Sep 3, VCS Weekly Update: VA Lawsuit Featured on Cover of The Nation Magazine

VCS Lawsuit Featured on Cover of The Nation Magazine; VCS Sets Goal to Raise $20,000 by December 31, 2008

Your VCS weekly update this week focuses on the surging unmet needs of our veterans. The surge in Iraq caused a surge in unreported casualties flooding home.

In our most important news, VCS proudly shares a front page national magazine article about our lawsuit to reform the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Before we discuss the magazine article, here are three quick news items that took place during a week that featured four tropical storms and unusual developments in the Presidential campaigns.

First, Senator John McCain announced that Alaska Governor Sarah Palin would be his vice presidential running mate. Top Presidential scholars found her to be the least experiened candidate in history. Second, in a new video a former Vietnam War Prisoner of War asserts that Senator McCain “is not cut out to be President.” And, third, two leading veterans’ groups hammered the Pentagon for betraying our disabled veterans. The military’s failures reveal a lot about an Administration out of touch when it comes to taking care of fellow citizens who defend our Constitution.

The most important news this week remains our continuing VCS efforts to publicize the needs of our veterans so that VA, the Courts and Congress will meet those needs. Our landmark lawsuit against VA was the subject of a cover article by The Nation magazine. The headline hits the target: “How VA Abandons Our Veterans: Denying Care, Delaying Benefits, and Deceiving the Public.”

The article portrays the plight of Army Sergeant Juan Jimenez and his fight against an Administration that went to war without a plan for caring for hundreds of thousads of casualties. Reporter Joshua Kors at The Nation magazine wrote, “The sergeant [Jimenez] is a member of Veterans for Common Sense (VCS), one of the most prominent veterans’ groups in the country. In July 2007, executive director Paul Sullivan filed a class-action lawsuit on behalf of Jimenez and the thousands of veterans in his organization who were wounded in Iraq and, he says, were rebuffed by the VA when they sought disability and medical benefits.”

VCS thanks Iraq War veteran Juan Jimenez and investigative reporter Joshua Kors for an outstanding article. Please share The Nation article with your friends so that we keep the needs and concerns of our veterans front and center during the 2008 election. Our lawsuit remains on appeal in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in California.

Here are three recently revealed facts you will only find at VCS. First, a new VA healthcare use report confirms nearly 350,000 U.S. casualties from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars already received treatment at VA hospitals, including nearly 150,000 for mental health conditions. Share this fact with legislators, reporters, and friends who want to know about the human costs of the two wars.

A second VA report shows how VA’s Vet Centers provided critical readjustment assistance to more than 300,000 Iraq and Afghanistan combat veterans. This shows the surging mental healthcare needs of our returning veterans. VCS salutes VA’s Vet Ceners for expanding quickly to meet demand.

A third VA report shows the results of medical screening of patients for military sexual assault (rape). Although the percentage of women who screened positive was far higher than men (22.2{cd9ac3671b356cd86fdb96f1eda7eb3bb1367f54cff58cc36abbd73c33c82e1d} v. 1.3{cd9ac3671b356cd86fdb96f1eda7eb3bb1367f54cff58cc36abbd73c33c82e1d}), the number of men nationwide was higher than women (48,000 v. 46,000). Rape in the military is a serious problem that must be fixed soon.

Our VCS daily news, our VCS weekly updates, our VCS publicity, and our VCS advocacy are possible only because of the generosity of members like you. VCS needs $20,000 to reach our on-line donation goal for the rest of the year. Please start a monthly tax-deductible donation to VCS today.

Thank you!

Paul Sullivan
Executive Director
Veterans for Common Sense

VCS provides advocacy and publicity for issues related to veterans, national security, and civil liberties. VCS is registered with the IRS as a non-profit 501(c)(3) charity, and donations are tax deductible.