Phony Green Beret Gets 21 Months in Jail
August 30, 2011
Military.com|by Bryant Jordan
William "Bill" Hillar, convicted of wire fraud in connection with making schools and the FBI believe he was a retired Green Beret and expert on human trafficking, was hit with a 21-month jail sentence today in Maryland.
Hillar was arrested at his home in January after his scam was exposed by veterans through the website ProfessionalSoldiers.com.
read more here
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Obama: PTSD stigmatization must end
Obama: PTSD stigmatization must end
By Lucy Madison
President Obama called on Tuesday for an end to the stigmatization of veterans with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and affirmed his recent decision to send condolence letters to the families of service members who took their own lives while serving.
Mr. Obama, speaking at the annual American Legion Conference in Minneapolis, Minnesota, emphasized his commitment to providing improved support for veterans both during and after their service - particularly in regard to mental health services and job opportunities.
"We're working aggressively to address another signature wound of this war, which has led too many fine troops and veterans to take their own lives--Post Traumatic Stress Disorder," Mr. Obama said. "We're continuing to make major investments--improving outreach and suicide prevention, hiring and training more mental health counselors and treating more veterans than ever before."
The president also explained his recent decision, as reported in July by CBS News, to reverse a long-standing policy of not sending condolence letters to the families of service members who commit suicide while deployed to a combat zone.
read more here
read more here
By Lucy Madison
President Obama called on Tuesday for an end to the stigmatization of veterans with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and affirmed his recent decision to send condolence letters to the families of service members who took their own lives while serving.
Mr. Obama, speaking at the annual American Legion Conference in Minneapolis, Minnesota, emphasized his commitment to providing improved support for veterans both during and after their service - particularly in regard to mental health services and job opportunities.
"We're working aggressively to address another signature wound of this war, which has led too many fine troops and veterans to take their own lives--Post Traumatic Stress Disorder," Mr. Obama said. "We're continuing to make major investments--improving outreach and suicide prevention, hiring and training more mental health counselors and treating more veterans than ever before."
The president also explained his recent decision, as reported in July by CBS News, to reverse a long-standing policy of not sending condolence letters to the families of service members who commit suicide while deployed to a combat zone.
read more here
read more here
Fort Hood Soldiers get training on safety and suicide prevention
FORT HOOD
Soldiers get training on safety and suicide prevention
Posted: Aug 29, 2011 6:56 PM
by: Aimee Burnett
FORT HOOD - Fort Hood will be wrapping up safety and suicide prevention training on post Tuesday.
Units have been called in for the training since Wednesday of last week. That's because officials say the U.S. Army, as a whole, has been seeing a larger number of suicide cases this year, and Fort Hood has seen an increase in car and motorcycle accidents.
read more here
Soldiers get training on safety and suicide prevention
Posted: Aug 29, 2011 6:56 PM
by: Aimee Burnett
FORT HOOD - Fort Hood will be wrapping up safety and suicide prevention training on post Tuesday.
Units have been called in for the training since Wednesday of last week. That's because officials say the U.S. Army, as a whole, has been seeing a larger number of suicide cases this year, and Fort Hood has seen an increase in car and motorcycle accidents.
read more here
For football coach back from war, it's like starting over
For football coach back from war, it's like starting over
By Rick Hampson, USA TODAY
SHELLEY, Idaho – The high school football coach known here as "Mr. November" — it was on his license plate even before he won his fifth state championship — was having a tough August.
He said he felt irritable, impatient, inadequate. Sometimes he was depressed. He had trouble remembering players' names and deciding when to defer to his assistants. "I'm lost," Dwight Richins said. "I feel like a new coach at a new school."
In a way, he was. Coach Richins was also Lt. Col. Richins, a reservist home after a year's deployment as an Army logistics officer in Afghanistan. He was struggling with the disorientation experienced by almost all such returning vets.
read more here
By Rick Hampson, USA TODAY
SHELLEY, Idaho – The high school football coach known here as "Mr. November" — it was on his license plate even before he won his fifth state championship — was having a tough August.
He said he felt irritable, impatient, inadequate. Sometimes he was depressed. He had trouble remembering players' names and deciding when to defer to his assistants. "I'm lost," Dwight Richins said. "I feel like a new coach at a new school."
