Guantanamo Prosecutor Who Quit Had ‘Grave Misgivings’ About Fairness

Posted on October 14, 2008 by Team VCS

October 12, 2008 – Darrel J. Vandeveld was in despair. The hard-nosed lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserve, a self-described conformist praised by his superiors for his bravery in Iraq, had lost faith in the Guantanamo Bay war crimes tribunals in which he was a prosecutor.

His work was top secret, making it impossible to talk to family or friends. So the devout Catholic — working away from home — contacted a priest online.

Even if he had no doubt about the guilt of the accused, he wrote in an August e-mail, “I am beginning to have grave misgivings about what I am doing, and what we are doing as a country. . . .

“I no longer want to participate in the system, but I lack the courage to quit. I am married, with children, and not only will they suffer, I’ll lose a lot of friends.”

Two days later, he took the unusual step of reaching out for advice from his opposing counsel, a military defense lawyer.

“How do I get myself out of this office?” Vandeveld asked Major David J.R. Frakt of the Air Force Reserve, who represented the young Afghan Vandeveld was prosecuting for an attack on U.S. soldiers — despite Vandeveld’s doubts about whether Mohammed Jawad would get a fair trial. Vandeveld said he was seeking a “practical way of extricating myself from this mess.”

Last month, Vandeveld did just that, resigning from the Jawad case, the military commissions overall and, ultimately, active military duty. In doing so, he has become even more of a central figure in the “mess” he considers Guantanamo to be.

Vandeveld is at least the fourth prosecutor to resign under protest. Questions about the fairness of the tribunals have been raised by the very people charged with conducting them, according to legal experts, human rights observers and current and former military officials.

Vandeveld’s claims are particularly explosive.

In a declaration and subsequent testimony, he said the U.S. government was not providing defense lawyers with the evidence it had against their clients, including exculpatory information — material considered helpful to the defense.

Saying that the accused enemy combatants were more likely to be wrongly convicted without that evidence, Vandeveld testified that he went from being a “true believer to someone who felt truly deceived” by the tribunals. The system in place at the U.S. military facility in Cuba, he wrote in his declaration, was so dysfunctional that it deprived “the accused of basic due process and subject[ed] the well-intentioned prosecutor to claims of ethical misconduct.”

Army Col. Lawrence J. Morris, the chief prosecutor and Vandeveld’s boss, said the Office of Military Commissions provides “every scrap of paper and information” to the defense. Morris said that Vandeveld was disgruntled because his commanding officers disagreed with some of his legal tactics and that he “never once” raised substantive concerns.

Morris said last week that he had no idea why Vandeveld had become so antagonistic toward the tribunal process, adding that the lieutenant colonel’s outspokenness angered him because it was unfair and was a “broad blast at some very ethical and hardworking people whose performances are being smudged groundlessly.”

Vandeveld, who was prosecuting seven tribunal cases — nearly a third of pending cases — has declined to be interviewed about the particulars of the Jawad case. But he did engage in a series of e-mails with The Times about his general concerns, before being “reminded” last week that he could not talk to the press until his release from active duty was final. In the future, he said, he plans to speak out.

“I don’t know how else the creeping rot of the commissions and the politics that fostered and continued to surround them could be exposed to the curative powers of the sunlight,” he said. “I care not for myself; our enemies deserve nothing less than what we would expect from them were the situations reversed. More than anything, I hope we can rediscover some of our American values.”

Some tribunal defense lawyers are preparing to call Vandeveld as a witness, saying that his claims of systemic problems at Guantanamo, if true, could alter the outcome of every pending case there — and force the turnover of long-sought information on coercive interrogation tactics and other controversial measures used against their clients in the war on terrorism.

For years, defense lawyers and human rights organizations have raised similar concerns in individual cases. “But we never had anyone on the inside who could validate those claims,” said Michael J. Berrigan, the deputy chief defense counsel for the commissions.

Before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Vandeveld led a relatively placid life outside Erie, Pa., with his wife and four children. He worked as a senior deputy state attorney general in charge of consumer protection in the region, and he served on his local school board in Millcreek Township.

Anyone who knows him, Vandeveld, 48, told The Times, “will probably tell you that I’ve been a conformist my entire life, and [that] to speak out against the injustice wrought upon our worst enemies entailed a weather shift in my worldview.”

Mark Tanenbaum, an English teacher whose children are friends with Vandeveld’s, remembers talking to him while sitting around campfires at high school gatherings. “We talked a lot about religion. I’m Jewish. We’d talk about faith, value-based philosophy. We were kindred spirits in this.

“With him, it is all about doing the right thing.”

Vandeveld, called to active duty after 9/11, received glowing evaluations as a Pentagon legal advisor and judge advocate in Bosnia, the Horn of Africa and Iraq. “An absolutely outstanding, first-class performance by an extraordinarily gifted, intelligent, knowledgeable and experienced judge advocate, whose potential is utterly unlimited,” his commanding officer, Gen. Charles J. Barr, wrote in his June 2006 evaluation. “One of the corps’ best and brightest. Save the very toughest jobs in the corps for him.”

From his Iraq assignment, Vandeveld went to Guantanamo, where he began locking horns over the Jawad case with Frakt — a law professor at Western State University in Fullerton and a former active-duty Air Force lawyer who volunteered for the tribunals.

Frakt believed that his Afghan client was, at worst, a confused teen who had been brainwashed and drugged by militant extremists who coerced him into participating in a grenade-throwing incident with other older — and more guilty — men. He insisted that the prosecution was withholding key information or not obtaining it from those at the Pentagon, CIA and other U.S. agencies that had investigated and interrogated Jawad.

Vandeveld believed that Jawad was a war criminal who had been taught by an Al Qaeda-linked group to kill American troops and, if caught, to make up claims he had been tortured and was underage. Vandeveld insisted that he had been providing all evidence to the defense.

But by July, Vandeveld told The Times, he had grown increasingly troubled. He kept finding sources of information and documents that appeared to bolster Frakt’s claims that evidence was being withheld — including some favorable to the defense, such as information suggesting that Jawad was underage, that he had been drugged before the incident and that he had been abused by U.S. forces afterward.

Vandeveld also was having difficulty obtaining authorization to release documents in his possession to the defense.

On Aug. 5, he e-mailed Father John Dear, a well-known Jesuit peace activist. Dear, who boasts of being arrested 75 times in protests, encouraged him to act, saying he might “save lives and change the direction of the entire policy.”

With Frakt pressing for the charges against Jawad to be dismissed due to “outrageous government misconduct,” Vandeveld proposed a plea agreement under which Jawad, now thought to be 22, could return to Afghanistan for rehabilitation. But his superiors rejected it, Vandeveld said.

By late August, he had told Frakt that there were other “disquieting” things about Guantanamo and that his superiors were refusing to address them or to let him quietly transfer out, Frakt said in an interview.

