Obama’s Human Rights Opportunity

Posted on December 11, 2008 by Team VCS

December 10, 2008 – The advancement of human rights around the world was a cornerstone of foreign policy and U.S. leadership for decades, until the attacks on our country on Sept. 11, 2001.

Since then, while Americans continue to espouse freedom and democracy, our government’s abusive practices have undermined struggles for freedom in many parts of the world. As the gross abuses at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay were revealed, the United States lost its mantle as a champion of human rights, eliminating our national ability to speak credibly on the subject, let alone restrain or gain concessions from oppressors. Tragically, a global backlash against democracy and rights activists, who are now the targets of abuse, has followed.

The advancement of human rights and democracy is necessary for global stability and can be achieved only through the local, often heroic, efforts of individuals who speak out against injustice and oppression — endeavors the United States should lead, not impede. If the early warnings of human rights activists had been heeded and tough diplomacy and timely intervention mobilized, the horrific, and in some cases ongoing, violence in Bosnia, Rwanda, Sudan’s Darfur region and the Democratic Republic of the Congo might have been averted.

Today marks the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. With a new administration and a new vision coming to the White House, we have the opportunity to move boldly to restore the moral authority behind the worldwide human rights movement. But the first steps must be taken at home.

President-elect Barack Obama has pledged to shut down the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay and end torture, which can be accomplished by executive orders to close the prison and by enforcing existing prohibitions against torture by any U.S. representative, including FBI and CIA agents. The detention of people secretly or indefinitely and without due process must cease, and their cases should be transferred to our courts, which have proved their competence in trying those accused of terrorism. Further, a nonpartisan expert commission should be named to conduct a thorough review of U.S. practices related to unwarranted arrest, torture, secret detention, extraordinary rendition, abandonment of habeas corpus and related matters. Acknowledging to the world that the United States also has made mistakes will give credence to our becoming “a more perfect union” — a message that would resonate worldwide. Together, these actions will help us restore our nation’s principles and embolden others abroad who want higher moral standards for their own societies.

By putting its house in order, the United States would reclaim its moral authority and wield not only the political capital but also the credibility needed to engage in frank but respectful bilateral dialogues on the protection of human rights as central to world peace and prosperity. Human rights defenders around the world, whose annual conference began at the Carter Center this week, are eagerly awaiting the Obama administration. In Pakistan, they look for our help in restoring the rule of law that was undermined when the United States sided with Pervez Musharraf as he debilitated an independent-minded Supreme Court. Defenders of the struggling democratic movement in Egypt seek a tough U.S. stance supporting free and fair elections and ending the abuse of opposition political candidates. Throughout the Middle East, there is hope that the United States will move more aggressively and persistently to help orchestrate a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the prism through which the region measures the U.S. commitment to human rights.

In the war-ravaged Democratic Republic of the Congo, rights defenders under daily threat hope the United States will pressure its allies in Rwanda and Uganda to withdraw support from proxy forces that continue to wreak havoc there. All agree that the United States should reengage with agencies of the United Nations to make that body a more effective tool to protect human rights, knowing that this must be a global effort.

The moral footprint of the United States has always been vast. Our next president has an unprecedented opportunity to lead through example by inspiring and supporting those who would reach for freedom and by being tough and effective with those who would impede freedom’s march. All Americans must give him full support.

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U.S. Joins Effort to Bar Claims on Iraqi Coffers

Posted on December 11, 2008 by Team VCS

December 10, 2008 –  George Charchalis says he has never really recovered from the ordeal he endured after Saddam Hussein’s Iraq invaded Kuwait in August 1990.

He hid for more than a month in Kuwait City but was ultimately arrested, “roughed up pretty good” and taken to Iraq. He was held there for nearly three months as a human shield against American bombing.

After the 2003 invasion of Iraq, Mr. Charchalis, now 78, had every reason to believe that he and 240 other Americans held during the Persian Gulf war of 1991 would be compensated under expansive laws that allow Americans to claim assets of foreign governments like Iraq’s. President Bush, after all, had seized Iraqi assets just before the war and paid other people used as human shields nearly $100 million.

But, illustrating the stark trajectory of the Bush administration’s policy in Iraq, the president has joined a new effort to block further claims, at least for the immediate future. The rationale is that the claims – some small like Mr. Charchalis’s, others amounting to billions of dollars – could bankrupt the Iraqi government, endanger its fragile democracy and virtually shut government business, even oil exports.

So Mr. Bush supports extending powerful legal measures put in place by the United Nations Security Council in 2003 to protect Iraq against such claims. With the administration’s blessing, Iraq asked the Council to renew the protections for another year.

“With oil revenues generating more than 95 percent of the government’s resources,” Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki of Iraq wrote to the Council on Tuesday in a letter obtained by The New York Times, “these claims could affect reconstruction and economic transformation taking place in Iraq, and consequently constitute a grave threat to Iraq’s stability and security, and therefore to international peace and security.”

Some of those with claims say that Mr. Bush’s reversal amounts to a betrayal of Americans who were harmed by the former government and who once enjoyed the moral and legal support of the American government.

“I applaud the toppling of Saddam,” said Clifford Acree, a retired Marine pilot who was held as a prisoner of war by Iraq and tortured in 1991. “I welcome the development of democracy in Iraq.

“I just don’t want to ignore what was done,” he said. “I just don’t want to give the Iraqis a free pass when it comes to accounting for the past.”

Iraq’s foreign minister, Hoshyar Zebari, said Iraq would like to settle the claims if they could be reduced substantially through negotiations, perhaps as part of an all-encompassing package like the settlement with Libya in the case of Pan Am Flight 103.

Meanwhile, Mr. Zebari said, Iraq cannot risk the shutdown of government operations and thus intends to press for a vote by the Security Council before it adjourns for the year.

