Originally posted at the Examiner - By Kerry Patton
America is filled with an unprecedented amount of patriots willing to selflessly sacrifice everything they have to protect and defend this great nation. However, many combat veterans have felt betrayed by America’s leaders starting at military command levels all the way up to the White House. Yesterday, the Marine Corp Times disclosed at least one combat veteran’s distrust and anger toward America’s leadership–Medal of Honor recipient Dakota Meyer.
In his new book, Into the Fire:A Firsthand Account of the Most Extraordinary Battle in the Afghan War, Myers blasted military leadership as he revealed betrayal and leaderless managers within the ranks. In at least one account, he explains how military leadership refused artillery support to troops engaged in a fierce battle against the enemy which left many American troops killed in Afghanistan.
Video: Vets feel abandoned after secret drug experiments
Military leaders have placed too many constraints on our warriors. They have implemented rules of engagement that only make sense to those working behind closed doors. But those very leaders, in coordination with our elected officials, have also neglected the American warrior on another front that is far away from the battlefield–home. In fact, some may argue that the neglect and abandonment can be construed as a form of genocide.
The secret American genocide against US service members is nothing new though. It has been going on for many years yet too few are actually taking a stand to stop the madness. Today, its time some truths are exposed.
Dakota Meyer - Medal of Honor recipient.
According to a 2012 CNN March report, between 1955 -1975, more than 7,000 service members were exposed to at least 250 different chemical and biological agents at the US Army Edgewood Arsenal in Maryland as part of a secret military experiment. These troops were used as guinea pigs—psychologically and physically destroyed.
While the Edgewood Arsenal experiment was exposed and shut down for obvious ethical reasons, the US military found alternative means to continue the destruction of our service members. To understand this, one only needs to observe some numbers stemming from the first Gulf War.
During the first Gulf War, the United States sent approximately 900,000 service members to the Middle East. As of 1996, the Veterans Administration estimated that approximately 489,000 of those Gulf War veterans received medical care at their facilities—more than half of those sent abroad. More alarming is the fact that an estimated 10,000-12,000 Gulf War veterans have died in a one year period since the end of the war in 1995 to 1996. These statistics come from multiple references which include the Department of Veteran’s Affairs.
Our service members are not the only ones who have suffered from the secret American genocide. Service member’s families have been targeted as well. In 1995, Life Magazine published an article titled, THE TINY VICTIMS OF DESERT STORM – Has Our Country Abandoned Them? The article covers an alarming crisis which entails a plethora of ailments among service member’s new born children.
“The federal Centers for Disease Control (CDC) confirmed that Gulf vets were unusually susceptible to a dozen ailments–from rashes to incontinence, hair loss to memory loss, chronic indigestion to chronic pain. But in August a Pentagon study concluded that neither the vets nor their loved ones showed signs of any ‘new or unique illness.’ Veterans’ advocates disputed that finding, as did the National Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Medicine, which declared that the report’s ‘reasoning . . . is not well explained.’ And while there is, as yet, no absolute proof that Gulf vets’ babies are especially prone to congenital problems, patterns of defects have begun to emerge–patterns unlikely to result from chance alone.” (Life. 1995)
The first Gulf War should be construed no differently than the ongoing war in Afghanistan and the recent debacle in Iraq. As noted in a previous article written, Who will stop the American Veteran suicide epidemic, the psyche of our service members has been crippled to the point that suicide among the ranks is overwhelming. Yet our leaders still believe they have no clue why?
One reason for these self-induced atrocities among service members can be linked to drugs they are prescribed. Mefloquin, commonly known as Lariam, an incredibly controversial anti-malaria drug, was developed by the US Army. It was then licensed to Hoffman-Roche for world-wide distribution. The drug subsequently came under scrutiny when American, Canadian, and Australian service members who took it in Somalia and during the Global War on Terror displayed dangerous neuropsychiatric side effects linked to using it.
“Mefloquine is a zombie drug. It’s dangerous, and it should have been killed off years ago,” said Dr. Remington Nevin, an epidemiologist and Army major who has published research that he said showed the drug can be potentially toxic to the brain. Great! So we now know that US service members are prescribed neuro-toxins! So what are some of the side effects coming from the drugs issued to PTSD and TBI victims?
While a lot of this sounds like one major conspiracy theory, it is not. Our service members have been used and abused and more importantly, they have been seriously mismanaged. Not only has the United States killed our own brave warriors, American leaders have pushed them to the point that they are now killing themselves.
When less than 75% of all children residing inside the United States have been deemed unfit for military service, as Fox News reported in 2009, we have a problem. But we have a greater problem considering the large majority of our volunteer force is made up of generational volunteers. Take into consideration the amount of children who come from military families who would love nothing more than follow the footsteps of their parents and grandparents who fulfilled uniformed service. How many of them are also unfit for duty?
The current wars fought in Afghanistan, throughout the Middle East, and Africa has placed a serious mental strain on our service member’s children. In fact, more than 2 million American children have had a parent deploy to Iraq or Afghanistan. Over 4,300 children have lost a parent in Iraq or Afghanistan. At least 19,000 children have had a parent wounded in action. Of these numbers, it is apparent that mental health among our service member’s children has become strained.
Between 2003 and 2008, outpatient mental health visits provided to children of active duty parents doubled from 1 million to 2 million, according to a Army Times article Military Children Seeking Mental Care written in 2009. How many of them will be capable in obtaining a security clearances in the future once they check the box on that dreaded SF 86 or E-Qip claiming they once sought psychological treatment?
During a time when the federal government is seeking to reduce the deficit, they have implemented more and more reductions in federal funds to veteran needs which assist America’s secret genocide against our nation’s defenders.
President Obama’s new medical proposal seeks to save $1.8 billion from the Tricare medical system in the fiscal 2013 budget and $12.9 billion by 2017, the latter amount adding up to 0.99% of the $1.3 trillion deficit for a single year built into Obama’s proposed budget.
To accomplish this spending reduction, service members should expect a 30% to 78% increase in Tricare annual premiums for the first year. In five years, service members will expect an increase ranging from 94% to 345%.So now, veterans who need medical and psychological support will face an economic burden in which they won’t be able to afford.
Dakota Meyer has every right to be furious over military leaders and even those politically elected who have utterly neglected and abandoned US service members and veterans. They have done everything in their power to ensure the veteran does not survive—some would call this genocide.
Kerry Patton, a combat disabled veteran, is the author of Sociocultural Intelligence: A New Discipline in Intelligence Studies (Continuum Intelligence Studies) and the children’s book American Patriotism. You can follow him on Facebook or at www.kerry-patton.com.
Related:
Psychiatry as a weapon to silence religious and political opposition
Plus: Judge Orders Release of Brandon Raub, Detained Marine Veteran is Released
The Psychotics in Power Are Calling Us Mentally ILL - by Dr. Laurie Roth
Story of Reichstag Fire and summary of 3 incidents of veterans in this situation - Pro Libertate: 'This Isn't America' -- You Can't Say That Here