“Now might be a good time to take a courageous stand and expose some of the ‘disquieting’ things that you have alluded to, whatever they may be,” Frakt replied in a Sept. 2 e-mail, noting that there would soon be a change of administrations in Washington.

“It wouldn’t be a bad idea to distance yourself from a process that has become largely discredited, or at least distinguish yourself as one of the good guys, an ethical prosecutor trying to do the right thing,” Frakt wrote.

On Sept. 9, Vandeveld e-mailed Dear to say he had resigned from the Guantanamo military tribunals: “The reaction was the expected outrage and condemnation. I have and will maintain my equanimity and, while scared for me and for my family, know that Christ will watch over me.”

That, however, was only the beginning. In late September — after the military, according to Frakt, initially tried to block it — Vandeveld testified by video link for the defense, saying he believed that insurmountable problems with the tribunals might make them incapable of meting out justice fairly.

Morris said that Vandeveld is not qualified to speak about systemwide problems at Guantanamo. But Frakt said that he is and that Vandeveld’s testimony and declaration only scratched the surface of his concerns, judging by their extensive conversations and hundreds of e-mail exchanges.

“There is a lot more that he knows,” Frakt said.

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Oct 10, Update: Senator Cornyn Seeking Probe Into Army Recruiter Suicides in Houston, Texas Area

Posted on October 10, 2008 by Team VCS

October 10, 2008 – U.S. Sen. John Cornyn on Thursday called for an independent probe into a string of suicides among Houston-based Army recruiters, citing “very troubling” allegations that the chain of command interfered with official investigations in order to cover up a toxic leadership climate and low morale.

The Houston battalion has lost five recruiters to suicide since 2001, including two in the past two months.

Cornyn, a member of the Senate Committee on Armed Services, detailed his concerns in a letter sent Thursday to Secretary of the Army Pete Geren.

In the letter, the Republican senator said he recently heard from numerous Army recruiters and their family members who claim to have direct knowledge of “serious problems” within the Houston battalion. They told Cornyn that certain leaders in the battalion have attempted to block investigating officers from meeting with material witnesses and “strongly suggested” to subordinate officers that they should avoid portraying the chain of command in an unfavorable light, even if it meant lying in their statements to authorities.

“These allegations, if true, point to criminal misconduct punishable under the Uniform Code of Military Justice,” Cornyn wrote. “In addition, such actions would absolutely undermine and call into question the findings and conclusions of these investigations. Should these claims be substantiated, the relevant individuals must be held fully accountable for their misconduct and the resultant problems with the Houston Recruiting Battalion.”

Cornyn said the constituents who contacted him also accused the battalion’s senior leadership of “improper and unprofessional” practices such as mass punishment, organized hazing, and confrontational “counseling sessions,” in which recruiters who fail to fill their monthly quotas are insulted and threatened with being kicked out of the Army.

‘Cultural disconnect’

The senator said he’s particularly disturbed by reports of unreasonably long work hours and seven-day weeks that have “constrained recruiters’ family time and stressed their marriages.”

Cornyn asked Geren to appoint an outside investigator to review the allegations and requested a copy of the report.

The senator said he also is concerned about a “cultural disconnect” between detailed recruiters, who are assigned to recruiting duty, and permanent recruiters, who choose recruiting as their military career specialty. Permanent recruiters are non-deployable, Cornyn said, and might have trouble relating to detailed recruiters under their command, many of whom recently served in Iraq and Afghanistan.

He said efforts to encourage permanent recruiters to volunteer for deployment don’t go far enough, and suggested the Army reconsider its policy of granting permanent recruiters non-deployable status.

A spokesman for Geren’s office, Lt. Colonel David Patterson Jr., said he would be unable to respond to written questions about Cornyn’s letter before today. U.S. Army Recruiting Command and the Houston Recruiting Battalion declined to comment.

The battalion’s three most recent suicides all occurred within the past year and a half.

Sgt. 1st Class Patrick Henderson, 35, hanged himself in a shed behind his house on Sept. 20. He died six weeks after another recruiter, Staff Sgt. Larry Flores Jr., 26, hanged himself in his garage.

Suicides on the rise
Henderson, an Iraq veteran, worked at a station in Longview. Flores, who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, was station commander in Nacogdoches. Both men belonged to the battalion’s Tyler Company.

In March 2007, 25-year-old Sgt. Nils Aron Andersson shot himself to death in a Houston parking garage. Andersson, a two-tour Iraq veteran, was assigned to the Houston battalion’s Rosenberg station.

The recruiters’ deaths come at a time when suicides among all active duty soldiers are on track to set a record for the second year in a row. Last year, 115 soldiers committed suicide. By the end of August this year, 93 soldiers had killed themselves.

For the first time since the Vietnam War, the Army’s suicide rate is expected to exceed that of the general U.S. population, Army officials say.

Amid intensive efforts to reduce overall suicides, however, little attention has so far been paid to the unique pressures facing returning veterans assigned to high-stress noncombat jobs like recruiting.

In the wake of the suicides at the Houston battalion, that could change, veterans advocates say.

“The mental health toll of this war is really high, and especially if they’ve done two tours or more, that’s a recipe for disaster,” said Paul Sullivan, executive director of Veterans for Common Sense.

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GOP Dispatches Vets to Focus on Security

Posted on October 10, 2008 by Team VCS

October 10, 2008, Bangor, Maine – The Republican National Committee was host to a three-stop “Not Ready to Lead” tour through Maine on Thursday, attempting to shift the conversation in the presidential race from the economy to a portrayal of Sen. Barack Obama as inexperienced on national security. The business intercom systems dallas provide the best security system in the Dallas.

“You need to do more than shoot hoops with soldiers,” Gary Bernsten, a retired CIA officer, said Thursday at Sen. John McCain’s headquarters in Bangor. “This should be about what they have done, not what they say they’re going to do.”

Bernsten and Capt. Erik Swabb, an Iraq war veteran, made stops in Portland and Lewiston on Thursday morning before wrapping up the tour in Bangor. Both McCain supporters had strong words about Obama’s foreign policy credentials from his inability to acknowledge the benefits of the surge in Iraq to his position on Afghanistan.

“He talks about ending this misguided war, but what message does that send to troops [in Iraq],” said Swabb, who served with the U.S. Marine Corps in Iraq in 2004-05. “Senator Obama has consistently advocated what is politically expedient.”

Adam Cote, chairman of Maine Veterans for Obama, countered that the Illinois Democrat’s judgment alone will make America more secure.

“He has strong support among veterans in Maine because we need change after the Bush administration’s mismanagement of the Iraq war, underfunding of veterans services, and refusal to use smart, aggressive diplomacy to make our country safer,” said Cote, an Iraq war veteran and one-time Republican. “For eight years, John McCain has marched in lockstep with President Bush, and the last thing we need is four more years of the same.”