In a way, he was. Coach Richins was also Lt. Col. Richins, a reservist home after a year's deployment as an Army logistics officer in Afghanistan. He was struggling with the disorientation experienced by almost all such returning vets.
read more here
Soldiers’ Amygdalae Show Scars
I usually describe PTSD as if it was an infection. A cut can lead to an infection if the cut is not treated. Trauma is a cut. It is an outside force hitting the soldier. Treat it early and pretty much cure it. Wait and it digs deeper, spreading out to more parts of the life of the soldier. Much like an infection, it grows and eats more healthy territory. Once treated, it stops spreading. What is left behind is healed parts along with a scar. The scar cannot be healed and that is the part of PTSD that cannot be reversed. The healing happens to the rest of the life. Now we have the ability to see into the minds and see the scars left behind.
Soldiers’ Amygdalae Show Scars
A year and a half after soldiers have returned from war, impairments in the regulatory circuitry of the amygdala remain.
By Kerry Grens | August 30, 2011
A chronically overactive amygdala, the brain region involved in fear, is a hallmark of an unhealthy response to traumatic events. New research, published today (August 30) in Molecular Psychiatry, shows that some soldiers—who have no mental health deficits after a return from deployment—also harbor signs of trauma within the regulatory network of this brain region.
The findings could help researchers determine “what changes [in the brain] help us predict who becomes sick and who recovers and leads a normal life,” said Ahmad Hariri, a professor at Duke University who was not involved in this study.
The amygdala mediates humans’ fear response, and researchers have found that its overreaction is related to psychological disorders such as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety and depression. People with PTSD, for example, have heightened activity in the amygdala when they are exposed to potential stressors, such as images of threatening faces.
In the new study, the researchers compared 23 Dutch combat soldiers who had been deployed to Afghanistan with 16 soldiers who stayed home. They measured brain activity using fMRI as the soldiers were exposed to angry or fearful faces.
The findings revealed different neural responses to the faces depending on how much fear the soldiers experienced—and not necessarily how much combat they were in. Immediately after returning from Afghanistan, those soldiers who reported feeling the greatest threat abroad displayed the most activity in the amygdala when they viewed the faces. Soldiers who didn’t feel as threatened had a less sensitive amygdala.
read more here
Motorcycle crash claims life of Marine who survived bullets in Afghanistan
Naugatuck Marine dies in motorcycle crash
BY ALIA MALIK REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN
NAUGATUCK -- Marine Cpl. Matthew A. Tooker was shot twice in Afghanistan last year and survived to run the Marine Corps Marathon in honor of his fallen comrades.
Now someone will have to run the race for him.
Tooker, 25, who lived at 123 Carriage Drive, died early Saturday after crashing his motorcycle into a telephone pole on Osborn Road, Lt. Robert Harrison of the Naugatuck Police Department said.
Preliminary reports indicate Tooker was traveling eastbound when he struck a curb and lost control of the 2001 Honda CBR900 sport motorcycle he was riding. The motorcycle eventually crashed into a pole near 183 Osborn Road, Harrison said. Police are still trying to determine Tooker's speed and whether he was under the influence of alcohol. He was not wearing a helmet and had a motorcycle learner's permit, which does not allow nighttime riding, Harrison said.
read more here
BY ALIA MALIK REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN
Marine Cpl. Matthew Tooker, 25, of Naugatuck, pictured here in Afghanistan.
NAUGATUCK -- Marine Cpl. Matthew A. Tooker was shot twice in Afghanistan last year and survived to run the Marine Corps Marathon in honor of his fallen comrades.
Now someone will have to run the race for him.
Tooker, 25, who lived at 123 Carriage Drive, died early Saturday after crashing his motorcycle into a telephone pole on Osborn Road, Lt. Robert Harrison of the Naugatuck Police Department said.
Preliminary reports indicate Tooker was traveling eastbound when he struck a curb and lost control of the 2001 Honda CBR900 sport motorcycle he was riding. The motorcycle eventually crashed into a pole near 183 Osborn Road, Harrison said. Police are still trying to determine Tooker's speed and whether he was under the influence of alcohol. He was not wearing a helmet and had a motorcycle learner's permit, which does not allow nighttime riding, Harrison said.
read more here
Naval Officer Guilty in 9-11 Fraud
Naval Officer Guilty in 9-11 Fraud
August 30, 2011
Associated Press|by Nedra Pickler
A retired naval officer honored for his valor during the Sept. 11 attack on the Pentagon was found guilty Monday of defrauding the victims' compensation fund by exaggerating his injuries.
After a three-week trial, a federal court jury found retired Cmdr. Charles Coughlin of Severna Park, Md., guilty of making a false claim and stealing public money after he got $331,034 from the fund set up by Congress after the 2001 attacks. The charges carry maximum penalties of up to 15 years in prison, but prosecutors say they expect to argue for three to four years based on his lack of a criminal record and the nature of the offense when U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth sentences Coughlin on Nov. 21.
Coughlin's claim said he was in constant pain after being injured twice on Sept. 11, 2001 - first when objects fell on him when a hijacked plane struck the building and later when he went back inside to rescue others and hit his head. But prosecutors said Coughlin, now 52, continued playing lacrosse and ran a marathon after the attacks and lied when he claimed he needed surgery.
The case was not a slam dunk for prosecutors: It took three trials to convict him. Coughlin was first tried in 2009 along with his wife, also accused of making a false claim to the fund in support of her husband's application. The jury found Charles Coughlin not guilty on three mail fraud counts, but couldn't agree on a verdict on four counts against him or the charge against his wife. Afterward jurors said they thought Coughlin was the kind of man who would exercise through pain and seemed credible when testifying that he didn't lie.
read more here
August 30, 2011
Associated Press|by Nedra Pickler
A retired naval officer honored for his valor during the Sept. 11 attack on the Pentagon was found guilty Monday of defrauding the victims' compensation fund by exaggerating his injuries.
After a three-week trial, a federal court jury found retired Cmdr. Charles Coughlin of Severna Park, Md., guilty of making a false claim and stealing public money after he got $331,034 from the fund set up by Congress after the 2001 attacks. The charges carry maximum penalties of up to 15 years in prison, but prosecutors say they expect to argue for three to four years based on his lack of a criminal record and the nature of the offense when U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth sentences Coughlin on Nov. 21.
Coughlin's claim said he was in constant pain after being injured twice on Sept. 11, 2001 - first when objects fell on him when a hijacked plane struck the building and later when he went back inside to rescue others and hit his head. But prosecutors said Coughlin, now 52, continued playing lacrosse and ran a marathon after the attacks and lied when he claimed he needed surgery.
The case was not a slam dunk for prosecutors: It took three trials to convict him. Coughlin was first tried in 2009 along with his wife, also accused of making a false claim to the fund in support of her husband's application. The jury found Charles Coughlin not guilty on three mail fraud counts, but couldn't agree on a verdict on four counts against him or the charge against his wife. Afterward jurors said they thought Coughlin was the kind of man who would exercise through pain and seemed credible when testifying that he didn't lie.
read more here
August is Deadliest Month for US in Afghanistan
August is Deadliest Month for US in Afghanistan
August 30, 2011
Associated Press|by Amir Shah
KABUL, Afghanistan --- August has become the deadliest month for U.S. troops in the nearly 10-year-old war in Afghanistan, where international forces have started to go home and let Afghan forces take charge of securing their country.
A record 66 U.S. troops have died so far this month, eclipsing the 65 killed in July 2010, according to a tally by The Associated Press.
This month's death toll soared when 30 Americans - most of them elite Navy SEALs - were killed in a helicopter crash Aug. 6. They were aboard a Chinook shot down as it was flying in to help Army Rangers who had come under fire in Wardak province. It was the single deadliest incident of war being waged by Afghan and U.S.-led coalition forces and insurgents.
On Tuesday, Afghan President Hamid Karzai used the start of a three-day Muslim holiday to plead with insurgents to lay down their arms and help rebuild the nation. Karzai wants Afghan security forces to take the lead in defending and protecting the nation by the end of 2014.
