Are America's Wounded Troops Getting A Square Deal?

From Human Events--Guns & Patriots:




Are America's Wounded Troops Getting A Square Deal?



by Maj. General John K. Singlaub





05/17/2011











President Teddy Roosevelt once said, “A man who is good enough to shed his blood for his country is good enough to be given a square deal afterward.”



With the patriotic Memorial Day holiday approaching, now is the perfect time to ask if our troops who have shed their blood in Afghanistan or Iraq are being properly thanked for their sacrifice.



The answer, sadly, is no.



Consider the case of Marine Christopher Chaput, from New Bern, NC. Christopher took a body full of shrapnel while hunting down terrorists in Afghanistan in September 2009.



While trying to recover from his painful wounds, Christopher says, he and his wife Kimberly were evicted, their cars were repossessed and “we were lucky if we ate once a day.”



Then Kimberly got pregnant, and they were facing a second eviction.



How could such a travesty happen to an American hero like Christopher Chaput . . . and his wife and baby? I’ll answer that in two words: Government bureaucracy.



Christopher and Kimberly were evicted while waiting for his government disability check to be processed – the disability check he earned by shedding his blood for our country.



At this very moment the same nightmarish situation may be happening to thousands of other severely wounded troops. According to a report by the Military Times.com, America’s veterans and wounded troops have to wait an average of six months for their first disability check to arrive after leaving the hospital and being separated from the military. Meanwhile they are facing evictions, home foreclosures, car repossessions, utility cutoffs – you name it.



Is that any way to treat a wounded hero? Of course not. And as a Guns & Patriots reader I know you agree.



What a great Memorial Day gift it would be if our government announced this problem would be fixed, pronto – and that Congress would not get another paycheck until our wounded troops were getting THEIR disability checks on time.



As someone who assists our troops seriously injured in Afghanistan or Iraq, I can tell you these military families are getting more and more desperate every day.



It’s not just the long wait for disability checks. Most of these families can’t afford caregivers for their loved one who has been paralyzed or blinded by a sniper’s bullet or severely burned or brain-damaged by a roadside bomb. So their spouse quits their job to care for them. Their family income plummets – and suddenly they are facing an eviction or scrambling to feed their children.



Over the past few months my colleagues at the Coalition to Salute America’s Heroes have received heartbreaking phone calls like these from our severely wounded Marines, soldiers, sailors and airmen.



• “I am one paycheck away from homelessness.”



• “We are running out of food, the phone bill needs to be paid and the lights were turned off this week.”



• “We have exhausted all the family’s resources, and we pray you will assist us.”



None of these things should be happening to any wounded hero, any time of year. But Memorial Day, when we pause to remember the brave Americans who sacrificed their lives for our country, is a perfect time to vow to help our wounded heroes as well.



The good news is the American people are incredibly generous, especially when it comes to our men and women in uniform. When the government lets our wounded heroes down, we run to the rescue by contributing to the private charities dedicated to serving those who have served – and suffered – for our nation.



So, what can you do to thank our severely wounded troops and their families this Memorial Day?



You can contact your elected officials and ask them to start giving our wounded heroes a square deal, financially speaking.



As for a solution a little closer to home, how about taking a wounded hero out to a ballgame or movie on Memorial Day, or inviting him or her to your backyard barbecue? If you live near a VA hospital I’m sure they could use a volunteer with strong hands and a warm heart.



And any wounded hero or veteran would be thrilled to receive a personal visit, phone call or greeting card with this simple, heartfelt message: “Thank you for your service to our country!”



I can promise whatever you decide will be deeply appreciated by our severely wounded troops and their loved ones this Memorial Day. After all, they were there for us, and now it’s our turn to be there for them.







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Major General John K. Singlaub, U.S. Army (Ret.), parachuted into Nazi-occupied France during WWII to prepare French Resistance fighters for the Allied invasion, ran covert operations during the Korean War and commanded all U.S. Special Operations Forces in Southeast Asia during Vietnam. Today he works with the Coalition to Salute America�s Heroes, which provides emergency financial aid for troops severely wounded in Afghanistan or Iraq.