Before the recent economic crisis, polls found the race between McCain and Obama to be much closer, in part because of the Arizona senator’s well-known foreign policy credentials. However, as the economy has become the top issue with most voters – Mainers included – polls have shifted in Obama’s favor.

“I understand that the economy is important and I don’t want to diminish it, but a healthy economy is not solely contingent on the president,” Swabb said. “National security is the president’s primary responsibility.”

Cote dismissed the national policy focus as a distraction.

McCain’s campaign has been more aggressive in Maine in recent days, trying to appeal to voters in the 2nd Congressional District, which is typically the more conservative part of the state. Because Maine splits its four electoral votes, McCain could steal one of those if he wins the 2nd District.

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Senator Webb Asks Bush Administration to Stop Propagandizing in Iraq

Posted on October 10, 2008 by Team VCS

October 9, 2008 – A key senator is asking the Pentagon to halt a $300 million program to produce pro-American news and public service messages in Iraq.

Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., a member of the Senate armed services and foreign relations committees, wants the program halted until next year, when a new administration will be running the White House and after the Senate Armed Services Committee can review the proposal that would have civilian contractors produce news stories, entertainment programs and advertisements intended to influence Iraqi citizens’ views about America.

Webb has two basic objections to what the Defense Department is calling its “strategic information” initiative: He does not believe the program and the contracts are getting adequate review, and he thinks there are better uses for the $300 million.

“At a time when this country is facing such a grave economic crisis, and at a time when the government of Iraq now shows at least a $79 billion surplus from recent oil revenues, it makes little sense for the Department of Defense to be spending hundreds of millions of dollars to propagandize the Iraqi people,” Webb said in a statement.

He called the Iraqi government “capable, both politically and financially, of communicating with its own people” and warned that messages paid for by the U.S. might prompt complaints about foreign interference in internal matters.

Webb sent Defense Secretary Robert Gates a letter on Tuesday asking that contracts be “put on hold” and sent another letter to Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., the Senate Armed Services Committee chairman, asking for a committee hearing to be held early next year to take a closer look at the contracts and the program.

There was no immediate response from Gates or Levin.

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Obama Outscored McCain in Veterans’ Group’s Report Card

Posted on October 10, 2008 by Team VCS

October 7, 2008 – Barack Obama outscored his Republican rival, Vietnam veteran John McCain, in a report card issued by an influential, nonpartisan veterans’ group.

The Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA’s) Action Fund gave the Arizona senator a “D” as part of its congressional report card. Obama received a “B” from the group.

McCain is among three senators who scored a “D.” Only one senator, Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), received an “F.”

McCain – a former Navy officer and prisoner of war – and Obama, who has not served, have made military and veterans’ issues central to their campaign as they try to show voters who would be a stronger advocate for those who have fought in two wars in the last seven years.

Much of IAVA’s scoring revolves around legislation to boost education benefits for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, known as the “Post 9/11 GI Bill: Fair Education Benefits for Veterans.” The bill was the brainchild of Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.) and garnered wide sponsorship throughout the upper chamber.

Because of campaigning, McCain missed six votes on the issues the group rated, out of which four were the votes regarding the GI Bill.

The maximum of points for an “A+” in the Senate is 11. McCain received a total of three. IAVA gave two points to those who co-sponsored the GI Bill – its main priority for 2008.

McCain did not sponsor that bill, but sponsored a competing bill with Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Richard Burr (R-N.C). One major aspect of the McCain-sponsored bill was the ability for veterans to transfer educational credits to their spouses and children. Ultimately, the transferability option was included in Webb’s GI overhaul bill. As a result, McCain issued strong support for the bill, but was not present at the final vote.

IAVA did not credit McCain for the bill he sponsored with Graham and Burr because the group opposed it and threw its full support behind Webb’s bill.

“Sen. McCain has been endorsed by 21 past National Commanders of the American Legion, the largest veterans’ organization in America, and the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the largest organization of combat veterans in America,” said Lang Sias, national veterans director on McCain’s campaign. “Sen. McCain is proud of having fought hard to ensure that an extremely high priority for career service members – the freedom to transfer their education benefits to their spouse or their children – was included in the final version of the GI Bill. John McCain made the GI Bill better for military families and veterans.”

Despite being a co-sponsor of the GI Bill, Obama did not score a particularly high mark, but well above McCain. IAVA gave Obama a “B,” or a total of seven points. Obama, who like McCain has been on the campaign trail, missed four votes on issues the group rated. One of those votes was a procedural vote regarding the veterans’ education bill. Obama was present for the other three votes regarding the bill, including final passage.

Obama’s running mate, Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.), also scored a “B.” He missed three votes that coincided with campaigning during the primaries, when Biden himself was a presidential candidate.

“Sen. Obama has a long record of supporting our veterans and honoring the sacred trust with our veterans and military families. The fact that IAVA has recognized his unending support is a great tribute,” said Obama national security spokeswoman Wendy Morigi. “If he is fortunate enough to be elected in November, veterans can rest assured knowing that he will fight for them every day as president.”

“We think attendance is important,” said Paul Rieckhoff, IAVA executive director of the scoring. “Lawmakers have to put the money where their mouth is. You can’t support the troops if you do not vote on the key issues.”

IAVA is officially releasing its congressional report card Tuesday, the same day Obama and McCain are going into another presidential debate. Rieckhoff said the release was planned that way to make veterans’ issues part of Tuesday’s debate, because none of the candidates approached that topic in detail.

“We hope that it lets them know that people are watching and that veterans are watching,” he said in an interview. “Whoever the president is, they have a huge challenge ahead with veterans’ issues. These guys have a chance to turn the page.”

In the Senate scoring, IAVA focused on nine legislative actions: boosting of funding for veterans’ healthcare in 2007 and 2008; more money for Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles, known as MRAPs, for troops fighting in Iraq; expanded veterans’ benefits in 2007; 2008 legislation dealing with adaptive housing for disabled veterans, disability claims processing and education benefits for apprenticeships and on-the-job training; stopping the McCain-sponsored competing GI bill; and three votes on the Webb-sponsored GI Bill.

Among the Senate’s co-sponsors of the education benefits overhaul are several who received an “A+” for their support of veterans. Those members not only co-sponsored the landmark education bill, but also voted in favor of all the other legislation on IAVA’s agenda. Among those who received an “A+” are: Webb, Susan Collins (R-Maine), who is facing a tough reelection campaign, Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Harry Reid (D-Nev.), the Senate majority leader, Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii) and Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.).

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.), a former candidate for president, scored an “A.” So did retiring Sens. John Warner (R-Va.), who was pivotal in negotiations on the GI Bill, and Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.), an original co-sponsor of the bill, as well as Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), Kit Bond (R-Mo.) and Gordon Smith (R-Ore.).