At a palace celebration, he also greeted eight boys and young men who had been solicited to become suicide bombers, but then turned themselves in to Afghan authorities.
read more here
August 30, 2011
Associated Press|by Amir Shah
KABUL, Afghanistan --- August has become the deadliest month for U.S. troops in the nearly 10-year-old war in Afghanistan, where international forces have started to go home and let Afghan forces take charge of securing their country.
A record 66 U.S. troops have died so far this month, eclipsing the 65 killed in July 2010, according to a tally by The Associated Press.
This month's death toll soared when 30 Americans - most of them elite Navy SEALs - were killed in a helicopter crash Aug. 6. They were aboard a Chinook shot down as it was flying in to help Army Rangers who had come under fire in Wardak province. It was the single deadliest incident of war being waged by Afghan and U.S.-led coalition forces and insurgents.
On Tuesday, Afghan President Hamid Karzai used the start of a three-day Muslim holiday to plead with insurgents to lay down their arms and help rebuild the nation. Karzai wants Afghan security forces to take the lead in defending and protecting the nation by the end of 2014.
At a palace celebration, he also greeted eight boys and young men who had been solicited to become suicide bombers, but then turned themselves in to Afghan authorities.
read more here
Police stress can explain behavior
Cape Cod Times had a letter published defending police officers that offers one more way to understand military culture. While it is about police officers the troops have the same view about being "tough" and reluctant to seek help. The biggest problem is, the military is actually supporting the "tough" enough notion when they push resiliency training. This approach has been telling the troops they need to toughen their minds, in other words, they are not tough enough if they end up with PTSD.
Another aspect of PTSD is there are different levels of it but above that, there are also different types of it. Military and police work have men and women not just surviving traumatic events, but participating in them with force on a daily basis. While we can understand PTSD in the civilian world with one extreme event, they live through them over and over again topped off with the risk of "at any moment" it can happen again. Firefighters and emergency responders have another type of PTSD because of the horrors they encounter above civilians due to the pile up of events as well.
The very people we depend on the most should be applauded for seeking help since it is often the hardest thing they do, but when they are told their minds are just not trained to "take it" they believe it is their fault they have PTSD.
Police stress can explain behavior
By RALPH F. CAHOON
August 30, 2011
I found it ironic that the Times chose to run its latest editorial (Aug. 28) bashing the police on the same day that local officers were risking their lives during a tropical storm to protect the rest of us.
The Times frequently lambastes police officers for improper actions, yet declines to discuss how the stresses of law enforcement affect the lives of officers. I hope this helps readers see another side of the story.
While most people understand that policing is a very difficult profession, few understand its impact on those who wear a badge. Officers are expected to perform professionally in horrific circumstances and control their emotions at all times.
As a 26-year police veteran, I know this isn't easy. My peers have had people attack and try to kill them; helplessly watched people burn up in fires; frantically performed CPR on lifeless babies; felt the squish of pooled blood beneath their feet at crime scenes; and scooped various body parts off the street. The impact of such incidents can be severe, and many officers turn to alcohol or sometimes even drugs to help them forget the ingrained images or recurring nightmares.
Indeed, it is estimated that alcoholism among officers is double the national average; the rates of officer suicide, divorce and domestic abuse in police families are also above normal; and 10 percent to 15 percent of officers suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder.
read more here
Another aspect of PTSD is there are different levels of it but above that, there are also different types of it. Military and police work have men and women not just surviving traumatic events, but participating in them with force on a daily basis. While we can understand PTSD in the civilian world with one extreme event, they live through them over and over again topped off with the risk of "at any moment" it can happen again. Firefighters and emergency responders have another type of PTSD because of the horrors they encounter above civilians due to the pile up of events as well.
The very people we depend on the most should be applauded for seeking help since it is often the hardest thing they do, but when they are told their minds are just not trained to "take it" they believe it is their fault they have PTSD.
Navy chaplain carries tragic memories of Ground Zero to Afghanistan
Navy chaplain carries tragic memories of Ground Zero to Afghanistan
2nd Marine Aircraft Wing
Story by Cpl. Brian Adam Jones
Brown’s introduction to horror came 10 years ago and 10,000 miles from here, it came to a lieutenant commander serving as a chaplain for a Coast Guard unit in New England. It came as thousands of innocent Americans lost their lives with a collapse and a cloud of dust.