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Time To Cut Off Pakistan

From Human Events--Guns & Patriots and Jihad Watch:




Time to Cut Off Pakistan



by Robert Spencer





05/17/2011











Why is the U.S. government continuing to send billions of taxpayer dollars to Pakistan?



One way to give the economy a shot in the arm would be to stop sending huge sums of money to a nation that quite clearly is no longer our ally, if it ever was. The latest confirmation of this came Saturday, when the Pakistani parliament threatened to cut off NATO access to a transit facility used to get troops into Afghanistanin in retaliation for the American commando raid that killed Osama bin Laden.



One might reasonably have assumed that the Pakistani government, which has received well over a billion dollars a year from the United States since 9/11 in order to fight al-Qaeda and the Taliban, would be embarrassed by the fact that bin Laden was discovered on its soil, clearly enjoying—for years—the protection of highly placed Pakistani officials. In response to that embarrassment, it would have been reasonable to expect the Pakistani government to start working hard to demonstrate its trustworthiness to the Americans, to show them that all the money that the U.S. has poured into Pakistan has not been wasted, and that as it continues to flow, it will not be wasted.



Instead, Pakistan’s parliament not only threatened to cut off NATO’s access to the transit facility, but called for its working agreement with the United States to be reviewed. It was illustrative of where Pakistan stands in the fight against the global jihad, and where it has stood since Sept. 11, 2001. The U.S. has paid billions to Pakistan since then in order to aid its government’s fight against al-Qaeda and the Taliban. It has been revealed, however, that much of that money has gone to those same organizations, and that the ISI, Pakistan’s spy service, has significant ties with al-Qaeda.



And in light of that, it’s clear that the Pakistani parliament’s call for a review of Pakistan’s working agreement with the U.S. is a great idea. The U.S. should be reviewing it too, but instead President Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and others have reaffirmed Pakistan’s supposed value as an ally, and minimized the damage done by the revelations of how the Pakistanis sheltered bin Laden for so many years.



Estimates differ as to how long bin Laden lived in his now-famous compound. The British Telegraph has reported that the Pakistani government had sheltered him for 10 years, and that “American diplomats were told that one of the key reasons they had failed to find bin Laden was that Pakistan’s security services tipped him off whenever U.S. troops approached.” Indian journalist Chidanand Rajghatta noted that “the finger of suspicion is now pointing squarely at the Pakistani military and intelligence for sheltering and protecting Osama bin Laden. … The coordinates of the action and sequence of events indicate that the al-Qaida fugitive may have been killed in an ISI safe house.”



Instead of bristling with indignation and threatening its sugar daddy, the Pakistani government needs to come clean. It strains credulity to the breaking point to imagine that Pakistani officials, including the president, didn’t know that bin Laden was in the country, and in a safe house near Pakistan’s military academy. The circumstances of bin Laden’s last years and death indicate that Pakistan has been an even more unreliable and two-faced ally than anyone has realized up to now—and that is saying a great deal. It has now been several years since a report from the London School of Economics documented how Pakistani military intelligence was aiding the Taliban in Afghanistan, and was actually represented in the Taliban’s governing apparatus.



The fantasy-based policy making that has counted Pakistan as a U.S. ally for so many years has been thoroughly discredited. Yet no one in Washington is making any move to change our failed approach to affairs with this rogue state. It is the height of stupidity for the U.S. to continue to put itself in the position of being played for a fool and used as a cash cow by a Pakistani government that is more obviously than ever in league with our enemies.



Why should we fund those who are aiding and abetting the forces that wish to destroy us? It is long past time to cut off Pakistan.







--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mr. Spencer is director of Jihad Watch and author of The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam (and the Crusades), The Truth About Muhammad, Stealth Jihad and The Complete Infidel's Guide to the Koran (all from Regnery-a HUMAN EVENTS sister company).

This Week In American Military History

From Human Events--Guns & Patriots:




First Enterprise to Gordo’s Big Day



by W. Thomas Smith Jr.





05/17/2011











This Week in American Military History:



May 15, 1862: U.S. Marine Corporal John F. Mackie participates in an action against Confederate forces at Drewry's Bluff, Virginia, for which he will become the first Marine in history to receive the Medal of Honor.



