Target Centermass

Category: Military

  • Vietnamese Agent Orange Claim Dismissed

    If the 2004 presidential election proved anything, it’s that the controversial legacy of the Viet Nam War ain’t going away anytime soon. Well, maybe one lawsuit spawned by the conflict will finally be laid to rest.

    A U.S. federal judge has ruled American chemical companies are not liable for damages caused by the spraying of Agent Orange during the Vietnam War.

    Judge Jack Weinstein Thursday dismissed a lawsuit that accused the companies of committing war crimes by producing the highly toxic chemical.

    The suit was filed on behalf of Vietnamese citizens who have blamed Agent Orange for health problems including cancer and birth defects.

    U.S. forces sprayed some 80 million liters of the chemical during the war to kill jungle foliage that communist forces were using as cover.

    Judge Weinstein said the plaintiffs’ claims have no basis under any national or international laws. He also said the plaintiffs had failed to prove a clear link between Agent Orange and their illnesses.

    There was no immediate reaction from plaintiffs or the Vietnamese government.

    So many aspects of that war against communist aggression, one of the key hot theaters of the Cold War, have long since become indelibly and unfairly cemented into the public mind — the tales of American atrocities, images of a summary execution or a naked child running in fear, the anguished stereotypical veteran, the phrase “We had to destroy the village in order to save it” (which I plan to blog about at a later date), and the lingering horrors of the defoliant Agent Orange.

    What is the truth behind the actual health effects of exposure to Agent Orange? Well, despite today’s decision, the scientific jury is still out decades later. However, as the Mackenzie Institute noted in a paper on the controversy surrounding depleted uranium rounds, the evidence to date is not looking too good for those who continue to trumpet the evils of the defoliant.

    Anyone remember Agent Orange?

    Starting in 1969 and continuing through until the early 1990s, hundreds of Vietnam veterans blamed health problems, tumors and even psychological conditions on purported exposure to Agent Orange during the Vietnam War. The Agent Orange scare was strongly encouraged by the environmental lobby, the Peace Movement, and the Hanoi government. Fabricating or distorting evidence is quick and simple, while a truth that depends on scientific evidence can take a long time to show up. Naturally, as the scientists were dragging their heels, the media turned to the sensationalists and the Agent Orange Myth took on a life of its own.

    Dioxin, the accused killer in Agent Orange can be dangerous and in large dosages is very lethal … to laboratory rats. Exposures humans receive are another matter. However, the thousands of Italians who were exposed to heavy doses of dioxin in a 1976 industrial accident did not develop excessive birth defects or reproductive failures. A 1984 Journal of the American Medical Association article on workers who had been exposed to a heavy dose of dioxins in a 1949 accident indicated these men did not have higher rates of cancer, heart or liver damage, nerve problems, kidney damage, reproductive problems or birth defects than was the average for men of their age group. They did have slightly higher rates of chloracne and digestive tract ulcers — both of which are quite treatable.

    If any Vietnam Veterans had come down with problems related to Agent Orange, it would have been the high living “cowboys” of the Ranch Hand project — the US Airmen who actually sprayed the stuff. Flying at near-stall speeds about 50m above ground level, these servicemen took a lot of ground-fire. Indeed, one of their aircraft — known as “Patches” — is in the Air Force Museum in Dayton Ohio. Often, they ended up coated in Agent Orange when they sprayed it or had it sluicing around their ankles after being shot-up again. Moreover, at initiations for new members of their Squadron, both the newcomers and the older veterans would drink a glass of the defoliant.

    Over 1,174 of the 1,206 veterans of this squadron have participated in a careful 20-year study of the results of their exposure to Agent Orange. Net result? The Ranch Hand group continues to have the same mortality rate as their control group of 1,293 similar men — and both have a lower mortality rate than the average American Male population. The only real difference in rates of those ailments associated with dioxin, despite massive exposure to Agent Orange, was that the Ranch Hand vets had a slightly higher tendency to display problems related to heavy drinking — something many of them engaged in as young servicemen on a nerve-wracking duty.

    Otherwise, after $400 million in real research, the great Agent Orange scare turned out to be a bust. Real — verifiable and accurate — scientific research does not indict the material. However, it remains an article of faith among environmentalists and peace-movement members that the stuff is deadly. They believe and that is enough.

    Too bad the verdict has already been rendered in the court of public opinion, but that’s true of so much about the Viet Nam War.

  • US Wants Bases in Romania, Bulgaria

    A baby step in the right direction — getting our troops closer to the likely action and away from the whiners.

