I've always found that I never did anything wrong either.

What has happened here, if the story is true, is outrageous.

I have corresponded with co-author Michael de Yoanna on the subject of for-profit prisons for many years. He is a conscientious, reliable and gifted reporter.

His Salon story last year on the tribulations of G.I.s returning to Ft. Carson near Colorado Springs, from tours of duty in the Middle East was quite illuminating and disheartening as well. In that tale also were narratives of untreated mental problems that should have been addressed by the Army.

Two things become quite clear from this article. The General staff, under Bush, Cheney and Rumsfield, treated soldiers as disposable. Their combat fatigue or PTSD went untreated and their flag-draped coffins returned home in secrecy.

Secondly, tragically, the Army is as disinclined to hold itself accountable as so many other areas of government over the past eight years, including the Energy Department, FEMA, Education, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Immigraton and Customs Enforcement, the Bureau of Prisons and the Justice Department.

I'm a retired investigator. The military's failed investigation of the reports revealed in this article was nothing less than wilfully incompetent and shameful.

I've been prompted by its revelations to print out the entire article and send it to our only Kansas Congressman who is a veteran. I've spoken to him about these problems before, after reading an article in the New York Times that reported on G.I.s in Afghanistan who had to be maintained on anti-depressants and anti-psychotic drugs in order to remain in the field. It was hardly the first such report. Here's one from the San Diego Union Tribune over three years ago: http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/military/20060319-9999-1n19mental.html

I don't think this callous indifference to the suffering of traumatized veterans has been this pervasive since the Civil War. It is simply a national disgrace and it must end quickly.

...a bunch of self serving "Genrals" whose only motivation is self aggrandisement and promotion? These people are the fundamental reason that the US never gets it right when it comes to any war it has taken on since WWII. they are pathological liasr and murderers who kill with the kind of savagery that typifies the kind of "warrior" they emulate. But then the age of chivalry died in the middle ages and since then no war has been fought with any morality or real moitve except to consume arms and keep the military-industrila complex of US Inc; churning out arms and munitions to be used on women and children. Just loo at what your heroic generals are doing in Pakistan with their drones. that is reallly heroic fighting don't you think? I have always contended that genrals are the biggets cowards because all they do is arse lick politicans and lord it over thier subordinates while gilding their own nests at the expense of millions of lives. The worst creation of man is the armed forces and the worst creation of the armed forces is a commanding officer.

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Thank You, Barry. I looked at the site and even did a trial run. I will email this information to our Health Resource Consultants and put it in our knowledge base for future inquiries.

Respectfully,

Erin

This is pathetic. But truthfully, did anybody expect more? America has a long-standing history of fucking over its veterans. They're just getting a head-start on it is all.

One feature keeps getting pushed to the side, but it is important: top brass upon retiring go to work directly for military contrators. Military contractors compete for money directly against military healthcare. The retired/former military now private civilian employees use all of their inside knowledge and influence to shift the scarce dollars to military contractors at the direct expense of healthcare military budgets. This is a clear conflict of interest, and it results in the preventable deaths and preventalbe harm and suffering of active military service members across all branches, with the vast majority of the suffering and dying done in the enlisted ranks.

I used to blog about the healthcare systems failures in AMEDD, and I received a steady stream of hits from the White House, the Pentagon and from all branches of the military healthcare system. No one has ever questioned or objected to my findings, but I do not have a military healthcare background.

I posted the following on the report comments section, as well:

I was a healthcare administrative whistle blower who is feeling the full wrath and retaliation for doing that. I can interpret these findings, and they are decidedly not benign:

Individual and organization refers to the medical facility. The findings state that the pressure isn't originating from the personnel, officers and policies and programs originating within EACH.

Finding #3 is where the nugget lies. It states that systemic pressure is being brought to bear and it manifests in the distortion and intentional wrong diagnoses (which is malpractice, by the way, by definition). The system is anywhere from the US Army AMEDD to the Pentagon to the SECDEF (Gates) to the White House (Obama). That's where the culpability lies.

This is a clear finding of the use of licensed medical providers as agents of abuse and/or torture.

See where US torture policy gets you?

Support the troops, indeed.

Thanks, Salon, for publishing what is turning out to be another of these great series of articles.

When reporters like Benjamin and de Yoanna are involved in research and writing about outrageousness like the subject at hand or the Walter Reed Hospital scandal, your readers oughtn't be surprised by the high quality of the investigation and reportage.

What grips and saddens this reader beyond his ability to express is that the greater society and most of its leaders in government and associated institutions, save a handful of Salon readers, will not give even two hoots about crimes and dereliction like this and will go on their smug and merry way.