According to his citation, “As enemy shellfire raked the deck of his ship, Corporal Mackie fearlessly maintained his musket fire against the rifle pits on shore, and when ordered to fill vacancies at guns caused by men wounded and killed in action, manned the weapon with skill and courage.”



May 15, 1963: Astronaut, fighter pilot, and U.S. Air Force Maj. Leroy Gordon “Gordo” Cooper Jr., piloting "Faith 7," becomes the first American to spend an entire day in space, and the first man to sleep in space.



A former U.S. Marine private who ultimately was commissioned an Army second lieutenant, Cooper will retire an Air Force colonel.



May 18, 1775: Future turncoat Col. Benedict Arnold leads a successful surprise attack against a British fort and the adjacent shipyards at St. Johns, Canada. Among Arnold’s prizes is the British sloop HMS George which he renames “Enterprise,” the first of eight so-named American Navy ships.



May 18, 1863: Union Army forces under the command of Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant move against the city of Vicksburg, Mississippi. Vastly outnumbered Confederate forces under Lt. Gen. John Pemberton fall back on prepared defenses. Pemberton’s army is quickly surrounded. Grant strikes Pemberton’s positions the following day hoping to destroy his army before it is properly positioned. Losses are heavy among the ranks of the assault forces. The siege of Vicksburg has begun.



May 21, 1881: Clara Barton, the Civil War’s famous “angel of the battlefield,” founds the American Red Cross.







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Mr. Smith is a contributor to Human Events. A former U.S. Marine rifle-squad leader and counterterrorism instructor, he writes about military/defense issues and has covered conflict in the Balkans, on the West Bank, in Iraq and Lebanon. He is the author of six books, and his articles appear in a variety of publications. E-mail him at marine1@uswriter.com.

Now What?

From Human Events--Guns & Patriots:




Now What?



by Oliver North





05/17/2011











QUANTICO, Va. -- Here at this sprawling Marine Corps base south of our nation's capital, nothing has changed since Osama bin Laden met his demise in Pakistan. Thousands of Marines here at the "Crossroads of the Corps" are still waking up at "Oh-Dark-Thirty," going about their duties, running for miles, lifting weights and tossing each other about in hand-to-hand-combat drills.



Apparently these American heroes are unaware that Sens. John Kerry, D-Mass; Carl Levin, D-Mich.; and even Dick Lugar, R-Ind., and a host of others up the road in Washington, D.C., have decided that bin Laden's death means the war in Afghanistan has been won and most of our troops need to come home ASAP.



Here in the United States, politicians and pundits across the political spectrum are now saying that bin Laden's death means we can hasten our withdrawal from Afghanistan; that we can now make dramatic reductions in defense spending; and that we should cut off all military, economic, humanitarian and intelligence support to Pakistan.



According to Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Kerry, the bin Laden operation "provides a potentially game-changing opportunity to build momentum for a political solution" and move to "achieving the smallest footprint possible in Afghanistan."



In the House of Representatives, a bipartisan group of eight lawmakers wrote to the White House claiming bin Laden's death "requires us to examine our policy of nation building in Afghanistan." They insist "it is no longer the best way to defend America against terror attacks, and we urge you to withdraw all troops from Afghanistan that are not crucial to the immediate national security objective of combating al-Qaida."



This all has to be music to the ears of Vice President Joe Biden, long an opponent of the counter-insurgency campaign advocated by Gen. David Petraeus. Count on the VEEP to make this argument in the days ahead as the administration decides how many U.S. troops to withdraw from Afghanistan this summer. It's exactly the wrong message for our friends and enemies in the world's most volatile region.



There is no doubt that the May 2 Spec Ops mission taking out bin Laden was a dramatic success and an example of unique U.S. capabilities. Unfortunately, the administration's decision to reap a political and public relations windfall from the operation has adverse implications for protecting U.S. interests in Pakistan and checking Iranian efforts to acquire nuclear weapons.



In Baghdad, radical Shiite factions are claiming the U.S. has no further need of a military presence in Iraq. And in Pakistan, those who have cooperated with American and military officials in the past are finding it more difficult to do so.



Though al-Qaida and the Taliban have both acknowledged that bin Laden is dead, Imams are seizing the moment to encourage their followers that this means the U.S. will "soon be leaving the lands of the prophet."



Nothing could be more pleasing to the theocrats in Tehran and those who want to bring down governments in the region deemed to be "insufficiently Islamic." For those of us concerned about the prospect of Pakistan's nuclear weapons falling into the wrong hands or the regime in Tehran acquiring such a capability, the Obama administration's victory lap, and its nonstop hemorrhaging of information from the "treasure trove of intelligence collected in Abbottabad," could well prove disastrous.



The mission that resulted in bin Laden's death would have been significantly more difficult -- if not impossible -- without U.S. bases in Afghanistan. The theocrats ruling in Tehran, and those who hate us in Pakistan, know the American military presence in Iraq and Afghanistan poses a threat to an Iranian nuclear weapons program and "loose nukes" in Islamabad.



Sadly, all this "get out and get out now" talk is happening just as competent and capable Afghan National Security Forces are taking to the field. Though few in the mainstream media have been paying attention, our FOX News "War Stories Special Report" clearly shows how the recruiting, training, mentoring and partnering programs set in motion by Petraeus and Lt. Gen. William Caldwell are succeeding. So, too, are efforts by special agents of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, NATO Special Operators and their Afghan counterparts to cut off the flow of funds to the Taliban and staunch official corruption.



For an inside "boots on the ground' perspective on how to win a war -- and a "white knuckle ride" along with the eyewitness participants who are fighting it -- this documentary is true "reality television." It's doubtful that Sen. John Kerry will be watching. He apparently never met a war he didn't want to lose.







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Lt. Col. North (Ret.) is a nationally syndicated columnist and the author of the FOX News/Regnery books, "War Stories: Operation Iraqi Freedom," "War Stories II: Heroism in the Pacific" and "War Stories III: The Heroes Who Defeated Hitler." Lt. North hosts "War Stories Investigates: Drugs, Money and Narco-Terror" Saturday, Aug. 22, at 3 p.m. and 9 p.m. EDT on Fox News Channel.

Sailor Gets 34 Years In Prison In Espionage Case

From Military.com:


Sailor Gets 34 Years in Prison in Espionage Case





May 23, 2011

Virginian-Pilot


NORFOLK -- Bryan Minkyu Martin, the Navy intelligence specialist convicted of attempted espionage, said Friday that he was "blinded by greed" when he sold classified documents to a man he believed was a Chinese spy.



A military judge Friday sentenced Martin to 34 years in prison a day after he pleaded guilty to 11 charges. The judge also issued Martin a dishonorable discharge.



Just before being sentenced at the military court at Norfolk Naval Station, prosecutors played about three hours of surveillance tape showing Martin and a man he knew only as Mr. Lee, actually an undercover FBI agent, exchanging cash for classified information on four occasions last year at motels near Fort Bragg in North Carolina.



In the last scene of the last tape, two armed men with bullet-proof vests burst into the room and threw Martin against the wall, handcuffing him. Martin could be seen trying to hide the cash he was just given.















The undercover agent paid Martin $11,500 total in exchange for three packets of documents containing information about current naval operations and intelligence assessments, including photos, satellite images and details about U.S. operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.





"My bosses are very pleased," the agent told Martin.



Martin acknowledged in court that he had betrayed his country but said he does not hate the United States.



"My soul was blinded by greed," he said.



"I am filled with remorse and self-loathing," he continued. "I was arrogant and greedy and selfish."



He then turned to his parents sitting behind him and wept as he apologized to them. His parents adopted him from South Korea and raised him in the small town of Mexico in upstate New York.



Martin, a 22-year-old reservist, was officially assigned to the Expeditionary Combat Readiness Center at Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek in Virginia Beach. Until Friday, he was a petty officer second class working as an intelligence specialist.



Last fall, he was at Fort Bragg getting ready to deploy to Afghanistan. Military prosecutors would not reveal to whom Martin initially reached out or how he connected with the undercover agent.



