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-
 Website
debunking the Special Assistant
for
Gulf War Illnesses
- Updated: May 1st,
2008
- 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
- 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.
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