    The commander of U.S. forces in Europe, General James Jones, says the United States is ready to begin negotiations with new NATO members Romania and Bulgaria about basing U.S. forces in those countries.

    General Jones told a House of Representatives committee Wednesday that officers under his command have made repeated visits to Romania and Bulgaria, and the time has come to begin formal talks on basing U.S. forces in those countries.

    “We are definitely at the launching point, as opposed to the conceptual point,” he said.

    General Jones says the possibility of basing U.S. forces in Romania and Bulgaria fits into the Defense Department’s plans re-structure its force deployment around the world. The plan is to move away from large bases far from potential conflict zones, to smaller bases closer to where the forces might be used.

    “We’re very excited at the possibility, in the European transformation, of basing an Eastern European brigade, a rotational brigade, in Bulgaria and Romania, along with the accompanying air assets and logistical assets necessary to sustain that presence,” he added.

    A brigade would be between 3,000-5,000 troops, plus supporting units.

    General Jones, who is also the NATO supreme commander, says talks with the two new NATO members should begin soon on details of the basing arrangements, which he said could include ports, airfields and facilities for ground forces.

    “I believe that this year we will now turn to dialogue with both nations to work out the basing agreements, the status-of-forces agreements, and the most important one is the access that the United States wishes to have to its forces,” General Jones said. “I think the secretary of defense has been very strong in saying that we don’t want to put forces where we can’t get at them. And so we have to work out those agreements. But I think that in the case of Bulgaria and Romania we will.”

    In the past, some countries that host U.S. forces have refused to allow those forces to be deployed directly to conflict areas, or the base facilities to be used in operations that the host country does not support. This was a problem with U.S. forces in Turkey when the Iraq war began two years ago.

    But General Jones indicated he does not expect such issues with Bulgaria and Romania, which he described as “extraordinarily accommodating” and expressing a strong desire to have part of the U.S. European Command on their soil.

    The general did not mention the incident last week in which U.S. forces apparently killed a Bulgarian soldier by mistake in Iraq.

    After the last couple of years, I want us to completely get out of Germany and base our European forces where they can be closer to the expected fight, away from the spineless, and in a position to economically reward our current allies and friends. Put them in Romania, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic and especially Poland.

    And maybe put a hell of an R&R base in England. Like Vegas with fish and chips.

  • Sgrena’s Car — How Fast, How Shot?

    An Italian government official and the U.S. Army are in sharp disagreement on the speed of the car that was carrying alleged hostage and anti-American journalist Giuliana Sgrena and the late intelligence officer Nicola Calipari.

    Italian Foreign Minister Gianfranco Fini told his country’s parliament today that the shooting was an accident, but he contradicted the U.S. military’s account of the incident. The U.S. Army’s 3rd Infantry Division, which controls Baghdad, said in a statement that the vehicle was “traveling at high speeds” and did not stop at the checkpoint, despite a number of warnings. The military said U.S. soldiers only opened fire after the car ignored the warnings.

    Fini, however, said the car was traveling no faster than 25 mph, and disputed the U.S. military’s assertion that several warnings were given. He said the U.S. government must conduct a thorough investigation, “that responsibilities be pinpointed, and, where found, that the culprits be punished.”

    Okay, so we’ve established with some degree of certainty the vehicle was traveling somewhere over a 75+ mph range. I’m sure that’s a clue somehow. Oh yeah, it’s a clue that Sgrena’s a liar, as she’s on record as saying the driver had almost lost control. And perhaps Fini can explain why he wants to punish the “culprits” of an admitted accident.

    Meanwhile, pictures of the car have been released that cast further doubts on Sgrena’s tale of an “avalanche of gunfire” from the American’s so-called ambush. Dr. Rusty Shackleford, on the story at the Jawa Report since the beginning, has them and links to a solid collection of other blogs’ postings on the matter.

  • A Serious Case of Tube Envy

    I loved my 105mm on the M60-A3 and M-1. I really loved my 120mm smoothbore on the M1-A1. But, as much as it pains me to admit, the guns of the world’s navies have managed some things that are absolute masterpieces of killing art.

    So beautiful, they bring tears to my eyes.

  • China: Projecting the Power Projection

    Previously, I’ve blogged about a recent Pentagon report looking at the modernization program undertaken by the Chinese military, writing the following:

    This is important as, on the ground, China has the obvious numerical advantage. Their problem would be in projecting this power. The areas they are focusing upon (missiles, aircraft, subs) are crucial in their ability to threaten Taiwan and blunt our ability to support the Taiwanese defenses.