In the House, 249 lawmakers received an “A” or “A+” for voting on 13 bills relating to veterans issues. Many of the freshman and vulnerable Democrats have received an “A+.” Democrats, and particularly the freshmen, have made it a key point to prove that their party is strong on national security. Among those vulnerables receiving an A+ are Reps. Chris Carney (D-Pa.), Patrick Murphy (D-Pa.), Paul Kanjorski (D-Pa.), Carol Shea-Porter (D-N.H.) and Nancy Boyda (D-Kan.). Another Democratic vulnerable, Rep. Nick Lampson (Texas), received a “B.”

Several vulnerable Republican members earned top grades, but many of them have also scored “B’s.” Among them, Reps. Robin Hayes (N.C.), Christopher Shays (Conn.), Randy Kuhl (N.Y.) and Ric Keller (Fla.) stand out with an “A.” Reps. Don Young (R-Alaska) and Marilyn Musgrave (R-Colo.) received a “B,” as did Reps. James Walsh (R-N.Y.) and Steve Chabot (R-Ohio).

Reps. John Campbell (R-Calif.), Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.), John Duncan Jr. (R-Tenn.) and Chris Cannon (R-Utah) scored a “D.” Rep Ron Paul (R-Texas) scored the only “F.”

IAVA has about 105,000 members and makes no political contributions or endorsements.

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Editorial Column: The Surge “Success” Debunked

Posted on October 9, 2008 by Team VCS

October 7, 2008 – Senator John McCain will be speaking a lot about the “Success of the Surge” in the debate tonight, but don’t believe the hype. Here’s why:

1. There was a reduced level of violence in Baghdad prior to “The Surge” due to sectarian cleansing.

Satellite imagery recently collected and examined by experts at UCLA support the views of Refugee International, The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other experts on Iraq that “The Surge” has not been responsible for a reduction in the violence in Iraq.

The central hypothesis of the UCLA study was that a reduction of nighttime light in a given neighborhood means that residents have left or are no longer occupying their dwellings.

UCLA’s study used satellite nighttime light signatures “…to unobtrusively examine whether or not the so-called US military surge in Baghdad may have produced a sustained and increasing level of nighttime light over the period March 2006 through December 2007,”1 said Dr. John Agnew, a UCLA professor of Political Geography and International Political Economy.

Proportion of change in nighttime lights in Baghdad between 20 March 2006 and 16 December 2007 (UCLA Dept. of Geography)

“Furthermore, the nighttime light signature of Baghdad data when matched with ground data provided by the report to the US Congress by Marine Corps General Jones and various other sources, makes it clear that the diminished level of violence in Iraq since the onset of the surge owes much to a vicious process of interethnic cleansing.”2

The following is a brief conversation3 I had with Dr. Agnew:

Montalván: “In a statement you gave to Reuters, you said, ‘By the launch of the surge, many of the targets of conflict had either been killed or fled the country, and they turned off the lights when they left.’ Could you elaborate on that, please?”

Agnew: “Remember, the paper is about the period from before the “surge” started until December 2007. The main point is that the level of violence in Iraq had turned down before the surge began because neighborhoods that were mixed or predominantly Sunni had undergone a massive process of sectarian cleansing by the Shi’a militias. This is what encouraged the Sunni Awakening (in Baghdad) and the Shi’a truce.

“Since December 2007, we can’t say what has happened except that the separation walls have kept the sides apart and Baghdad is now a heavily and overwhelmingly segregated city. If the surge had been the source of the calm, I would have expected to see a massive increase in US casualties as the military fought to overcome armed resistance. The surge was part of a new counterinsurgency tactic to damp down violence.

“In counterinsurgencies you have to go eyeball to eyeball with your adversaries. But in fact during the surge military casualties went down, not up. That the surge coincided with the ending of massive sectarian violence, then, should not be interpreted as the cause of that ending.”

Montalván: “Given the change in light signature in Baghdad, how many people would you approximate are no longer in Baghdad as of October 2008?”

Agnew: “This is hard to say but perhaps a third to one-half of the population of most western and southwestern neighborhoods had cleared out (either because of actual death and injury or threats) in summer/autumn 2006. Our last information is from December 2007, by which time nothing had improved. Since then some people have probably moved in, either original inhabitants returning from exile of elsewhere in Iraq or new inhabitants (typically Shi’a) moving in to ‘abandoned’ dwellings.”

Montalván: “Do you have anything to add to the report, Dr. Agnew?”

Agnew: “Recall that we say nothing in our article that General Jones hadn’t already said in his report to Congress. But Congress preferred to believe General Petraeus (in September 2007) whose maps in the congressional hearing removed the evidence of sectarian cleansing that was so apparent in the maps in the Jones report. Some day someone will have to investigate what happened.”3

2. Decreased levels of violence in Iraq are due to enormous population shifts — the Second Largest Refugee Crisis in the World (Second to Afghanistan)4

The International Crisis Group (ICG), considered the world’s leading independent, non-partisan source of analysis and advice to governments and IGOs, describes the Iraq refugee crisis as follows:

“Up to five million Iraqis – nearly one in five – are believed to have deserted their homes in a bid to find safety and security away from the violence that continues to engulf vast areas of their country. Among them, approximately half have become “internally displaced persons” (IDPs), individuals who have relocated within Iraq, joining relatives in somewhat more stable regions or settling in makeshift accommodations such as deserted government buildings and improvised camps. The other half has left Iraq altogether, finding temporary safety as refugees but also, quite often, socio-economic hardship in neighboring countries. Today, according to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), Iraq’s IDP and refugee crisis ranks as the world’s second in terms of numbers, preceded by Afghanistan but ahead of Sudan.

The magnitude of the IDP and refugee crisis reflects continued failure to restore the requisite security for large numbers of Iraqis to return. Of course, not all IDPs or refugees were targets of violence. Some have committed gross human rights violations; others migrated essentially for economic or business reasons. That said, as countless tragic stories attest, a clear majority fled as a consequence of a conflict in which they have no stake but of which they were made victims due to their ethnic or religious identity, employment by U.S. or other foreign forces or personal wealth.”

It is fallacious for U.S. military commanders and Administration officials to attribute decreased levels of violence in Iraq to “The Surge,” since the Iraqi population has changed dramatically. Millions of refugees have left the country while others have been displaced within Iraq.

3. Since the “The Surge” began in 2007, Iraq has remained the Second Most Corrupt Country in the World.5

Transparency International, the foremost leading international NGO assessing global corruption, has ranked Iraq the second most corrupt country in the world for the past two years (since “The Surge” began). So, how has Iraqi governance been enhanced since “The Surge” began, if this is true?

In a July 2006 report,6 the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR) identified fundamental problems in implementing a U.S. anti-corruption program such as the lack of coordination and leadership. SIGIR provided 12 recommendations to address these problems and to form a basis for assessing progress.