In the first surveillance video, Martin tells the undercover agent that his personal finances "haven't worked out" and that he needed "long-term" extra income. He also said he was engaged.



In that first meeting, Martin offered secret and top secret documents and images on Afghanistan and the Taliban, North Korea, Russia and China, even asking whether there was a difference in compensation between information on Afghanistan and China.



"I know exactly what I'm getting into," Martin said. Martin received $500 from the agent that day.



"If you can do what you say you can do, you will not be poor," the agent told Martin. "I'm very happy that you called."

Security Expert's Special Forces Record Questioned

From Military.com:


Security Expert’s SF Record Questioned





May 24, 2011

Military.com
by Bryant Jordan

Jess "Skip" Hall, founder of a Birmingham, Ala.-based security and training company called "Hollow Point," doesn't mince words about wanna-bes who pretend to be more than they are. He uses the language of a former Green Beret and Vietnam combat veteran.



"There are many fakes and so-called experts in everything today," he says in the opening page to his blog, "starting [with] the individual in the White House."



On his website, Hall lists a number of qualifications and experiences beneath his photo, including "5th SF SOG A Team Leader, Vietnam." Another page includes an image of an "unofficial" 5th SOG patch from Vietnam -- a skull wearing a Green Beret -- and beneath it reads: "Skip Hall's Unit Patch."



But there's a problem with Hall's apparent outrage over phonies: He might be one too.



A retired Green Beret says Hall's Special Forces and Vietnam combat claims do not check out.















"He was a clerk typist and he spent all his time in Korea," said Jeff "JD" Hinton, who routinely ferrets out and exposes phony war heroes on his website, ProfessionalSoldiers.com. "He never went to Vietnam."





Hall's military records, copies of which he provided to Military.com, show he was initially trained as a repairman for crypto equipment at Fort Monmouth, N.J., in 1966. Some months later, he was reassigned to Fort Dix, N.J., and trained as a clerk typist.



Hall did not respond to Military.com's requests for an interview or comment. As of late Monday afternoon, his blog page and the Hollow Point website were down. A message on the Hollow Point page stated it was removed because information had been added to the site without Hall's approval.



"We express our appoligies [sic] for any misinformation this may have caused. Mr. Hall does not represent anyone in the military and makes no representation that he was previously affiliated or part of the U.S. Army, Special Forces or any other organization or agency."



In addition to Vietnam and Korea, Hall also claims to have served in the Middle East, to have worked as a Defense Department contractor, and that -- at 63 -- he was the world's oldest Mixed Martial Arts fighter.



And he was the oldest fighter until 71-year-old Dr. John J. "Gray Wolf" Williams came on the scene a few years ago.



At the time Hall retired from mixed martial arts in March 2008, he was profiled by NBC Sports writer Mike Chiappetta who mentioned Hall's combat experience. It was that article that put Hinton on the hunt for Hall's official records.



"One of our own [veterans] found him, actually found the article from MSNBC, and that started the ball rolling," Hinton said. "We've been looking into his past and did the FOIA [Freedom of Information Act request] and it came back with 'Clerk Typist' " for his Army job.



Hinton offers no opinion on any of the other achievements that Hall claims; he only cares about is Hall's claims regarding the Special Forces and combat in Vietnam.



Hinton, who retired from Army Special Forces as a master sergeant, uses official sources and personal connections in the Special Forces community to uncover phonies. Late last year, he exposed William G. Hillar, an instructor at the Monterey Institute of International Studies and widely known expert in human trafficking, as a fraud. Hillar had claimed to be a retired Army Special Forces colonel.



Hillar pleaded guilty in March to a charge of lying about his military background and experience on his application for work at the University of Oregon. He could get 20 years in jail when he returns to court for sentencing in July.

23% Of Disability Claims Processed Incorrectly

From Military.com:

23% of Disability Claims Processed Incorrectly




May 21, 2011 • Ben Krause





In a recent audit of the VA Dis­abil­ity Com­pen­sa­tion Sys­tem at 16 Regional Offices, the VA Office of the Inspec­tor Gen­eral esti­mates that the rat­ing staff incor­rectly processed 23 per­cent of the 45,000 claims inspected.