“This extension will give us some relief for another year, give us some breathing space,” he said.

A White House spokesman, Gordon D. Johndroe, said the administration supported the extension for now, but also “made it clear to the Iraqis that it is important to address the legitimate claims of our citizens.”

The scope of the claims, and the politically charged nature of some, could make a resolution difficult.

Iraq still owes some $26 billion on claims, mainly from Kuwait, that have been handled by the United Nations Compensation Commission, a body set up in 1991 to deal with reparations.

Iraq also has about $50 billion in debts to other countries. Iraq’s finance minister, Bayan Jabr, said Iraq also owed as much as $7 billion to private companies.

Legal challenges could expose Iraq to still more. Kuwait Airways also won a roughly $1 billion judgment in Britain against Iraq’s national airline in a case stemming from the first gulf war. Amid the welter of American lawsuits are some that claim that Mr. Hussein’s government had a hand in international terrorist acts, including the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

Although international law binds them to Mr. Hussein’s debts, senior Iraqi officials are increasingly reluctant to pay for Hussein-era abuses.

The United Nations protections against international claims and seizures of assets were part of the Security Council resolutions that authorized the American military presence in the country. President Bush then provided a second layer of protection by signing an executive order essentially saying that Iraqi money in the United States could not be seized. He worked with Congress to further reduce the risk to the money.

Iraq and the United States signed new agreements in November to establish the new conditions for American troops to remain in Iraq for the next three years. But the financial protections expire with the Council resolution on Dec. 31, and Mr. Bush’s executive order expires in May 2009.

The expiration of the United Nations mandate also raises other issues. The Council resolutions created a structure for handling Iraq’s oil revenues. The revenues go to an account called the Development Fund for Iraq at the New York Federal Reserve Bank. Five percent of the fund is diverted to the compensation commission to pay off the reparations.

Iraq made it clear that it wanted to reduce or eliminate the percentage set aside for claims.

“This is obscene that Iraq has to pay 5 percent of Iraqi oil revenues to pay these claims,” said a senior Iraqi official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of delicate relations between Iraq and Kuwait. “At a time when we are so desperate for funding for our own reconstruction and security, it would be smarter for the Kuwaitis to invest in the future of Iraq rather than profiting from the miseries of the past.”

They have also suggested that the United Nations board that oversees the oil money, now run by Western financial experts, be replaced with one consisting of Iraqis and probably led by Abdulbasit Turki Saeed, president of the Board of Supreme Audit. The United States is opposed, administration officials said, leaving the outcome unclear. Mr. Maliki, in his letter to the Security Council, did not request a change but rather an extension.

The risk to Iraq’s assets is far from theoretical.

After Kuwait Airways won judgments against Iraq and its national airline, a Canadian court ruled last summer that the Kuwaitis could seize passenger jets that Iraq was having built under a contract with Bombardier, a Canadian company.

The legal foundations for the claims date from the 1990s, when Congress enacted a law allowing Americans to sue foreign governments accused of sponsoring terrorism, including Iraq. Claims under the law were largely symbolic, because they involved cases against governments that refused to recognize the American jurisdiction. But in 2002, Mr. Bush signed legislation allowing payment for judgments from the frozen assets of terrorist states.

In 2003, on the eve of the Iraq war, he seized more than $4 billion in frozen Iraqi assets in the United States and paid a portion – $96 million – to 180 Americans held as human shields who had won court judgments.

He distributed the rest to the provisional authorities in newly occupied Iraq, and in May 2003, he waived Iraq’s liability under the laws, effectively blocking payment for additional claims.

That left claims like Mr. Charchalis’s in limbo.

Mr. Charchalis was part of a second group of 240 human shields whose case had not yet been heard when the first group received its payment from Iraq’s foreign assets. A landscape architect, Mr. Charchalis had gone to Kuwait to work on a project to turn the desert into gardens.

He was arrested a month after Iraq’s invasion in August 1990 and taken to Baghdad, then to a chemical plant near Samarra, where he was held until Dec. 2, when he and 14 others were released after an appeal from the former boxer Muhammad Ali.

Mr. Charchalis, now living on Social Security, criticized the administration for taking Iraq’s side and disputed the notion that his claim would undermine Iraq’s ability to rebuild.

“It just seemed terribly unfair that an American citizen couldn’t get compensation when we’re over there spending, what, $10 billion a month,” he said.

A lawsuit involving 17 prisoners of war has been even more vexing for Mr. Bush because of the political delicacy of opposing Americans who were shot down during the Persian Gulf war of 1991 and tortured in Iraqi captivity. In 2002, they won a default judgment against Mr. Hussein’s government, and in July 2003, a court awarded them $959 million.

After Mr. Hussein’s fall, however, Mr. Bush’s administration fought efforts to pay the claim. Later in July 2003, the Court of Appeals in Washington ruled that the plaintiffs should look elsewhere for payment, effectively dismissing the case.

In 2007, lawmakers passed an amendment that would have revived the cases and allowed the claimants to go after Iraqi assets in American banks and elsewhere. But Mr. Bush vetoed the bill after, officials said at the time, Iraq complained that the law would force it to remove its money from American banks.

John Norton Moore, director of the Center for National Security Law at the University of Virginia School of Law, who represents the prisoners of war, said the administration had made no effort to force Iraq to settle the claims.

“The fairness for American prisoners of war, tortured by the enemy is a matter of national honor,” he said. “It is not only wrong to put the debts of corporations like Hyundai ahead of prisoners who were tortured. It is an insult to the nation.”

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For Troops in the Military System Trying to Help Them, Traumatic Brain Injury is New Territory

Posted on December 11, 2008 by Team VCS

December 10, 2008, Franklinton, NC – The first thing that 1st Lt. Mike McMichael felt when he regained consciousness was a stinging sensation.

It was the hot coffee he had been carrying in a thermos, which split when the roadside bomb went off on his side, flipping his vehicle.

Even though he had been unconscious for a couple of minutes, Mike appeared to have escaped the blast uninjured.

By the time he was diagnosed with traumatic brain injury nearly three years later, he had lost his job, faced financial ruin and nearly wrecked his marriage. His story shows all the pain that can result when TBI is not detected early.

“At least two, three years of all the pain that we’ve suffered, that our marriage has suffered, that our cute little boys here had go through, could have been avoided through proactive measures,” said his wife, Jackie.

Battlefield trauma

As the Iraq war has progressed, experts have learned more about TBI and implemented measures to combat it.

In 2006, the Defense Department began efforts to screen wounded troops for TBI, said Kathy Helmick, of the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center.

Now troops are screened in theater, in Germany, back home and by the Department of Veterans Affairs, Helmick said.

But this all occurred after Mike was injured in November 2004, toward the end of his deployment to Iraq with the North Carolina National Guard.

Everyone in the vehicle walked away from the blast. Although he started suffering migraines, Mike pushed on, anxious to get his unit home.

Mike came back from Iraq diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, but instead of getting treatment, he was given a long list of phone numbers to call, he and his wife told Stars and Stripes.

“At the time, as far as theater went, they didn’t know anything about traumatic brain injuries. – So if you were able to walk away from something, you just walked away and that was it,” Mike said.

Downward spiral

At first, Jackie thought the hard part was over: Her husband was home, he looked great and he had all his limbs.

But within a few weeks, it was clear something was wrong.

Mike was suffering from nightmares and crippling headaches.

Later, when his company sent him to Texas, Mike felt panicked that he would not have enough supplies for the trip and spent about $1,100 in four days, Jackie said.

In December 2005, Mike had a hallucination that King Kong was in his home. Mike started smashing things, punching between 40 and 50 holes in the walls and asking for a weapon, she said.

Afterwards, Mike went to a civilian psychiatric hospital, but his doctors ignored Jackie’s repeated attempts to tell them that Mike’s problem was much worse than he was telling them, she said.

“It just got increasingly frustrating because he was not talking to them; he wasn’t really telling them the full story about what was happening at home, and they weren’t talking to me about warning signs,” Jackie said.

Mike’s doctors also did not talk to Jackie about the possible side effects of the medications they prescribed for him – and they constantly changed what he was taking, so the McMichaels were paying $200 each week in co-pays, she said.

“This time is mostly a blur to me because they had me almost to the point of walking around drooling,” Mike said.

Mark Lerner, a clinical psychologist, said doctors need more training to deal with PTSD and TBI.

Far too often, doctors treat each individual symptom with a different medication instead of focusing on the traumatic stress itself, said Lerner, president of the Institute for Traumatic Stress in Long Island, N.Y.

“We really just need to increase awareness about traumatic stress and what we could potentially do to prevent post-traumatic stress disorder in the first place,” he said.

Battling bureaucracy

Before Mike began treatment for TBI, he spun out of control when he lost his job in spring 2007.

Soon after, he abruptly left Jackie after an argument with her, and cashed out his 401(k) to start a business that ultimately ended in bankruptcy.

As Mike ran up debt, Jackie waited for their disability claim to work its way through the VA, which repeatedly lost Mike’s records, forcing her to resubmit paperwork, she said.

In one incident, Jackie was talking to a woman with the VA, who noted that Mike had been released from the hospital.

“She said, ‘If he was released, then he should be cured'” Jackie said.

That is an atypical response from a VA employee, said Thomas Pamperin, deputy director of the compensation and pension service at the VA.

The VA makes the treatment of terror war veterans its highest priority, Pamperin said.

“It’s unfortunate if papers had to have been submitted more than once,” Pamperin said. “We have recently made some stringent controls to make sure that all documentation that is pertinent to a claim is secured properly, and we do apologize if someone did have to submit paperwork more than once.”

He also said that TBI evaluations can take longer if a patient is suffering from other mental disorders.

“It may have been that the clinicians were in the process of ruling out other disabilities,” he said.

For the McMichaels, it took the help of Congress to resolve their financial problems, when Jackie testified before the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee in March about all that she and her family had been through.

Within 72 hours, all of the disability pay the VA owed her husband was in their bank account, she said. More compensation came later.

It was the end of a long battle, but for Mike, it was upsetting to see his case resolved so quickly when so many other veterans were struggling to get their disability benefits.

“It made me nauseated,” Mike said.

Finally getting help

Initially, Mike did not want to seek help with the Department of Veterans Affairs because he felt guilty about asking for help when so many other veterans seemed worse off, Jackie said.

“I can remember when I was having my first panic attacks, or anxiety attacks, or whatever; I’m thinking, ‘man – I’ve got buddies of mine; I have two of my men that both lost legs, and I was feeling so guilty because, I mean, those guys were out there still working, doing great, thriving, you know, and yet I’m sitting here [and] can’t even leave the house,’ ” Mike said.

But when Mike’s doctors suggested he undergo electroshock therapy, Jackie had enough and finally forced Mike to go to the VA in spring 2006.

Mike began to stabilize when his psychiatrist began treating him for TBI and he attended a six-week program in Salem, Va., for his PTSD.

“Part of it is literally reliving that trauma, but then answering all those internal questions you have about it and kind of addressing all those fears and everything, and when you come through it on the other side, you’ve kind of released that trauma and got it off your back, because you’re carrying it inside,” Mike said.

Defense health officials are now working with the VA and civilian health care providers to identify the signs of TBI for veterans yet to be diagnosed, said Dr. Michael Jaffee, an Air Force colonel and director of the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center.