Brown, who calls the mountains of Haysville, N.C., home spent several weeks in New York’s Ground Zero immediately following 9/11. The chaplain shepherded families through the carnage that took the lives of their loved ones, offering a first step toward closure.
“I remember one lady collapsing and just crying out, ‘Oh my God, my baby, I will never see her again.’ Her husband stood there, big guy, clenched fists, with tears streaming down his face. He never said a word,” Brown spoke with long pauses, successfully repelling waves of persistent tears.
“I apologize,” the chaplain said, running his fingers through his short crop of gray hair. “I’m not normally like this.”
Now far away from the wreckage that changed the world, Brown, a Navy captain, serves in Camp Leatherneck, Afghanistan, as the command chaplain for the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing.
read more here
2nd Marine Aircraft Wing
Story by Cpl. Brian Adam Jones
U.S. Navy Capt. Rondall Brown serves as the command chaplain for the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing (Forward) in Camp Leatherneck, Afghanistan. In 2001, the chaplain shepherded families through the carnage in Ground Zero that took the lives of their loved ones, offering a first step toward closure. Brown said it was important to him to be in Afghanistan on the 10th anniversary of the attacks, working to eradicate violence in this once terror-stricken region.CAMP LEATHERNECK, Afghanistan - Though he’s spent the past 23 years in the Navy, Rondall Brown’s thick drawl, formed in the Blue Ridge Mountains, distinctly makes its presence known when one word crosses the chaplain’s lips – horror.
Brown’s introduction to horror came 10 years ago and 10,000 miles from here, it came to a lieutenant commander serving as a chaplain for a Coast Guard unit in New England. It came as thousands of innocent Americans lost their lives with a collapse and a cloud of dust.
Brown, who calls the mountains of Haysville, N.C., home spent several weeks in New York’s Ground Zero immediately following 9/11. The chaplain shepherded families through the carnage that took the lives of their loved ones, offering a first step toward closure.
“I remember one lady collapsing and just crying out, ‘Oh my God, my baby, I will never see her again.’ Her husband stood there, big guy, clenched fists, with tears streaming down his face. He never said a word,” Brown spoke with long pauses, successfully repelling waves of persistent tears.
“I apologize,” the chaplain said, running his fingers through his short crop of gray hair. “I’m not normally like this.”
Now far away from the wreckage that changed the world, Brown, a Navy captain, serves in Camp Leatherneck, Afghanistan, as the command chaplain for the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing.
read more here
President Obama Addresses American Legion
Aug 30, 2011
Obama's day: Talking to veterans
By David Jackson, USA TODAY
By Susan Walsh, AP
Good morning from The Oval. On this day in 1990, President George H.W. Bush said a "new world order" could emerge from the Persian Gulf crisis that eventually led to the first Iraq war.
Foreign policy will be on President Obama's mind today as he travels to Minneapolis to speak to the American Legion's annual convention.
"As we approach the 10th anniversary of 9/11, (the president) will pay special tribute to the 9/11 Generation of troops and their families who have borne the burden of a hard decade of war," says the White House.
Obama will also "discuss how responsibly ending the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan must include meeting our obligations to take care of our troops and veterans as they come home, and will review the Administration's efforts in meeting our obligations to all veterans."
read more here
Also on this topic to clear up the emails flooding your server.
Obama's day: Talking to veterans
By David Jackson, USA TODAY
By Susan Walsh, AP
Good morning from The Oval. On this day in 1990, President George H.W. Bush said a "new world order" could emerge from the Persian Gulf crisis that eventually led to the first Iraq war.
Foreign policy will be on President Obama's mind today as he travels to Minneapolis to speak to the American Legion's annual convention.
"As we approach the 10th anniversary of 9/11, (the president) will pay special tribute to the 9/11 Generation of troops and their families who have borne the burden of a hard decade of war," says the White House.
Obama will also "discuss how responsibly ending the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan must include meeting our obligations to take care of our troops and veterans as they come home, and will review the Administration's efforts in meeting our obligations to all veterans."
read more here
Also on this topic to clear up the emails flooding your server.