    Similarly, I’ve examined a proposed piece of Chinese anti-seccession legislation which China could use as a legal foundation for an assault on Tiawan. In that post, I concluded as follows:

    Though they are working to upgrade and enhance their forces, it is doubtful that China currently has the air and naval capabilities to attack and bring about a successful conclusion before the impact of U.S. assistance to Taiwan is felt. A failed assault by China could possibly serve to strengthen Taiwan’s position in international circles while weakening China’s at home.

    Again, just last night I again warned about a possible arm race looming with China as they seek to upgrade their ability to project their power.

    Call it just lucky timing, as today I found an extensive and detailed examination of the matter by McQ over at the QandO blog. McQ has done an excellent job of drawing on several sources to flesh out Chinese strategy, both in the immediate future and for decades.

    McQ starts from essentially the same baseline that I did.

    One of China’s problems, in that regard, has been its inability, militarily to attack Taiwan and then sustain its army. A) it doesn’t have the military transport (in shipping) to land and sustain an army on Taiwan and B) it doesn’t have the navy to protect those sealanes (i.e. the Taiwan straits) even if it did have the transport.

    China has the air transport to accomplish an airborne invasion, but airborne troops are very light fighters and would be overwhelmed fairly quickly. What China needs, obviously, is naval shipping which can land troops and armor for that type of an operation.

    After that, McQ’s research points towards a more dire near-future situation than I had previously estimated.

    I’m not trying to be an alarmist here, and certainly if the Chinese are only getting a few Zubars to check out, it would argue against an imminent invasion of Taiwan. But to me the signs are unmistakable.

    Another obvious part of any plan to invade Taiwan would be their navy, and the most important requirement for their navy is to be of the strength and capablity to hold the Taiwan Straits indefinitely in order for any invasion force to have a chance at success.

    Are the Peoples Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) preparing for that? According to reports, they may very well be doing exactly that with a two phase strategic plan.

    […]

    Personally, and this is my opinion, I think Taiwan’s days are numbered if China is successful in implementing the plan outlined here. It will be a few decades from now but it seems apparent that China has plans to take the island whether the US or the world care.

    There’s an eye-opening amount of information in McQ’s work — go give it a read.

  • Army Faces Recruiting Woes Amid Iraq War

    Times are tough for recruiters and the goals are getting tougher to meet. Sure, there’s that Iraq thing, but I also blame that silly “Army of One” campaign.

    The U.S. Army has fallen behind its recruiting goals, officials said on Thursday, amid the violence of an Iraq war that has now claimed more than 1,500 American lives.

    “The war is obviously having an effect,” said Army Recruiting Command spokesman Douglas Smith. “Our recruiters are having to spend more time with hesitation on the part of potential applicants and their families. People are very alert to the fact of the risks that go along with Army service.”

    The active-duty U.S. Army missed its recruiting target for February by 27.5 percent, and had slipped about 6 percent behind its year-to-date goal for fiscal 2005, which ends Sept. 30, the Army Recruiting Command said. That marked the first time since May 2000 the Army missed a monthly recruiting goal.

    “It is a matter of concern,” said chief Pentagon spokesman Lawrence Di Rita, adding the Army had increased enlistment bonuses and boosted by 20 percent its number of recruiters.

    The Army Reserve and Army National Guard, whose part-time soldiers have shouldered a heavy load in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, also are reporting recruiting shortfalls. The Army Reserve missed its goals in January and February and is behind its recruiting targets for the year.

    The Army National Guard, which missed its 2004 recruiting target, did not provide February numbers, but said it had shortfalls for the first four months of the current fiscal year through January.

    Separately, the Marine Corps said on Wednesday it missed its goals for recruits signing up in January and February. The Marines said they met last month’s target for new recruits actually entering boot camps.

    The article goes on to detail the recruiting numbers for the Army and its reserve components.

    The 500,000-strong Army has not missed an annual recruiting goal since 1999, and aims for 80,000 recruits in 2005. It fell 1,936 short of its February goal of 7,050, and through February was 1,823 short of its year-to-date goal of 29,185 recruits.

    The 210,000-strong Army Reserve has set a 2005 goal of 22,175 recruits. Through February, it was 643 behind its target of 6,230 after falling 330 short of its monthly goal of 1,320.

    The 345,000-strong Army National Guard fell about 7,000 short of last year’s recruiting goal of 56,000. It aims for 63,000 recruits this year. Through January, it was 4,014 behind its target of 16,835.