And in summer 2009, officials plan to kick off an education program for the families of troops who have suffered brain injuries, Helmick said.

Helmick could not say how many veterans like Mike came home with an undetected case of TBI before recent measures were put in place.

“I think it’s impossible to know that,” she said.

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The Count: The War in Iraq to Date

Posted on December 11, 2008 by Team VCS

December 11, 2008 – As of Tuesday, day 2,091 of the war in Iraq –

5 Blackwater guards were named Monday in a federal indictment for what a sixth guard, who pled guilty to manslaughter, described as the unprovoked shooting deaths of 17 Iraqis last year, reported The New York Times.

10 suspected al-Qaeda members were arrested by Iraqi police Tuesday for allegedly orchestrating bombings last week that killed 19 people and wounded 43 others, reported Agence France-Presse.

1 of 15,800 people detained by the US in Iraq, Reuters photographer Ibrahim Jassam Mohammed will not be released this year despite an Iraqi Central Criminal Court ruling to free him, reported Reuters.

1 of 2 American soldiers charged with murder in the May shooting death of a detained Iraqi pleaded not guilty Monday during a court-martial hearing in Kentucky, AP reported.

72 pages of a Pentagon Inspector General’s report made public Tuesday show that military officials understood the threat posed by roadside bombs in Iraq but did little to armor military vehicles, reported USA Today.

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Editorial Column: An Action Memo for VA

Posted on December 10, 2008 by Team VCS

December 9, 2008 – Action Memo to: President-elect Barack Obama & Veterans Affairs Secretary-designate Gen. Eric Shinseki.

RE: Why We Need to Re-Name the VA — to the Department of Veterans Advocacy.

America’s military veterans have every reason to be elated at the president-elect’s selection of Eric Shinseki to be Secretary of Veterans Affairs and every reason to be hopeful upon hearing their determination to fix, at last, what is wrong with way our nation treats those who have fought our battles.

As Army Chief of Staff, Shinseki demonstrated the determination to speak truth to power, telling Congress we needed many more troops to secure Iraq. Yet, he learned (and we learned) that courageous words alone cannot achieve results when those in power are determined to resist. I believe your efforts to reform the VA will clash with a mid-level power that will resist your best efforts — unless you send an unmistakable message.

In my extensive reporting on the subjective, I sought to discover not just what has gone wrong at the VA but also why it happened.

There are two overriding reasons the VA has failed to provide many veterans with timely benefits and care they earned: Money and mindset. Perhaps you can find sufficient money. But despite your impressive authority, you will bump up against an adversarial mid-level mindset of some who function as if they work for a Department of Veterans’ Adversaries.

There are, of course, many fine people working in the VA. But unfortunately, others in mid-level jobs — including some case adjudicators — seem to operate under this adversarial mindset. It has existed for years; but it has been allowed to grow more pervasive and more obstructive. Adjudicators too often seem determined to deny — and if facts cannot be bent in that direction, then delay. Claims still take half a year on the average; many rejections and appeals go on for decades.

Why? Perhaps because when a veteran dies, his or her case dies too — and no benefits are paid. When World War II vet Alfred Brown died after 21 years of rejections and appeals, Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims Chief Judge Kenneth Kramer wrote that Brown had “never been given a fair shake by the VA” and would have won his claim. Our government kept the money he deserved.

Sadly, examples abound. I’ve detailed them in previous columns: A former Gulf War and then Iraq War Army military policeman, Eric Adams of Tampa, was first told by the VA he hadn’t been in combat; but he’d led convoys past roadside bombs. Then he was told he didn’t have post traumatic stress disorder; his file said VA doctors twice diagnosed his PTSD. Finally, the VA ruled he couldn’t get service-related benefits because he could not cite the specific stressor incident.

Then there is Illinois national guardsman Garrett Anderson, of Champaign, Ill. He got service-related benefits for the loss of his right arm and broken jaw in the Iraq War, but was told by the VA, with no further explanation: “Shrapnel wounds all over body not service connected.” Did his VA adjudicator think Anderson got caught in a shrapnel rainstorm at a church picnic?

President-elect Obama and Secretary-designate Shinseki, I’m afraid you will not be able fully implement the reforms you have promised unless you first change the mindset within this segment of a bureaucracy gone astray. The good news is that there is one way to send a message that will not be missed within the VA bureaucracy.

We need to change the VA’s name — call it the Department of Veterans’ Advocacy. Let all who work there understand that their job is to be our veterans’ advocates. Their job is to help each veteran assemble the facts of his or her case to determine the benefits they have earned — benefits that it is our duty, honor and privilege to pay to those who fought to keep us free.

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Shh! – – Infamous Ira Katz VA E-Mail About Veteran Suicides Featured Among Top Public Relations Blunders for 2008

Posted on December 10, 2008 by Team VCS

December 9, 2008, San Francisco – The 14th Annual Top 10 PR Blunders List, compiled by San Francisco’s Fineman PR, features bailed out big shots, political snafus and a clueless Dept. of Veterans Affairs.

1. AIG All-Expense-Paid Retreats … Paid By YOU

Mere days after receiving an $85 billion federal bailout package, American International Group Inc. dropped nearly half a million dollars on an executive retreat to the posh St. Regis resort, complete with “spa treatments, banquets and golf outings,” according to the Associated Press. Public reaction, as many watched 401(k) and other investments deflate, was heated. Ousted AIG CEO Robert Willumstad condemned the fete as “very inappropriate” when questioned by Congress, and presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama said participating executives “should be fired” during a debate with Sen. John McCain. AIG compounded the damage when it proceeded with an $86,000 New England hunting retreat. New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo promptly launched a fraud probe, saying “our message to AIG today is simple: The party is over.”