August 29, 2011
VFW Accuses White House of Snubbing Annual Convention
The Veterans of Foreign Wars convention this week will not feature a top-tier official from the Obama administration, a breach in tradition that the group's commander described as an "insult of the highest magnitude."
However, an administration official claimed Monday that the White House made "every effort" to provide a speaker for the event, offering up a range of top officials.
"In all instances, the VFW declined those offers," the official said.
Read more: read more here
Monday, August 29, 2011
Jeb Bush upset with Scott over firing fallen soldier's Mom
Emails: Jeb Bush was upset Scott fired staffers
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: August 27, 2011
TALLAHASSEE — Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush was disappointed that Gov. Rick Scott fired the mother of an Army soldier who had just been killed in Afghanistan as well as others who worked in the governor's office, newly released emails show.
Bush's comments were included in more than 700 pages of emails released by an attorney who worked on Scott's transition team. The new emails, recovered from Scott's campaign manager, give some insights into those trying to influence the new administration. The emails also highlight some tensions between members of the transition team — including exchanges over who had the authority to offer jobs in the new administration.
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: August 27, 2011
TALLAHASSEE — Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush was disappointed that Gov. Rick Scott fired the mother of an Army soldier who had just been killed in Afghanistan as well as others who worked in the governor's office, newly released emails show.
Bush's comments were included in more than 700 pages of emails released by an attorney who worked on Scott's transition team. The new emails, recovered from Scott's campaign manager, give some insights into those trying to influence the new administration. The emails also highlight some tensions between members of the transition team — including exchanges over who had the authority to offer jobs in the new administration.
Bush followed her comment with another email in which he notes that other people, including Carolyn “Freda” King were let go. King, who first went to work for the governor's office when Bush was there, worked in the external affairs office of the governor. King's son, Army Pfc. Brandon King, was killed in Afghanistan in July 2010.read more here
Vietnam vet given 10 years' probation for shooting at Watauga police
Vietnam vet given 10 years' probation for shooting at Watauga police
Posted Monday, Aug. 29, 2011
BY DOMINGO RAMIREZ JR.
ramirez@star-telegram.com
FORT WORTH - A Vietnam veteran has been sentenced to 10 years' probation for shooting at police during a standoff in 2009 when the officers went to his Watauga home to check on his welfare.
No officer was injured in the standoff that lasted more than nine hours.
SWAT officers shot at least six rounds of a chemical agent into his home before they rushed in and tackled the troubled veteran.
Ronnie Crowder, 59, was sentenced to probation with deferred adjudication last week in Criminal District Court No. 213 on the charge of attempted capital murder.
Crowder joined the Marines when he was 17 and was an artilleryman in Vietnam, serving two tours, his wife told the Star-Telegram in a 2009 interview.
He was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress and for years has been treated by psychiatrists from Veteran Affairs. He then contracted diabetes and throat cancer which forced doctors to remove his larynx in May 2009. At that time, he also had to take nourishment through a tube in his stomach.
read more here
Vietnam Vet in standoff stopped taking medication
Posted Monday, Aug. 29, 2011
BY DOMINGO RAMIREZ JR.
ramirez@star-telegram.com
FORT WORTH - A Vietnam veteran has been sentenced to 10 years' probation for shooting at police during a standoff in 2009 when the officers went to his Watauga home to check on his welfare.
No officer was injured in the standoff that lasted more than nine hours.
SWAT officers shot at least six rounds of a chemical agent into his home before they rushed in and tackled the troubled veteran.
Ronnie Crowder, 59, was sentenced to probation with deferred adjudication last week in Criminal District Court No. 213 on the charge of attempted capital murder.
Crowder joined the Marines when he was 17 and was an artilleryman in Vietnam, serving two tours, his wife told the Star-Telegram in a 2009 interview.
He was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress and for years has been treated by psychiatrists from Veteran Affairs. He then contracted diabetes and throat cancer which forced doctors to remove his larynx in May 2009. At that time, he also had to take nourishment through a tube in his stomach.
read more here
Vietnam Vet in standoff stopped taking medication
Pentagon pays $720M in late fees for storage containers for Iraq and Afghanistan
Folks, this is $750 million for late fees on storage containers! Why? They use the excuse Afghanistan and Iraq were "planned" to be brief but when you look back at the history of both nations, thinking anything would be "brief" was stupid. The Russians were in Afghanistan, along with other nations trying to take it over. As for Iraq, well, they need only look back to the Gulf War for what Cheney and Rumsfeld already knew. It would be a "quagmire" and they knew exactly what would happen. It is all in the history books and they can't wipe any of it away with their own books now.