The IG inves­ti­gated offices through­out the US and focused mainly on the han­dling of the fol­low­ing five types of claims: 1) extra-schedular 100 per­cent dis­abil­ity eval­u­a­tions (TDIU), 2) PTSD, 3) TBI, 4) Her­bi­cide Expo­sure, and 5) Haas (Haas v Nichol­son: “blue water” claims from Viet­nam Agent Orange expo­sure). The processes eval­u­ated ranged from mail han­dling to actual dis­abil­ity per­cent­age awards.



Of the 16 Regional Offices, Bal­ti­more, MD and Anchor­age, AK scored the low­est in com­pli­ance with VA stan­dards. Both failed to meet 14 of the 15 process require­ments. Extended man­age­ment vacan­cies were cited as one of the link­ing fac­tors between all poorly per­form­ing Regional Offices. Because of the vacan­cies, these offices lacked con­ti­nu­ity and proper over­sight. As a result, pro­ce­dures were not devel­oped or imple­mented to cor­rect pre­vi­ously iden­ti­fied prob­lems.











The Haas vs. Nichol­son claims had the high­est rate of error. In Jan­u­ary, the VA released a report claim­ing the TDIU errors would have resulted in an over­pay­ment of over $1.1 bil­lion by 2016. While this may be true, the VA made no effort to project the amount of dol­lars not paid to incor­rectly denied vet­er­ans who would oth­er­wise have qual­i­fied. It’s quite pos­si­ble that this amount might be much higher in the other direc­tion.



Mean­while, at 83 per­cent of the Regional Offices, Haas claims had a higher instance of the VA fail­ing to fol­low VA pol­icy (5 of 6 sur­veyed failed the stan­dard). Haas claims involve vet­er­ans who were likely exposed to Agent Orange but never set foot in Viet­nam. Prior to the 2006 Haas v Nichol­son deci­sion, mainly vet­er­ans who set foot on Viet­namese soil or road on craft up rivers in Viet­nam were enti­tled to the pre­sump­tion of expo­sure. Now, the VA is still attempt­ing to catch up to the claims back­log that was caused by the VA appeal of that 2006 deci­sion. In 2009, the deci­sion for Haas was upheld and the VA has since strug­gled to main­tain con­ti­nu­ity between offices in how the back­logged claims are processed. The report stated some of these claims were incor­rectly denied after the ini­tial Haas deci­sion was upheld.



Vet­er­ans receiv­ing denials or low-ball rat­ings within the past year for any dis­abil­ity rat­ings may want to con­sider imme­di­ately look­ing over their deci­sion and request a copy of their VA claim file. If the time passed since the deci­sion is close to the 12-month appeal dead­line, con­tact your Vet­eran Ser­vice Offi­cer to dis­cuss the pos­si­bil­ity of appeal­ing it, if war­ranted. There are both “for pay” and Pro Bono VSO’s. I sug­gest talk­ing to the Pro Bono peo­ple first. Try to find one you trust who will han­dle your claim in a pro­fes­sional man­ner.



Vet­er­ans already denied at the Board of Appeals review may want to con­sider speak­ing with a Vet­er­ans Law Attor­ney in their area, since VSO’s can­not rep­re­sent vet­er­ans before the US Court of Appeals for Vet­er­ans Claims. Two resources worth look­ing at are the National Orga­ni­za­tion of Vet­er­ans Advo­cates (NOVA) and National Vet­er­ans Legal Ser­vices Pro­gram (NVLS). There are many other attor­neys out there as well. A sim­ple Google search could ren­der qual­ity results as well. Just be sure the lawyer is accred­ited by the Depart­ment of Vet­er­ans Affairs. Of course, con­fi­dent vet­er­ans can always opt to rep­re­sent them­selves Pro Se before the court, as well.





Read more: http://militaryadvantage.military.com/2011/05/va-audit-23-percent-of-disability-claims-incorrectly-processed/#ixzz1NJjPN4HO

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