2. AP to Detroit Three: “old way of doing business just won’t fly.”

Already reeling from the $700 billion Wall Street bailout, consumers, taxpayers and legislators were deeply offended when the leaders of the nation’s Big Three automakers — General Motors CEO Richard Wagoner, Chrysler CEO Robert Nardelli and Ford CEO Alan Mulally — flew to Washington in separate corporate jets to ask Congress for $25 billion … without a turnaround plan. PR Week reported that “it made the Big Three appear out of touch, and evoked memories of the AIG retreat controversy.” The Los Angeles Times reported that, “their first attempt was a lemon.” So when the execs made their second foray to Washington to further plead their case, they drove there in hybrid vehicles … and made sure everyone knew it. But Meredith Vieira on Today was unimpressed. “They should have carpooled,” she said.

3. Department of Veterans Affairs says “Shh!” To Veterans’ Problems

In this day of digital justice it’s surprising that some federal officials still believe their emails are private, as when messages between top officials in the Department of Veterans Affairs indicated secrets were being kept about appallingly high suicide attempt rates among veterans. According to the Associated Press, Dr. Ira Katz, top-ranking VA mental health official, emailed colleagues that “12,000 veterans a year attempt suicide while … under [Veterans Affairs] treatment.” Katz wasn’t pushing for reform but hiding data from CBS News, even beginning the email with a “Shh!” Everett A. Chasen, chief communications officer for the VA, wrote that, “I don’t want to give CBS any more numbers on veterans [sic] suicides or attempts than they already have — it will only lead to more questions.” Emails get leaked in most organizations, but the true Blunder is the Department’s disregard for veterans’ well being. Rep. Bob Filner, D-Calif., chair of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, told CBS News “this is disgraceful … a crime against our nation, our nation’s veterans. [V.A. officials] do not want to come to grips with the reality, with the truth.”

4. Letterman asks McCain, “do you need a ride to the airport?”

Presidential candidate Sen. John McCain canceled what would have been his thirteenth appearance on CBS’s Late Night with David Letterman, saying that he was suspending his campaign and “racing to the airport” to tackle the impending financial crisis. Midway through the show, however, Letterman learned that McCain was mere blocks away … sitting down with CBS stablemate Katie Couric. Letterman obtained a live feed of the interview and, joined by stand-in guest Keith Olbermann of MSNBC, remarked at McCain’s expense. McCain’s response, when he did make it onto Late Night a couple weeks later, was apt but unapologetic: “I screwed up.”

5. Nike Just Blew It

When self-described “good, solid” marathoner and elementary school teacher Arien O’Connell unexpectedly clocked the fastest time in October’s San Francisco Women’s Marathon, besting her personal record by over 12 minutes, race sponsor Nike had a golden opportunity to support those who “just do it.” However, Nike only checked times of those in the allegedly “elite” front-running pack; by the time O’Connell realized she had been fastest, all places had been awarded and Nike would not recognize her victory. Later that week, pressured Nike recanted its initial stance, declaring O’Connell “a winner” but not the winner. C.W. Nevius of the San Francisco Chronicle lamented the tepid ending to “what could have been a lovely Cinderella story.” Only after competitor Reebok stepped up to award O’Connell free shoes for a year and a $2,500 donation for her classroom did O’Connell receive her “first place overall” trophy.

6. Merck & Co. and Schering-Plough Corp.: Profits with Side Effects

Prescription for a Blunder: market cholesterol drugs Vytorin and Zetia with a memorable $100 million plus advertising campaign. Withhold study results showing that the combo doesn’t work as claimed … for 21 months. Watch the drugs pull $5.2 billion in revenue in 2007 alone. Side effects, though, may include widespread consumer backlash, around 140 civil class- action lawsuits, and the unwelcome attentions of Congress, the U.S. Department of Justice and a coalition of 35 state attorneys general, according to the Associated Press. Makers Merck & Co. and Schering-Plough Corp. allegedly didn’t release the results due to internal scientific concerns. Matthew Herper of Forbes reported there were “reasons to doubt the result [of the study].” Under pressure, Merck and Schering-Plough pulled their quirky “Food and Family” ads, but dwindling investor confidence still pushed Merck stock down to Vioxx-era levels. Martha Rosenberg of AlterNet.com opined, “Merck is repeating its mistakes … It’s getting tough to find any Merck drug that can hold up to scrutiny.”

7. Mark Penn: Spinning Out of Control

Mark Penn found himself dropped from the chief strategist role in Sen. Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign when The Wall Street Journal exposed Penn’s work on behalf of the government of Colombia, a client for whom Penn was also involved in arranging passage of a controversial trade bill opposed by, among others, Clinton herself. Penn was removed from the helm, although his polling firm, Penn, Schoen & Berland Associates, continued to provide services to the campaign. He ultimately admitted to an “error in judgment,” but how many of those can one person convincingly admit to? Penn’s other unbelievable missteps throughout the year, including praising McCain attack ads and demeaning Clinton supporters, calling them “downscale voters,” earn him a seat among serial PR blunderers. Jason Linkins of The Huffington Post called Penn “dumber than previously realized” and a “despised, incompetent … microtrending ninnybot.”

8. Senior Obama Campaigner Makes “a Monster” of a Slip

Sometimes a simple goof can be a major gaffe if committed by an insider. For example, Samantha Power, senior foreign policy advisor to presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, called Sen. Hillary Clinton “a monster” in a March interview with UK newspaper The Scotsman, then realized her error and immediately tried to withdraw her comment, claiming “that is off the record.” However, in the dustup to follow, blogger Michael Goldstein of http://www.MondayMorningMediaQuarterback.com noted that, “you can’t do it. There is no off the record.” Many journalists agree, including Gerri Peev, the Scotsman reporter who interviewed Power, who noted that journalists are “not in the business to self-censor … [they are] in the business to print the truth.”