For example, SIGIR recommended that the Department of State appoint a senior leader to direct the anti-corruption program and provide continuity in program administration, and that a steering group be established to provide oversight over program activities and ensure that all agencies are working towards a common goal in an efficient and effective manner.

“In our April 2008 report,7 SIGIR discussed how the U.S. Embassy had implemented actions to address two recommendations, but that actions were still needed to fully address the remaining 10.”

Why, in over two years, has the Department of State implemented only two of the 12 recommendations offered to curtail corruption in Iraq? Wasn’t “The Surge” developed to help Iraq enhance governing capacity?8

4. Only five of 18 Political Benchmarks have really been met

The U.S. Embassy states that all but three of 18 benchmarks have been met but this contrasts sharply with other assessments including a recent Government Accountability Office Progress Report.9

And, as of September 25, 2008, The Center for American Progress believes that only four of 18 Benchmarks have been met.10

The Iraqi Benchmarks and their status were taken directly from the Congressional Research Service Report made by Kenneth Katzman (Specialist in Middle Eastern Affairs, Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division, for Congress dated September 3, 2008.)

Benchmark 1: Forming Constitutional Review Committee (CRC) and completing review

“The CRC was formed but the review has not concluded. The Kurds want the Kirkuk issue settled before finalizing amendments. Sunnis want presidential council to have enhanced powers relative to prime minister. Deadlines for final recommendations beyond the latest May 2008 deadline.”

It is hard to believe that the Departments of State and Defense claim that they have met this benchmark when they clearly have not.

Benchmark 2: Enacting and implementing laws on De-Baathification

“Justice and Accountability Law” passed Jan. 12, 2008. Allows about 30,000 fourth ranking Baathists to regain their jobs, and 3,500 Baathists in top three party ranks would receive pensions. But, could allow for judicial prosecution of all ex-Baathists and to firing of about 7,000 ex-Baathists in post-Saddam security services, and bars ex-Saddam security personnel from regaining jobs. Some reports suggest some De-Baathification officials using the new law to purge political enemies or settle old scores.”

Therefore, this benchmark was met but it has caused increased friction among sects and ethnic groups. How is this an objective met?

Benchmark 3: Enacting and implementing oil laws that ensure equitable distribution of resources

“Framework and three implementing laws stalled over Kurd-Arab disputes; only framework law has reached COR to date. Revenue being distributed equitably, and 2008 budget adopted February 13, 2008 maintains 17{cd9ac3671b356cd86fdb96f1eda7eb3bb1367f54cff58cc36abbd73c33c82e1d} revenue for KRG. Kurds and central government setting up commission to resolve remaining disputes; U.S. Embassy says it expects near-term progress on revenue sharing law (an implementing law).”

This Benchmark is unmet. It remains the most divisive topic.

Benchmark 4: Enacting and implementing laws to form semi-autonomous regions

“Regions law passed October 2006, with relatively low threshold (petition by 33{cd9ac3671b356cd86fdb96f1eda7eb3bb1367f54cff58cc36abbd73c33c82e1d} of provincial council members) to start process to form new regions, but main blocs agreed that law would take effect April 2008. August 2008: petition being circulated among some Basra residents (another way to start forming a region) to begin process of converting Basra province into a single province “region.”

The Department of State says this benchmark has been met, but as the Basra petition of August 2008 indicates, it clearly has not been met. Either the regions have been formed or they have not!

Benchmark 5: Enacting and implementing: (a) a law to establish a higher electoral commission, (b) provincial elections law; (c) a law to specify authorities of provincial bodies, and (d) set a date for provincial elections.

“Draft law stipulating powers of provincial governments (and elections by October 1, 2008) adopted February 13, 2008, took effect April 2008. Election law required to implement elections not adopted due to Kurdish opposition to proposed interim arrangements for Kirkuk power sharing, as well as Arab attempt to replace peshmerga in Kirkuk with ISF. Agreement apparently reached to use “open list” (vote for candidates) voting system, favored by Sadrists. About 4 months preparation (registration, candidate vetting, ballot printing) needed after law is passed.”

The Department of State says (a) and (c) have been met, but (b) and (d) are more important. This benchmark has not been met.

Benchmark 6: Enacting and implementing legislation addressing amnesty for former insurgents

“Law to amnesty ‘non-terrorists’ among 25,000 detainees held by Iraq, passed on February 13, 2008. Of 17,000 approved for release (mostly Sunnis and Sadrist Shi’a), only about 1,600 released to date due to slow judicial process. Does not affect 25,000 detainees held by U.S.”

This benchmark has not been met.

Benchmark 7: Enacting and implementing laws on militia disarmament

“Basra operation, discussed above, viewed by Bush Administration as move against militias. On April 9, 2008, Maliki demanded all militias disband as a condition for their parties to participate in provincial elections. Law on militia demobilization stalled.”

This benchmark has not been met.

Benchmark 8: Establishing political, media, economic, and services committee to support U.S. “Surge”

“No change. ‘Executive Steering Committee’ works with U.S.-led forces.”

This benchmark has been met, but, is it appropriate as a “benchmark?””

Benchmark 9: Providing three trained and ready brigades to support U.S. surge

“No change. Eight brigades were assigned to assist the surge.”

Once again, this benchmark was met but this was never a serious benchmark. We had eight brigades ready for assignment in 2005.

Benchmark 10: Providing Iraqi commanders with authorities to make decisions, without political intervention, to pursue all extremists, including Sunni insurgents and Shi’a militias

“No significant change. Still some, although diminishing, U.S. concern over the Office of the Commander in Chief (part of Maliki’s office) control over appointments to the ISF-favoring Shi’a. Still, some politically-motivated leaders remain in ISF. In the past year, the commander of the National Police has fired over 5,000 officers for sectarian or politically-motivated behavior, and Ministry of Interior said to have been purged of sectarian administrators and their bodyguards. More Sunnis now in command jobs.”

This benchmark has not been met. Iraqi Security Forces are still divided along tribal, ethnic and sectarian lines.

Benchmark 11: Ensuring Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) providing even-handed enforcement of law

“Administration interpreted Basra operation as effort by Maliki to enforce law even-handedly, but acknowledges continued militia influence and infiltration in some units.”

This benchmark has not been met. The police are still highly infiltrated and corrupt.

Benchmark 12: Ensuring that “The Surge” plan in Baghdad will not provide a safe haven for any outlaw, regardless of sectarian affiliation.

“Administration sees ISF acting against JAM in Sadr City, and ethno-sectarian violence has fallen sharply in Baghdad.”

Ethno-sectarian violence may have fallen sharply but that is likely due to the fact that Baghdad is no longer comprised of mixed neighborhoods. Most of the Sunnis have left Baghdad. Additionally, most Iraqis have not returned to Baghdad for fear of lawlessness, threats and militias. So, in reality, this Benchmark has not been met.

Benchmark 13: (a) Reducing sectarian violence and (b) eliminating militia control of local security

“Sectarian violence continues to drop, but militias still armed, despite Basra operation. 103,000 Sunni ‘Sons of Iraq,’ but still distrusted as potential Sunni militia forces. Iraq government will assume payment of 54,000 Sons as of October 1, but opposes integrating more than about 20{cd9ac3671b356cd86fdb96f1eda7eb3bb1367f54cff58cc36abbd73c33c82e1d} into the ISF.”

This benchmark has not been met.

Benchmark 14: Establishing Baghdad joint security stations

“Over 50 joint security stations operating, more than the 33 planned.”

This benchmark has been met.

Benchmark 15: Increasing ISF units capable of operating independently

“Continuing but slow progress training ISF. U.S. officials say ISF likely unable to secure Iraq internally until 2009-2012; and against external threats not for several years thereafter. Basra operation initially exposed continued factionalism and poor leadership in ISF, but also ability to rapidly deploy.”

This benchmark has not been met.

Benchmark 16: Ensuring protection of minority parties in COR

“Rights of minority parties protected by Article 37 of constitution.”

This benchmark was met.

Benchmark 17: Allocating and spending $10 billion in 2007 capital budget for reconstruction projects.

“About 63{cd9ac3671b356cd86fdb96f1eda7eb3bb1367f54cff58cc36abbd73c33c82e1d} of the $10 billion 2007 allocation for capital projects was spent. Another $22 billion is in 2008 Iraqi budget, including August 2008 supplemental portion.”

This benchmark was met.

Benchmark 18: Ensuring that Iraqi authorities not making false accusations against ISF members

“Some governmental recriminations against some ISF officers still observed.”

This benchmark was not met.

Final note about the Iraqi Benchmarks:

How do the Departments of State, Defense, and the Administration justify claiming that 15 of 18 benchmarks have been met? This metric of “success” is another “Surge” myth that continues to be propagated by the MSM and Senator John McCain.

5. The situation in Iraq is fragile despite “The Surge.”

Levels of violence are down but Iraq is a patchwork quilt of tenuous relationships.

Muqtada Al Sadr has maintained the ceasefire of his powerful militia. He is rumored to be completing his theological studies in pursuit of the title of ‘marjea’ which would enable him to issue fatwas – or religious edicts.

The Sunnis have undergone an “Awakening” to consolidate their power after years of costly civil war and bloody conflict with Coalition Forces.

Over 100,000 nongovernmental forces such as the “Sons of Iraq” remain temporarily employed “protecting” their neighborhoods while American dollars buy time.

Meanwhile, the number of Iraqi Security Forces units capable of performing operations without U.S. assistance has remained at a mere 10 percent; far from the autonomous capability needed to secure Iraq’s 18 Provinces.

Kurdish separatists continue to attack Turkish forces with increased intensity and coordination. Turkey responds with air and artillery bombardments and Special Forces incursions into Iraq’s Kurdish region.

Iran continues to offer significant support the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council (SIIC) in Iraq. SIICs leader, Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, commands the powerful Badr Corps and controls most of parliament.

America’s Coalition partners continue to dwindle. Georgian and Polish troops departed in recent weeks.

Iraq’s humanitarian crisis is the largest in the world. Millions remain displaced in neighboring countries and in different Provinces of Iraq. The return of refugees — many of whom no longer have homes to return to, because of the interethnic cleansing — poses a huge threat to the stability of any future Iraqi government…

The economy has not achieved any significant progress and the political climate remains crippled by corruption and uncertainty.

Iraq remains a powder keg. “The Surge” has done little to increase security and enhance governing capacity. A state of civil war remains and regional conflict threatens greater problems for the future.

In an Iraqi nationwide poll was taken in August 2008, only 41{cd9ac3671b356cd86fdb96f1eda7eb3bb1367f54cff58cc36abbd73c33c82e1d} felt that the Government of Iraq (GoI) is “effective at maintaining security” and less than less than one-third (31{cd9ac3671b356cd86fdb96f1eda7eb3bb1367f54cff58cc36abbd73c33c82e1d}) rated the level of peace and stability in Iraq as “stable”

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Oct 9, Civil Liberties News: Recently Releaed Government Documents Show President Bush Ordered Illegal Torture Here in America Against U.S. Citizens

Posted on October 9, 2008 by Team VCS

October 8, 2008 – According to newly released military documents, the Navy applied lawless Guantánamo protocols in detention facilities on American soil. The documents, which include regular emails between brig officers and others in the chain of command, uncover new details of the detention and interrogation of two U.S. citizens and a legal resident – Yaser Hamdi, Jose Padilla and Ali al-Marri – at naval brigs in Virginia and South Carolina.

The documents were obtained under the Freedom of Information Act by the Allard K. Lowenstein International Human Rights Clinic at Yale Law School and the American Civil Liberties Union.

“Guantánamo was designed as a law-free zone, a place where the government could do whatever it wanted without having to worry about whether it was legal,” said Jonathan Freiman, an attorney with the Lowenstein Clinic at Yale. “It didn’t take long for that sort of lawlessness to be brought home to our own country. Who knows how much further America would have gone if the Supreme Court hadn’t stepped in to stop incommunicado detentions in 2004?”

According to the documents, Navy officers doubted the wisdom of applying Guantánamo rules on American soil. In particular, officers expressed grave concern over the effects of the solitary confinement imposed upon the three men detained at the brigs, a practice that was considered to be even more extreme than the isolation imposed at Guantánamo. Navy officers also exhibited frustration with the Defense Department’s unwillingness to provide the detainees with access to legal counsel or any information about their fates. 

“The application of Guantánamo protocols on U.S. soil is incredibly significant and indicates how far the administration has gone in terms of suspending the law,” said Jonathan Hafetz, a staff attorney with the ACLU National Security Project. “The Bush administration has long argued that detainees held in Guantánamo are not entitled to any constitutional protections – an argument the Supreme Court has recently rejected. But this is not even Guantánamo – we are talking about creating prisons beyond the law right here in America.”

The documents clearly show that the standard operating procedure developed for Guantánamo Bay governed every aspect of detentions at the two bases inside the United States. Though Navy personnel tried several times to improve the harsh conditions under which Hamdi, Padilla and al-Marri were detained, senior Defense Department officials repeatedly denied the requests. 

Padilla and al-Marri have reported being subjected to many of the brutal interrogation techniques used at Guantánamo Bay that included sleep deprivation, painful stress positions, prolonged isolation, extreme sensory deprivation, and threats of violence and death. That regime, it now appears, was the product of an effort to extend “Guantánamo rules” to prisons inside the United States.