    Hmmmm…

  • Rumsfeld Hit with Torture Lawsuits

    Add this to the long list of lawsuits deservedly going nowhere fast.

    Human rights groups filed a lawsuit against the United States Defence Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, yesterday on behalf of eight men allegedly tortured by US forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.

    Anthony Romero, of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) , said Mr Rumsfeld bears “direct responsibility” because he “personally signed off” on policies guiding prisoner treatment.

    It is the latest in a number of lawsuits resulting from the abuse scandal at Iraq’s Abu Ghraib prison.

    The ACLU said yesterday’s suit alleged the eight men suffered physical and psychological injuries while incarcerated in US detention facilities in Iraq and Afghanistan.

    It alleges that they were subjected to torture, including severe and repeated beatings, cutting with knives, sexual humiliation and assault, mock executions, death threats, and restraint in contorted and excruciating positions.

    Beyond the obvious difficulty of linking Rummy to the rogue behaviour of the detainee abuse cases, just exactly how the Abu Ghraib story is related to American civil liberties is absolutely lost on me.

  • Quality Time and a Canada Tidbit

    Not much tonight, folks.

    One quick observation: CNN currently has the links to the following two stories side by side on their front page:

    Interceptor Missile Hits Test Target

    Canada Won’t Join Missile Defense Shield

    From the latter story is this little gem:

    Talking to reporters several minutes after his foreign minister first announced the move in the House of Commons, Martin said Canada would instead focus on strengthening its own military and defense in proposals laid out Wednesday in the federal budget.

    “Canada recognizes the enormous burden that the United States shoulders, when it comes to international peace and security,” [Canadian Prime Minister Paul]Martin said. “The substantial increases made yesterday to our defense budget are a tangible indication that Canada intends to carry its full share of that responsibility.”

    The federal budget presented to the House of Commons calls for $10.5 billion in the next five years to increase the country’s beleaguered armed forces — including an additional 5,000 soldiers and 3,000 reservists — the largest commitment to defense in two decades. It also called for another $807,950 to improve Canada’s anti-terrorism efforts and security along the unarmed, 4,000-mile border with the United States.

    Substantial increase? Largest commitment? Damian Brooks over at Babbling Brooks disagrees. Quite strongly.

    Don’t get me wrong: this is much better than the kick in the teeth our people in uniform have gotten for at least the past ten years. But to sell this bandaid as some blessed newfound commitment to our military is typical political dishonesty.

  • Army Wife Faces Fake Death Notification

    The stories of the treatment of American military personnel during the days of Viet Nam by some of their own countrymen still disgustingly resound today. These days, some are trying to top that distastefulness by targeting loved ones left behind in a far more ominous manner.

    Military police are investigating a cruel hoax in which a man wearing an Army dress uniform falsely told the wife of a soldier that her husband had been killed in Iraq.

    Investigators are trying to determine why the man delivered the false death notice and whether he was a soldier or a civilian wearing a military uniform.

    “We’re taking it extremely seriously. Whatever motivation was behind it, it was a sick thing to do,” said Fort Stewart spokesman Lt. Col. Robert Whetstone.

    Well, yes, it is quite a horridly sick thing to do. The obvious question, however, is simply this — are we dealing with a sick person delighting in inflicting distress or a sick person taking delight in a similar manner but also with a political motive?

    Last month, 19,000 soldiers from the Fort Stewart-based 3rd Infantry Division deployed for their second tour of duty in Iraq. At least eight division soldiers have been killed since then.

    Fort Stewart officials would not identify the Army wife who reported to military police that a man posing as a casualty assistance officer came to her door February 10.

    “Right off the bat, she noticed some things were not right,” Whetstone said. “The individual’s uniform wasn’t correct — there were no markings or name tags. Plus, the person was alone, and she knew one person does not make (death) notifications.”

    Whetstone said no similar hoaxes have been reported.

    When the 3rd Infantry first deployed to Iraq for the 2003 invasion, some Fort Stewart families reported receiving phone calls from pranksters saying their soldiers had been killed.

    I just wanted to point out that it is my opinion that the reporter is taking serious liberties with the concepts of hoaxes and pranks. The bastard didn’t throw toilet paper into trees — he played on the deepest of fears of those with loved ones in harm’s way.

    This time around, troops and their spouses got pre-deployment briefings that included detailed explanations of how death notices work. Two soldiers, including a chaplain, in dress uniform always arrive to tell the family in person. The Army never makes notifications over the telephone.