But it looks like this keeps getting worse
Pentagon pays $720M in late fees for storage containers
By Tom Vanden Brook, USA TODAY
The Pentagon has spent more than $720 million since 2001 on fees for shipping containers that it fails to return on time, according to data and contracts obtained by USA TODAY.
The containers — large metal boxes stowed on ships and moved from port on trucks — are familiar sights on bases in Iraq and Afghanistan where troops use them for storage, shelter and building material. Yet each 20-foot container returned late can rack up more than $2,200 in late fees.
Shipping companies charge the government daily "container detention fees" after the grace period ends for the box to be returned.
The $720million represents a thin slice of the Pentagon's $553billion budget. Yet military spending is under intense scrutiny as the Defense Department has been ordered to trim $350billion in spending over the next 10 years and could face steeper reductions from budget cutters.
The cost stems from the mistaken belief that the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq would be brief and late fees would be minimal, said John Pike executive director of Globalsecurity.org, a defense policy group.
read more here
But it looks like this keeps getting worse
Ten years after 9/11, wasteful Pentagon war contracting still under fire
By KEVIN BARON
Published: August 29, 2011
WASHINGTON – The Pentagon's use of no-bid contracts meant to field urgently needed war goods like counter-IED devices has tripled since 9/11, despite promises to reform the controversial practice once justified by military planners at the outbreak of war ten years ago, a new watchdog report finds.
After repeated pledges and orders from President Barack Obama and Defense Department leaders to clean up the no-bid trough, “Campaign pledges and memos have made little headway in combating the problem,” writes Sarah Whitmire, in the Center for Public Integrity's first installment of a five-day investigative report on war contracting, released Monday. What was a $50 billion worry in 2003 has ballooned to $140 billion in 2011.
The report is the latest dispatch in the Center’s “Windfalls of War” series, which in 2003 accounted for the explosion of war spending in the buildup and aftermath of the Iraq invasion and early Afghanistan fighting. (Full disclosure: I was a writer on the original project.) At the time, when U.S. officials refused or could not say how much money the wars were costing taxpayers, through Freedom of Information Act requests the Center discovered billions of dollars were being doled out to huge defense firms, like Halliburton. The Pentagon, in some cases, simply modified previously existing contracts for unrelated goods and services instead of opening up a new bidding process to competition, sometimes adding tens of millions to the potential value of the original contract.
The Pentagon and other contracting agencies said the practice was justified because the need to troops was too urgent. Some of the contractors, DOD said, were the only ones capable of providing unique and uniquely large services, like rebuilding Iraq’s electrical system. The Center found that was untrue in many cases.
read more here
1,800 riders take part in Wounded Warrior Motorcycle Run
More than 1,800 riders take part in Wounded Warrior Motorcycle Run
BY BOB OKON
More than 1,800 motorcyclists showed up Sunday for a Wounded Warrior Motorcycle Run where five local veterans were honored and money was raised for the cause of supporting injured soldiers across the country.
“A lot of bikes here,” said Bill Teckenbrock of Naperville, surveying the motorcycles lined up in the morning in New Lenox Commons. Shortly after noon, the hundreds of motorcycles rumbled off to Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery.
The ride was preceded by a ceremony in which checks of $1,000 were presented to five area veterans, three of whom are in wheelchairs.
read more here
BY BOB OKON
More than 1,800 motorcyclists showed up Sunday for a Wounded Warrior Motorcycle Run where five local veterans were honored and money was raised for the cause of supporting injured soldiers across the country.
“A lot of bikes here,” said Bill Teckenbrock of Naperville, surveying the motorcycles lined up in the morning in New Lenox Commons. Shortly after noon, the hundreds of motorcycles rumbled off to Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery.
The ride was preceded by a ceremony in which checks of $1,000 were presented to five area veterans, three of whom are in wheelchairs.
read more here
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)