9. “Absolut Mistake,” says PR Week

Swedish vodka-maker Absolut is famed for its clever, well-executed advertising campaigns, but the company hasn’t realized it’s a small world after all. According to PR Week, ads for the Mexican market from the company’s “Absolut World” campaign showing the western U.S. as Mexican territory “courted animosity” and “stirred up negative sentiment from … [those] who complain about the porous U.S. border” after appearing on U.S. blogs. Absolut pulled the offending ads and proffered a public apology on its corporate blogs, but competitor Skyy Vodka capitalized on the situation. According to Ken Wheaton’s Advertising Age blog, Skyy did “what a marketer should do in a situation like this, [taking] advantage of a competitor’s headache” by distributing a humorous press release in which it touts Skyy’s U.S. origins and production. Smart opportunistic marketing … with a twist.

10. Hut, Two, Three, Four, Berkeley Rants Against Our Corps

Berkeley, Calif., has always been known for an anti-establishment atmosphere, one in which free speech and independent thought are held dear. But when the Berkeley City Council denounced local Marine Corps recruiters as “uninvited and unwelcome intruders” and “sales people known to lie to and seduce minors,” it incited yet another nationally covered culture clash depicting Berkeley’s leadership as hopelessly out of touch. Although individual members of the Council did admit that they may have acted rashly, no apology was ever issued. According to Peter Schrag of the Sacramento Bee, the incident demonstrated “that you can be within shouting distance of one of the world’s great educational institutions and still be terminally stupid.”

 About the Fineman PR Top 10 PR Blunders List

San Francisco-based Fineman PR (http://www.finemanpr.com) assembles the annual PR Blunders List as a reminder that public relations is critical to businesses and organizations. Selections are limited to Americans, American companies or offenses that occurred in America. Selections are limited to avoidable acts or omissions that caused adverse publicity; image damage was done to self, company, society or others; and acts that were widely reported in 2008

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U.S. Special Forces Mistakenly Kill 6 Afghan Police

Posted on December 10, 2008 by Team VCS

December 10, 2008, Kabul, Afghanistan – U.S. Special Forces killed six Afghan police and wounded 13 early Wednesday in a case of mistaken identity by both sides after the police fired on the Americans during an operation against an insurgent commander, officials said.

A U.S. military statement said police fired on the American forces after the troops battled and killed an armed militant in the city of Qalat, the capital of the southern province of Zabul. The Americans returned fire on the police but only later learned their identities. One Afghan civilian was also killed in the exchange.

“Coalition forces deeply regret the incident of mistaken fire,” said Col. Jerry O’Hara, a U.S. military spokesman. “Initial reports indicate this was a tragic case of mistaken identity on both parts.”

Gulab Shah Alikhail, the province’s deputy governor, said U.S. Special Forces carried out an operation in a small village near a police checkpoint on the outskirts of Qalat. The police, thinking it was a Taliban attack, opened fire, he said. Then a helicopter fired on the security post and destroyed it, he said.

The attack collapsed the police station’s roof and damaged a civilian home nearby, said Gilani Khan, the deputy provincial police chief.

“Unfortunately, the Special Forces didn’t inform the police that they were going to the village,” Alikhail said.

U.S. officials quietly admit that they are hesitant to share detailed plans of raids against militant commanders for fear that government officials connected to the Taliban could tip off the militants of the impending operation.

The U.S. said the target of Wednesday’s raid was a militant commander “known to coordinate attacks against coalition forces along Highway One,” Afghanistan’s main highway that circles the country. The statement did not say if that commander had been killed in the operation.

Friendly fire between U.S. or NATO forces and Afghan troops or police happens several times a year. President Hamid Karzai has deplored the deaths of Afghan civilians during U.S. or NATO operations but has said that some friendly fire deaths are inevitable during war.

Officials from the Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Interior and U.S. forces traveled from Kabul to Qalat on Wednesday to investigate the deaths.

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Military Leaders Knew of Deadly Roadside Bomb Threat in Iraq But Did Nothing

Posted on December 10, 2008 by Team VCS

December 8, 2008 – The Marine Corps left troops in Iraq vulnerable to deadly roadside bombs by failing to answer an urgent request from battlefield commanders for blast-resistant vehicles, according to an internal Pentagon investigation obtained by The Associated Press. Acquisition officials shelved the February 2005 request for the “MRAPs” (pronounced EM-raps) after Marine leaders decided armored versions of the Humvee were the best answer to the improvised explosive devices that became the signature weapon of the Iraq war. However, the beefier Humvees proved incapable of withstanding the increasingly powerful IEDs.

The AP obtained portions of the investigation by the Pentagon inspector general. It was expected to be released publicly on Tuesday.

The Marine Corps and the other military branches were aware of the threat from mines and roadside bombs and of the commercial availability of MRAPs well before U.S. troops invaded Iraq in 2003, the report said. Yet nothing was done to acquire the vehicles.

“As a result, the department entered into operations in Iraq without having taken available steps to acquire technology to mitigate the known mine and IED risk to soldiers and Marines,” the report said.

This is the report’s most “damning conclusion,” Sen. Kit Bond, R-Mo., a critic of the military’s wartime procurement practices, said Monday. “It appears that some bureaucrats at the Pentagon have much to explain to the families of American troops who were killed or maimed when a lifesaving solution was within reach,” Bond said in an e-mail to the AP.

The inspector general’s nine-month inquiry was the result of complaints by Franz Gayl, a civilian defense official and whistle-blower who had accused the Marine Corps of “gross mismanagement” that led to a nearly two-year delay in shipping the MRAPs to Iraq.

Had the MRAPs been built and sent after commanders first asked for them in early 2005, hundreds of deaths and injuries could have been prevented, Gayl charged in a study that was first reported in February by The Associated Press.

The Pentagon IG report found no evidence of criminal negligence in the failure to provide the MRAPs when the vehicles were first requested. The portions of the report obtained by the AP do not directly link the lack of MRAPs to deaths of service members.

In a statement, the Marine Corps said it would be inappropriate to comment on the report until it is officially released. However, the Marine Corps noted that it requested the inquiry and worked closely with the investigators. It also said the service has greatly improved its system for responding to requests from troops for badly needed combat gear.

MRAPs weigh as much as 40 tons and have a V-shaped hull that deflects the blast out and away from the crew. More than 11,000 of the vehicles have been sent to Iraq and Afghanistan since May 2007 after Defense Secretary Robert Gates declared MRAPs the Pentagon’s No. 1 acquisition priority. The heavy trucks have been very effective at protecting American forces from IEDs.

The February 2005 urgent request for 1,169 MRAPs was signed by then-Brig. Gen. Dennis Hejlik. The Marines could not continue to take “serious and grave casualties” caused by IEDs when a solution was commercially available, wrote Hejlik, who was a commander in western Iraq from June 2004 to February 2005.

Yet despite the stark wording of Hejlik’s plea, the request was mishandled and eventually lost in bureaucracy. The inspector general puts most of blame on officials at Marine Corps Command Development Command. Headquartered at Quantico, Va., the command decides what gear to buy.

After receiving Hejlik’s request, the command didn’t pursue it aggressively. A few months later, then-Marine Corps Commandant Michael Hagee decided the armored Humvee, known as the M1114, was the best and mostly quickly available solution to the IED threat. By August, the Combat Development Command had dropped Hejlik’s request altogether even though the armored Humvee “did not adequately protect Marines from under-body IED attacks, which were increasing in Iraq,” the inspector general said.

Hagee, however, told investigators that while he wanted the armored Humvees, he didn’t intend for that to preclude the purchase of MRAPs or stop the Combat Development Command from responding to Hejlik’s request.

The report also challenged Hejlik’s later interpretation of what he meant by the urgent request. In July 2007, he said the Marine Corps’ decision to buy armored Humvees was the right one. His intent in signing the request was for the Marines to buy the MRAPs within two years to five years, not immediately.

But the inspector general disputed that, saying Hejlik’s initial request “clearly indicated that the requirement for MRAP-type vehicles was priority 1 and urgently needed.”

Gayl is the science and technology adviser in the Marine Corps’ plans, policies and operations department.

When Gayl’s study was disclosed in February, the Marine Corps called it a personal opinion at odds with the facts. Public affairs officers stressed his January study had not been reviewed by his immediate supervisor. The work was pre-decisional and did not reflect the views of the Marine Corps, they said.

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New Military Programs Aim to Curb Divorce Rates Among Service Members

Posted on December 10, 2008 by Team VCS

December 5, 2008 – Servicemembers and their spouses are flocking to a broad array of programs to help them strengthen their family relationships as the services step up efforts to curb divorce rates.

Military divorce rates rose by .1 percent — to 3.4 percent — during fiscal 2008, with 492 more divorces than the previous year, said Army Lt. Col Les’ Melnyk, a Pentagon spokesman.

Military-wide, 25,750 marriages ended in divorce last year.

The Marine Corps, with 3,077 divorces last year, experienced the biggest increase, from 3.3 percent in fiscal 2007 to 3.7 percent.

The Army rate also increased — to 3.5 percent — with 10,200 divorces last year. The Army reported a 3.3 percent rate in fiscal 2007, with 9,134 divorces.

Meanwhile, divorce rates dropped .2 percent last year in the Navy and remained stable in the Air Force. The Navy reported a 3 percent rate in fiscal 2008, with 5,441 divorces representing a 618 decrease from the previous year’s number.

The Air Force reported a 3.5 percent divorce rate in both fiscal 2007 and 2008, but the actual number of divorces dropped by 618 — to 7,032.

Comparing these statistics to civilian divorce rates is difficult, officials said, but most sources agree that about 50 percent of first marriages end in divorce in the United States. The highest incidence of civilian divorces is within the 20- to 29-year-old population, which also makes up the largest percentage of the military.

Recognizing the hardships military life often imposes — and the challenges it can place on family relationships — the military services are working to buck societal trends through a full range of outreach programs. The programs are offered through the services’ family support, chaplain and mental health counseling networks and range from support groups for spouses of deployed troops to weekend retreats for military couples.

The Marine Corps provides various programs and counseling opportunities to assist couples in enriching their marriages and dealing with stresses inherent in the military lifestyle, said Greg Gordon from the Marine Corps’ Personal and Family Readiness Division.

These include the Prevention and Relationship Enhancement Program, a two-day workshop that teaches couples how to manage conflict, solve problems, communicate effectively, and preserve and enhance their commitment and friendship. Participants begin the program by taking a marriage survey to help them evaluate their relationship and identify problems before they become serious. The four top problems generally involve communication, children and parenting, money and sexual intimacy, Mr. Gordon said.

In addition, a retreat program called the Chaplains Religious Enrichment Development Operation is designed to help Marines and their family members develop personal and spiritual resources.

The Army also has numerous programs aimed at helping couples. The goal is to build resiliency in Soldiers — 58 percent of them married — and the families who stand by them, said Lt. Col. George Wright, an Army spokesman.

The programs focus on communication, intimacy and conflict management, which research shows increases marriage satisfaction and reduces marital challenges.

“Military families have to adjust to more transitions than the typical family,” said Chaplain (Lt. Col.) Carleton Birch, from the Army’s Chief of Chaplains Office. “These programs strengthen the bonds that build resiliency in Army families.”