    Fort Stewart spouses have been spreading news of the latest hoax, said Army wife Michelle Dombrowski, who received an e-mail more than a week ago reporting the incident.

    “I can’t believe that someone would do that,” said Dombrowski, whose husband, Staff Sgt. Joe Dombrowski, is deployed with the 3rd Infantry. “I know the protocol, though.”

    Military police described the suspected hoaxer as being 6-feet, 1-inch tall and about 180 pounds with black or brown hair and a pale complexion. He was reported to be driving a blue or green pickup truck with chrome wheels, oversized tires and a Georgia license plate.

    Feel free to go check the CNN article for a police sketch of this demented punk. Apparently, blue-star wives and families should be on the lookout for a tall, narrow-eyed version of E.T.

  • Homeless Veterans Buried with Honor

    Old soldiers never die; they just fade away. And like the old soldier in that ballad, I now close my military career and just fade away, an old soldier who tried to do his duty as God gave him the sight to see that duty.

    —Douglas MacArthur

    All too often, old soldiers fade away too far, becoming lost, drifting amidst a society they once served. Who knows how many remain this way, depart this way from the living? It is heartening to know that the Department of Veterans Affairs and a network of funeral homes are working together to pay final honors to as many of these lost soldiers as can be identified.

    In the news today is the story of two homeless veterans who were laid to rest with honors (registration required, but I’ve quoted generously):

    The death of Harold Dean Harris in an abandoned building might have led to a pauper’s grave. Papers found among his few belongings allowed him to be buried Thursday with full military fanfare.

    No friends or family came, and no old Army buddies swapped stories. But tears were shed amid pageantry befitting the passing of a soldier. The peace of the morning air was broken with a 21-gun salute fired by a somber group of paralyzed veterans.

    Harris, 63, and Hayden Glyn Kresge, 53, were laid to rest at Dallas-Fort Worth National Cemetery because of a partnership between the Department of Veterans Affairs and a nationwide funeral home network. The program provides dignified burials for destitute vets.

    Very little was known about either man, both of whom served two-year Army stints decades earlier. Neither had relatives or friends at their brief, back-to-back ceremonies.

    A few VA officials came to pay tribute, and a group of homeless men acted as pall bearers.

    “Without you who came out on this cold day, these men would have had to go to their graves alone,” said Cindy Simpson of Dignity Memorial Funeral Providers, a coalition of funeral homes that helped pay for the burials.

    Disabled American Veterans chaplain Cynthia Burks received the flag from Harris’ flag-draped casket. Moving with military precision, Deputy Commander Michael Riley of the Paralyzed Veterans of America wheeled forward to give Burks three polished brass rounds from the rifle volleys – representing duty, honor and country.

    “When one is in need, we’ll be right there beside them,” Burks said tearfully. “It was an honor to accept this flag.”

    The Rev. Alton Jones, a former homeless veteran, officiated at both services. He called on the handful who gathered to look ahead to a life without sickness, sorrow or homelessness.

    […]

    Jamie Jewell, another funeral home representative, said neither man had as much as a photograph to remember them.

    “Obviously, Mr. Harris was proud of his service,” she said, “because he had his papers in his wallet.”

    There are nearly 300,000 veterans in the United States homeless on any given night, according to the VA. Since the program began two years ago, more than 300 homeless veterans have been buried with honors. Dignity covers costs not provided by the VA, such as the casket and a hearse. Volunteers stand in for absent loved ones.

    “I really feel every veteran deserves full military honors, especially homeless veterans who die alone,” Riley said. “No matter what their walk of life was after they left the service, the fact remains that they did serve our country. To me, it’s the highest honor a person could do.”

    The process leading to the burial starts with the medical examiner, who notifies the VA. A committee that includes veterans groups then confirm eligibility. The criteria is: honorable discharge, homelessness and no one claiming the body.

    Kresge, who served from 1971-73, died Jan. 21 after being taken to a Dallas hospital. He suffered from hardening of the arteries, hypertension and diabetes. A chaplain knew of his military service and passed the information on.

    Harris’ body was found Jan. 14 in an abandoned building that apparently had become his makeshift home. He suffered from Hepatitis C. He served from 1961-63.

    “A veteran when he’s homeless goes through pride, and doesn’t want to contact family and loved ones and let them know how bad things have gotten,” Jones said.

    Thank you for your service, Harold Dean Harris and Hayden Glyn Kresge. Sleep well.