Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Report: Troops, vets to get checked for chemical exposure in Iraq
Stars and Stripes ^ | Oct 30, 2014

Posted on 10/30/2014 9:32:14 PM PDT by Jet Jaguar

The Pentagon will offer medical examinations and long-term health monitoring to servicemembers and veterans exposed to chemical warfare agents in Iraq as part of a review of how the military handled encounters with chemical munitions during the American occupation, The New York Times reported Wednesday.

An Oct. 15 Times story found that while the United States had gone to war looking for an active weapons of mass destruction program, troops instead quietly found and suffered from the remnants of the long abandoned arsenal.

Since that article, which detailed instances of exposure that the military kept secret in some cases for nearly a decade, more veterans and servicemembers have come forward, the Times reported. To date, neither the Pentagon nor any of the services have released a full list of chemical weapons recoveries and exposures.

The Times found that the military did not follow its own guidelines in the initial care of many patients, and did not establish a means for tracking their health, as guidelines also required.

In response, two senior Army doctors said in interviews this week that new medical examinations for troops and veterans who were exposed to chemical munitions would begin in early 2015. The Navy too has announced it will ramp up care.

Maj. Gen. Gary Cheek, deputy commanding general for Army operations, said the accounts of poor medical care and follow-up were disturbing. “I am not going to try to excuse it,” he said.

But he defended the classification of chemical-weapons incidents, telling the Times that the military did not want to provide information to insurgents that Iraq’s old chemical munitions “could be effective.”

Rear Adm. John Kirby, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel’s spokesman, suggested that position is under review. “The secretary obviously remains committed to preserving operational security but also recognizes the value in making available as much information as possible to veterans preparing — or continuing to file — VA claims,” he said.

The new accounts increase to at least 25 the number of U.S. troops exposed to chemical agents.

The latest accounts mostly fit a familiar pattern, the Times wrote. They include two Army bomb disposal technicians who picked up a mustard shell at a roadside bombing in 2004; two Navy disposal technicians who handled mustard shells in 2006 and 2007; and members of an Army infantry platoon who said they were denied decontamination and swift medical evaluation after inhaling mustard vapors in 2008, when soldiers were destroying a buried chemical-munitions stockpile.

The accounts of still other troops and veterans suggest there were more instances of exposure, and that there could be a larger number of exposed veterans than the services have acknowledged or perhaps even know about, according to the report.

Jonathan Martin, a former Marine who was exposed to mustard agent and whose exposure was confirmed by the Marine Corps, told the Times that when he tried to tell the Department of Veterans Affairs about his exposure he had been doubted. “It would be nice,” he said, “to get some recognition that this actually happened.”


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Front Page News
KEYWORDS: 2004; 2006; 2008; 201410; 20141015; chuckhagel; hagel; iraq; iraqiwmd; jnathanmartin; johnkirby; kirby; litigation; martin; mustard; mustardgas; nytimes; wmd
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-27 next last

1 posted on 10/30/2014 9:32:14 PM PDT by Jet Jaguar
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: blueyon; KitJ; T Minus Four; xzins; CMS; The Sailor; ab01; txradioguy; Jet Jaguar; Defender2; ...

Active Duty/Retiree ping.


2 posted on 10/30/2014 9:33:10 PM PDT by Jet Jaguar (Resist in place.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Jet Jaguar

bttt


3 posted on 10/30/2014 10:07:25 PM PDT by BenLurkin (This is not a statement of fact. It is either opinion or satire; or both.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Jet Jaguar

Isn’t that an admission that there were chemical weapons there but, we concealed that fact, for operational and security reasons?


4 posted on 10/30/2014 10:12:33 PM PDT by Vendome (Don't take life so seriously-you won't live through it anyway-Enjoy Yourself ala Louis Prima)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Vendome

Simply. Yes.


5 posted on 10/30/2014 10:13:18 PM PDT by Jet Jaguar (Resist in place.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: Jet Jaguar

Wonder if this has anything to do with the looney Dr Meryl Nass who went on a rampage trying to [falsely] charge a bioweapons researcher back in the Amerithrax investigations after 9/11... she was big into Gulf War Syndrome and the far left.