The centerpiece of the Army program is “Strong Bonds,” a program initiated by commanders and led by chaplains that helps Soldiers and their families build strong relationships. Strong Bonds has four parts: a general couples program, programs tailored for couples preparing for or returning from deployments, and programs for families and single Soldiers.

Much of the training is provided in a retreat-style format so Soldiers and their families can get away from their daily routines “to focus on their important relationships,” Colonel Wright said.

Participation in the program has doubled every year since the program started five years ago, Chaplain Birch said. So far, more than 60,000 couples have participated in the training.

The National Institutes of Health, which recently completed the first year of a five-year study evaluating the program’s effectiveness in building family resiliency, found “encouraging early results,” Chaplain Birch said.

Meanwhile, an attendee gave a full-fledged endorsement of the program’s value after attending a recent Strong Bonds session at Fort Sam Houston, Texas.

“This is the first time since getting back from Iraq in April where I have felt that I am capable as well as confident enough to lead my family in a loving and caring environment,” he said. “The tools that I have learned will serve us a lifetime. This should be mandatory training for all married couples.”

While praising the benefits these programs offer families, officials said they recognize that strong marital and family relationships make better Soldiers.

It also has an important impact on a soldier’s decision to re-enlist, Birch said. Quoting other Army leaders, he said, “The Army recruits Soldiers, but it retains families.”

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A 21st Century Veterans Affairs

Posted on December 9, 2008 by Team VCS

December 8, 2008 – Yesterday, President-elect Barack Obama named ret. Army Gen. Eric Shinseki as his Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA), promising “the kind of VA that will serve our veterans as well as they have served us.” Shinseki will face one of the country’s most daunting tasks: managing an institution already plagued by backlogs, scandals, and inadequate resources, and is increasingly taxed by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. During the press conference, Shinseki spoke directly to veterans: “If confirmed, I will work each and every day to ensure that we are serving you as well as you have served us. We will pursue a 21st-century VA that serves your needs.” The nomination of the first Asian-American to the post — Shinseki, a Japanese-American, grew up in Hawaii — carried extra poignancy coming on the 67th anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attacks. Military officials and some veterans organizations immediately praised Obama’s announcement. Former Secretary of State Gen. Colin Powell called Shinseki “an inspired selection.” “He is a man that has always put patriotism ahead of politics, and is held in high regard by veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan,” read a statement by the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America.

TWO PURPLE HEARTS: Shinseki is most famous for publicly contradicting Bush administration officials’ overly optimistic predictions about the war in Iraq. In 2003, then serving as the Army’s chief of staff, he told Congress that it would take several hundred thousand U.S. troops to secure Iraq. The Bush administration’s failure to heed Shinseki’s warnings led to a decimation of the U.S. military — underequipped forces, an over-reliance on the National Guard and Reserves, a dangerous stop-loss policy, and an increasing number troops coming home with mental and physical problems. As University of Michigan professor Juan Cole told the Washington Post, “If Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz and [former undersecretary for defense Douglas J.] Feith had listened to Shinseki, there wouldn’t be as many wounded veterans to take care of.” Shinseki served two combat tours in Vietnam, receiving two Purple Hearts and four Bronze Stars. He has frequently worked with wounded veterans and visited Walter Reed Army Medical Center, referring to it as a “members-only section” since he, too, is an amputee.

A DOWNTRODDEN AGENCY: In 2002 and 2003, Bush administration officials tried to sell the public on an Iraq invasion by arguing that the costs to the United States would be almost nonexistent. “Under every plausible scenario, the negative effect will be quite small relative to the economic benefits,” said then-White House adviser Lawrence Lindsey. Bush administration officials not only completely miscalculated the billions the United States would have to spend on combat and reconstruction but also failed to plan for the cost of caring for wounded troops after the war. The Iraq war has seen an unprecedented number of troops who “have been wounded or injured and survived,” according to economists Joseph E. Stiglitz and Linda J. Bilmes. The ratio for Iraq and Afghanistan has been seven injuries for every fatality — by far the largest in U.S. history — compared to 2.6 and 2.8 for the Vietnam and Korean wars, respectively. The result of this lack of preparation has been a badly neglected VA, with the appalling conditions at Walter Reed as only the tip of the iceberg. In July 2007, Jim Nicholson resigned as VA Secretary in disgrace, leaving a tenure during which he stood by and even supported the Bush administration’s slashing of the agency. President Bush has, in fact, repeatedly objected to large increases in the budget for veterans’ medical care. However, Nicholson’s departure hasn’t cleared up all the problems. Under new secretary James Peake, VA officials have been trying to cover up data on the troubling rise in suicides among veterans.

SHINSEKI’S CHALLENGES: Veterans are suffering the consequences of the Bush administration’s neglect. Last year, a Harvard Medical School study found that one in eight veterans younger than 65 is uninsured. Military retirees who are insured are often paying more for medical care than other retirees. Despite the Bush administration’s promises to reform the veterans’ care system after the Walter Reed scandal, a Government Accountability Office report last year found that delays for disability payments “still average 177 days — nearly six months — with no indication that dramatic improvement is in the offing.” One of Shinseki’s most pressing challenges will be modernizing the VA to deal with the increasing number of mental health troubles faced by soldiers coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan. Nearly 20 percent of returning veterans have post-traumatic stress disorder, but only about half of them seek treatment.  Another area where the VA has fallen short is in its treatment of women veterans. As the AP has reported, “Of the women veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan who have walked into a VA facility, 15 percent have screened positive for military sexual trauma.” Roughly 180,000 women have been deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, and last year, the VA) “treated more than 255,000 female veterans. The number is expected to double within five years.”

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