Although the newly released military documents include mandatory “weekly updates” on the three men for certain periods, the weekly updates pertaining to Padilla and al-Marri for most of 2002-2004 – the period during which the two were being detained incommunicado and interrogated – were not released, but were also not reported as withheld or as missing, suggesting the possibility that Guantánamo-like interrogations were taking place.

Last month, the ACLU urged the U.S. Supreme Court to review the Bush administration’s authority to indefinitely imprison al-Marri without charge or trial. The ACLU asked the Court to reverse a federal appeals court decision that gave the president sweeping power to deprive individuals in the United States, including American citizens, of their most basic constitutional rights.

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Draft Government Report: Applying for VA Benefits in Advance, Before Leaving Military, Works

Posted on October 9, 2008 by Team VCS

October 9, 2008 – A program allowing injured active-duty members to apply for veterans’ disability benefits before they separate is reducing the financial strain on wounded troops in the months before they leave service, according to a draft report by congressional auditors.

Called “benefits delivery at discharge,” the program tries to avoid having benefits claims for new veterans tied up in the six-month backlog of other claims making their way through the Department of Veterans Affairs.

The program allows claims to be filed within 180 days of discharge. While the claim is not fully processed until the service member leaves active duty, a preliminary disability rating is determined based on physical exams and a review of medical records to reduce the waiting time for the first disability check.

The program is available at major U.S. military bases, including Coast Guard facilities, and at VA regional offices.

If the program works, and the Government Accountability Office says it mostly does, the first disability check could be waiting for service members as soon as they leave active duty.

“This could end up being the way to eliminate the backlog,” said a congressional aide who is monitoring the program. He was referring to the 400,000 benefits claims pending before VA – a combination of new claims, appeals of older claims and requests for changes in disability benefits.

The audit report says the program is more efficient than the traditional claims process. One reason it works is that a service member’s medical and personnel records – which are important to determining if a disability is service-connected – are easily available while the member is still on active duty, the report says.

Rep. Steve Buyer of Indiana, ranking Republican on the House Veterans Affairs Committee and a longtime advocate of programs to ease the transition from military to civilian life for disabled veterans, said it is long past time to fully implement the program, which has been tested since 1998.

“Common sense dictates that claims established prior to separation from active service are more easily adjudicated than ones filed months or years afterward,” Buyer said. “Doing so increases both accuracy and efficiency, and processing as many claims as possible in this manner will have a positive impact throughout the entire system.”

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States’ Actions to Block Voters Appear Illegal

Posted on October 9, 2008 by Team VCS

October 8, 2008 – Tens of thousands of eligible voters in at least six swing states have been removed from the rolls or have been blocked from registering in ways that appear to violate federal law, according to a review of state records and Social Security data by The New York Times.

The actions do not seem to be coordinated by one party or the other, nor do they appear to be the result of election officials intentionally breaking rules, but are apparently the result of mistakes in the handling of the registrations and voter files as the states tried to comply with a 2002 federal law, intended to overhaul the way elections are run.

Still, because Democrats have been more aggressive at registering new voters this year, according to state election officials, any heightened screening of new applications may affect their party’s supporters disproportionately. The screening or trimming of voter registration lists in the six states – Colorado, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Nevada and North Carolina – could also result in problems at the polls on Election Day: people who have been removed from the rolls are likely to show up only to be challenged by political party officials or election workers, resulting in confusion, long lines and heated tempers.

Some states allow such voters to cast provisional ballots. But they are often not counted because they require added verification.

Although much attention this year has been focused on the millions of new voters being added to the rolls by the candidacy of Senator Barack Obama, there has been far less notice given to the number of voters being dropped from those same rolls.

States have been trying to follow the Help America Vote Act of 2002 and remove the names of voters who should no longer be listed; but for every voter added to the rolls in the past two months in some states, election officials have removed two, a review of the records shows.

The six swing states seem to be in violation of federal law in two ways. Michigan and Colorado are removing voters from the rolls within 90 days of a federal election, which is not allowed except when voters die, notify the authorities that they have moved out of state, or have been declared unfit to vote.

Indiana, Nevada, North Carolina and Ohio seem to be improperly using Social Security data to verify registration applications for new voters.

In addition to the six swing states, three more states appear to be violating federal law. Alabama and Georgia seem to be improperly using Social Security information to screen registration applications from new voters. And Louisiana appears to have removed thousands of voters after the federal deadline for taking such action.

Under federal law, election officials are supposed to use the Social Security database to check a registration application only as a last resort, if no record of the applicant is found on state databases, like those for driver’s licenses or identification cards.

The requirement exists because using the federal database is less reliable than the state lists, and is more likely to incorrectly flag applications as invalid. Many state officials seem to be using the Social Security lists first.

In the year ending Sept. 30, election officials in Nevada, for example, used the Social Security database more than 740,000 times to check voter files or registration applications and found more than 715,000 nonmatches, federal records show. Election officials in Georgia ran more than 1.9 million checks on voter files or voter registration applications and found more than 260,000 nonmatches.

Officials of the Social Security Administration, presented with those numbers, said they were far too high to be cases where names were not in state databases. They said the data seem to represent a violation of federal law and the contract the states signed with the agency to use the database.

Last week, after the inquiry by The Times, Michael J. Astrue, the commissioner of the Social Security Administration, alerted the Justice Department to the problem and sent letters to election officials in Alabama, Georgia, Indiana, Nevada, North Carolina and Ohio. The letters ask the officials to ensure that they are complying with federal law.

“It is absolutely essential that people entitled to register to vote are allowed to do so,” Mr. Astrue said in a press release.

In three states – Colorado, Louisiana and Michigan – the number of people purged from the election rolls since Aug. 1 far exceeds the number who may have died or relocated during that period.

States may be improperly removing voters who have moved within the state, election experts said, or who are considered inactive because they have failed to vote in two consecutive federal elections. For example, major voter registration drives have been held this year in Colorado, which has also had a significant population increase since the last presidential election, but the state has recorded a net loss of nearly 100,000 voters from its rolls since 2004.

Asked about the appearance of voter law violations, Rosemary E. Rodriguez, the chairwoman of the federal Election Assistance Commission, which oversees elections, said they could present “extremely serious problems.”

“The law is pretty clear about how states can use Social Security information to screen registrations and when states can purge their rolls,” Ms. Rodriguez said.

Nevada officials said the large number of Social Security checks had resulted from county clerks entering Social Security numbers and driver’s license numbers in the wrong fields before records were sent to the state. They could not estimate how many records might have been affected by the problem, but they said it was corrected several weeks ago.

Other states described similar problems in entering data.

Under the Help America Vote Act, all states were required to build statewide electronic voter registration lists to standardize and centralize voter records that had been kept on the local level. To prevent ineligible voters from casting a ballot, states were also required to clear the electronic lists of duplicates, people who had died or moved out of state, or who had become ineligible for other reasons.

Voting rights groups and federal election officials have raised concerns that the methods used to add or remove names vary by state and are conducted with little oversight or transparency. Many states are purging their lists for the first time and appear to be unfamiliar with the 2002 federal law.

“Just as voting machines were the major issue that came out of the 2000 presidential election and provisional ballots were the big issue from 2004, voter registration and these statewide lists will be the top concern this year,” said Daniel P. Tokaji, a law professor at Ohio State University.

Voting rights groups have urged voters to check their registrations with local officials.

In Michigan, some 33,000 voters were removed from the rolls in August, a figure that is far higher than the number of deaths in the state during the same period – about 7,100 – or the number of people who moved out of the state – about 4,400, according to data from the Postal Service.

In Colorado, some 37,000 people were removed from the rolls in the three weeks after July 21. During that time, about 5,100 people moved out of the state and about 2,400 died, according to postal data and death records.

In Louisiana, at least 18,000 people were dropped from the rolls in the five weeks after July 23. Over the same period, at least 1,600 people moved out of state and at least 3,300 died.

The secretaries of state in Michigan and Colorado did not respond to requests for comment. A spokesman for the Louisiana secretary of state said that about half of the numbers of the voters removed from the rolls were people who moved within the state or who died. The remaining 11,000 or so people seem to have been removed by local officials for other reasons that were not clear, the spokesman said.

The purge estimates were calculated using data from state election officials, who produce a snapshot every month or so of the voter rolls with details about each registered voter on record, making it possible to determine how many have been removed.

The Times’s methodology for calculating the purge estimates was reviewed by two voting experts, Kimball Brace, the director of Election Data Services, a Washington consulting firm that tracks voting trends, and R. Michael Alvarez, a political science professor at the California Institute of Technology.

By using the Social Security database so extensively, states are flagging extra registrations and creating extra work for local officials who are already struggling to process all the registration applications by Election Day.

“I simply don’t have the staff to keep up,” said Ann McFall, the supervisor of elections in Volusia County, Fla.

It takes 10 minutes to process a normal registration and up to a week to deal with a flagged one, said Ms. McFall, a Republican, adding that she was receiving 100 or so flagged registrations a week.

Usually, when state election officials check a registration and find that it does not match a database entry, they alert local election officials to contact the voter and request further proof of identification. If that is not possible, most states flag the voter file and require identification from the voter at the polling place.

In Florida, Iowa, Louisiana and South Dakota, the problem is more serious because voters are not added to the rolls until the states remove the flags.

Ms. McFall said she was angry to learn from the state recently that it was her responsibility to contact each flagged voter to clear up the discrepancies before Election Day. “This situation with voter registrations is going to land us in court,” she said.

In fact, it already has.

In Michigan and Florida, rights groups are suing state officials, accusing them of being too aggressive in purging voter rolls and of preventing people from registering.

In Georgia, the Justice Department is considering legal action against the state because officials in Cobb and Cherokee Counties sent letters to hundreds of voters stating that their voter registrations had been flagged and telling them they cannot vote until they clear up the discrepancy.

On Monday, the Ohio Republican Party filed a motion in federal court against the secretary of state to get the list of all names that have been flagged by the Social Security database since Jan. 1. The motion seeks to require that any voter who does not clear up a discrepancy be required to vote using a provisional ballot.

Republicans said in the motion that it is central to American democracy that nonqualified voters be forbidden from voting.

The Ohio secretary of state, Jennifer Brunner, a Democrat, said in court papers that she believes the Republicans are seeking grounds to challenge voters and get them removed from the rolls.

Considering that in the past year the state received nearly 290,000 nonmatches, such a plan could have significant impact at the polls.

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Pentagon Researches Alternative Treatments

Posted on October 9, 2008 by Team VCS

October 8, 2008 – The Pentagon is seeking new ways to treat troops suffering from combat stress or brain damage by researching such alternative methods as acupuncture, meditation, yoga and the use of animals as therapy, military officials said.

“This new theme is a big departure for our cautious culture,” Dr. S. Ward Casscells, the Pentagon’s assistant secretary for health affairs, told USA TODAY.

Casscells said he pushed hard for the new research, because “we are struggling with” post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) “as we are with suicide and we are increasingly willing to take a hard look at even soft therapies.”

So far this year, the Pentagon is spending $5 million to study the therapies. In the previous two years, the Pentagon had not spent any money on similar research, records show.

About 300,000 Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans suffer from PTSD or major depression, and about 320,000 may have experienced at least a mild concussion or brain injury in combat, according to a RAND Corp. study released this year.

The Army reported a record 115 suicides last year, and suicides this year are at a rate that may exceed that, said Col. Eddie Stephens, the Army’s deputy director for human resources policy. The Department of Veterans Affairs reported last month that suicides among Iraq- and Afghanistan-era veterans from all services reached a record high of 113 in 2006, the latest year for which there were figures.

Some military hospitals and installations already use alternative therapies, such as acupuncture as stress relievers for patients. The research will see whether the alternatives work so the Pentagon can use them more, said Army Brig. Gen. Loree Sutton, head of the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury. Many of the treatments have been used for centuries, Sutton said, “so it just makes sense to bring all potential therapies to bear.”

Her office issued a request for research proposals this year on therapies ranging from art and dance, to the ancient Chinese healing art of qigong or a therapy of hands-on touching known as Reiki.

Sutton’s office narrowed a list of 82 proposals to about 10 projects this year, and research should begin, with servicemembers as subjects in some cases, in the next few months, said Col. Karl Friedl, head of the Army’s Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Center, which oversees the work.

Friedl said research will include how meditation can improve emotional resilience; how holding and petting an animal can treat PTSD and how acupuncture pain relief can relieve headaches created by mild brain damage from blasts.

“We want to add everything we can to our tool kit” for these injuries, said Col. Elspeth Ritchie, an Army psychiatrist.

Some soldiers who suffer from PTSD are reluctant to share their experiences in traditional psychiatric therapy, said Col. Charles Engel, an Army psychiatric epidemiologist. He said those soldiers may be more willing to use acupuncture and other alternatives if they are effective.

Initial research this summer with combat veterans showed that acupuncture relieved PTSD symptoms and eased pain and depression, Engel said. “Improvements were relatively rapid and clinically significant,” he said.

About one third of sailors and Marines use some types of alternative therapies, mostly herbal remedies, according to a survey conducted last year. A recent Army study shows that one in four soldiers with combat-caused PTSD turned to herbs, chiropractors, acupuncture or megavitamins for relief.

Although the Pentagon’s study of alternative medicine for combat diseases is unique, research into such therapies for broad public use is not new, said Richard Nahin, a senior adviser for the National Institutes of Health’s National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine. The NIH spends about $300 million a year on similar research.

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