6 posted on 10/30/2014 10:52:18 PM PDT by piasa (Attitude adjustments offered here free of charge)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Vendome

Pretty much.


7 posted on 10/30/2014 10:54:29 PM PDT by piasa (Attitude adjustments offered here free of charge)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: Vendome

They were concealed for political reasons. No one is really sure why.


8 posted on 10/31/2014 1:47:43 AM PDT by driftdiver (I could eat it raw, but why do that when I have a fire.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: Jet Jaguar

The photo is of impact fuses. Doesn’t tell us much.


9 posted on 10/31/2014 4:11:34 AM PDT by SargeK
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Jet Jaguar

“Bush Lied”

sarc


10 posted on 10/31/2014 5:14:02 AM PDT by silverleaf (Age takes a toll: Please have exact change)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: driftdiver

Karl Rove


11 posted on 10/31/2014 5:14:27 AM PDT by silverleaf (Age takes a toll: Please have exact change)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: driftdiver
No one is really sure why.

Not revealing the presence of WMDs was intentional or it was accidental.

It was with good reasons or it was with spurious reasons.

I vote for intentional and spurious.

12 posted on 10/31/2014 5:25:02 AM PDT by xzins ( Retired Army Chaplain and Proud of It! Those who truly support our troops pray for victory!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: Jet Jaguar

My understanding is that Saddam did not color-code his munitions. Hence, the Incident at Kamisayah in ‘91 and no doubt others (smaller ones) in later years involving detonation of individual projectiles as opposed to massive storage facilities.


13 posted on 10/31/2014 5:56:14 AM PDT by donozark (I may not have always saw the Phantoms. But I sure as hell heard their bombs!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: xzins

There was a deliberate decision to coverup the WMDs. This wasn’t for operational reasons. The Iraqi’s knew what they had, the troops knew what they had, our enemy knew what was there. Only the public didn’t know for sure.

To deny medical care for troops exposed to these weapons for political reasons was and is criminal.


14 posted on 10/31/2014 6:15:26 AM PDT by driftdiver (I could eat it raw, but why do that when I have a fire.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: Jet Jaguar

“Clearly, there were no weapons of mass destruction.” or “We know now there was no WMD.” “There is indisputable evidence of global warming.” Anytime a Democrat speaks with certainty, you should hold the opposite opinion. Furthermore, you should know that they’re lying and that they know they’re lying.


15 posted on 10/31/2014 6:59:40 AM PDT by demshateGod (The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: AdmSmith; AnonymousConservative; Berosus; bigheadfred; Bockscar; cardinal4; ColdOne; ...

> as part of a review of how the military handled encounters with chemical munitions during the American occupation...

Not Iraqi Freedom, “American occupation”. The source of this is Stars and Stripes.


16 posted on 10/31/2014 8:15:31 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: Vendome

The media is trying to spin this as “Bush lied, there were no weapons program, but there were old shells from the 80s that used European made US designed shells, and that is the cover up”


17 posted on 10/31/2014 12:20:32 PM PDT by lavaroise (A well regulated gun being necessary to the state, the rights of the militia shall not be infringed)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: xzins

I think the leftist blackmail is that there were no current visible program backed by rogue states, but “old” shells from a previous program that is spun out to be German backed with US design.

However project Sarindar was a Russian assistance of Saddam in erasing all traces of Russian production by sending the stuff to Syria...

This jumping on veterans is about a cover up in order to hide another cover up.


18 posted on 10/31/2014 12:23:53 PM PDT by lavaroise (A well regulated gun being necessary to the state, the rights of the militia shall not be infringed)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: Jet Jaguar

I will probably see this on ABC, NBC, and CBS nightly news tonight. Probably read it on the front page of the NY Times tomorrow too. I am going to flip it over to CNN and see if they have the story on right now.

For those who think I am serious. I am not.


19 posted on 10/31/2014 1:28:59 PM PDT by do the dhue (WARNING: this site is not liable for the things I say)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SunkenCiv

Good catch, I’m so used to reading libeal cap I barely notice it anymore!


20 posted on 10/31/2014 6:44:33 PM PDT by piasa (Attitude adjustments offered here free of charge)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-27 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson