 the RAC sent a letter 
    to Sec. Nicholson asking for a new advisory committee. It was of course 
    shot down by VA at that time. 
     
    In October 2007 I met with Rep. Chet Edwards talking about the 
    desperation of Gulf War veterans everywhere. Chet at one point had 
    said to me "But I had thought Gulf War vets where being taken 
    care of", of which I recanted that things couldn't be worse. So Chet's 
    staff asked me to draft a letter to send to the Sec. of VA for this new 
    advisory committee. 2 months would pass while this was being hammered
    out. Having it modeled after the VA OIF advisory committee and that 
    veterans should have a say in the committee formation. By January 
    3rd 2008 it was signed and delivered to Sec. Peake.
    http://www.gulflink.org/chet/gulfwar.pdf
     
    January 15th 2008 the story of this project went out in Stars and Stripes 
    newspaper. Which was met with a instant negative reaction that 
    morning from VA. They claimed they had not even seen the letter 
    yet much less had a response to it. 
    Stars and Stripes-Congressman wants to make VA access easier for Gulf vets  
     
    By February 5th 2008 the Secretary of VA James Peake responded 
    back to Chet Edwards that he would create the committee.
    http://www.gulflink.org/chet/VaPeake.pdf
     
    Man getting clout for Gulf War veterans - 
    Temple Daily Telegram
    http://www.gulflink.org/chet/veterans.html
     
    Local Veteran Fights For Better Care For Veterans - 
    Channel 25 Waco
    http://www.kxxv.com/Global/story.asp?S=7868799 
     
    While this all was happening I was quite busy with other projects 
    that also needed attention. One of those more important items was 
    the fact that the incidence of Leishmaniasis in the military was 
    double what was being reported. This I brought up with the VA OIF / 
    OEF Advisory Committee. In 2007 AMSA was reporting 1,280 cases 
    when the following month the Boston Globe said it was 2,500.
    http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/05/07/africa/07combat-disease.php 
    The committee responded back to me that they received this. 
     
    The there is the issue of the MDR Acinetobacter Baumannii that has 
    spread across America since 2003 thanks to the military. This super 
    bug no longer responds to antibiotics and there are no laws in place to 
    force the military or the medical community to report these infections 
    like they do diseases. Which by a technicality has killed people and 
    taken arms as well as legs by unnecessary amputations. This being 
    unnecessary if precautions had been taken early on to protect these 
    people from this infection rather than deny its existence until too late. 
    American Legion magazine interviewed me on this but narrowed down 
    my part in this since 2004 just like Forbes and Wired news magazines. 
    I was the first to bring this up in front of the IOM, to DHSD, and many 
    others like Government Reform from 2004 and following years. All the 
    time being told lie after lie about how many are infected. The advantage 
    DOD had in this was the fact that people didn't want to make a big deal 
    of the infection when they survived it. So Acinetobacter has no real 
    celebrity spokesperson or surviving victim that wants it dealt with. Which 
    gives DOD just what it wants to go on ignoring responsibility for releasing 
    this drug resistant pathogen on America. 
    The Iraqibacter 
     
    The "Gulf War Review" went out of publication back in July 2006 as 
    Mark Brown at VA conspired to get rid of it. First, he would stop printing 
    it then they would stop posting a pdf to the website as well. Anything 
    that would give the illusion that vets were not interested though the 
    subscription list was 220,000 vets. I bought this up to the RAC in 
    November 2006 and literally called DC from the meeting to show Jim Binns 
    that in fact the "Gulf War Review" was not being printed anymore. So the 
    RAC asked Sec. Nicholson to reinstate it early 2007. Word was a budget 
    was put back in place for it. But, once again Mark Brown would make sure 
    in his own way it wouldn't go out. The year passed by until in October 2007 
    I asked Chet Edwards office to look into this. After a Congressional request 
    Mark Brown recanted the "Review" was being held up by the IOM study:
    "Gulf War and Health: Physiologic, Psychologic, and Psychosocial Effects 
    of Deployment Related Stress". They wanted to include its findings in the 
    review. But, this study doesn't even make recommendations for Gulf War 
    vets of the 1991 war. However, it was reported it would go out December 
    2007. Then the next hold up was Secretary James Peake had to approve 
    it but hasn't said a word on it. So here it is almost March 2008, and the 
    "Gulf War Review" hasn't made it to the publishers. Gulf War vets are always 
    on the back burner with this as it drags out 19 months from the last publication. 
    Which to me is a clear sign that VA just wants us to go away. This review 
    will no doubt be a rag on top of it since Deputy Director Steve Sloane isnt 
    interested in any input, I know because for a year I have tried with NO 
    response from him or Mark. The 2 black holes of information at VA when 
    it comes to our issue. 
     
    The best intel at this shows that Mark Brown, Craig Hyams, and Steve 
    Sloane have been asked to provide input on the new advisory committee. 
    Talking about putting the "Wolves in charge of the hen house". This 
    committee was created because of these people who cut off communication 
    with VA, and now the Secretary has put them in charge of this? No doubt 
    in a effort to tank the new committee or skew its committee membership 
    to reflect people loyal to VA - passive. Not what I had drafted in the letter 
    to Chet Edwards toward the bottom of that letter. So the deadline for the 
    charter has passed and VA is being secretive about the committee 
    processes rather than involve veterans in it like I had asked. This does 
    not bode well for something that was to help us if it doesn't involve those 
    of us that created it. I am now very suspicious of this whole process.

    We continue here at DSBR to ask questions, and ask that you join
    our discussion group at GulfLINK Mail List.

          Sincerely
          Kirt P. Love 
          Disabled Gulf War Veteran 
          Contact: Kirt Love

       The Turkey Awards:
     
        Given to those individuals 
        that  struggle to make Gulf War
        veterans lives worse instead
        of better. 

      

     
     
     
     
     
    This service is brought to you by the

    The Desert Storm Battle Registry
    Gulflink.org is a member of the