Army Apologizes for Handling of Chemical Weapon Exposure Cases

[herding cats]

Source: New York Times

WASHINGTON — The under secretary of the Army on Wednesday apologized for the military’s treatment of American service members exposed to chemical weapons in Iraq, and announced new steps to provide medical support to those with lingering health effects and to recognize veterans who had been denied awards.

Under Secretary Brad R. Carson acknowledged that the military had not followed its own policies for caring for troops exposed to old and abandoned chemical munitions that had been scattered around Iraq, and vowed improvement. He also said that the Army had reversed a previous decision and approved a Purple Heart medal for a soldier burned by sulfur mustard agent, and that he expected more medals would be issued to other veterans after further review.

“To me the scandal is that we had protocols in place and the medical community knew what they were, and yet we failed in some cases to implement this across the theater,” he said. “That was a mistake, and I apologize for that. I apologize for past actions and am going to fix it going forward.”

<>

The report found that insurgents had used some of the weapons in roadside bombs, that most of the episodes had never been publicly acknowledged and that many troops who had been wounded by the blister or nerve agents had received substandard medical care and denied military awards.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/26/world/middleeast/army-apologizes-for-handling-of-chemical-weapon-exposure-cases.html

[erronis]

1. Better late than never? Too late for some, way too late for the 'nam agent orange vets.

Why, oh why does it take our military so long to acknowledge that their service members have been harmed by chemical/biological munitions?

In this particular case the Army is blaming insurgents use of old weaponry. Perhaps that is true but I think it is also possible that we were sending soldiers into areas without adequate protection against these types of agents.

In the case of Vietnam, the agents were deployed by the US and the troops were also exposed without adequate protection (or knowledge.)

The answer to the question about why we don't deal with the facts when they happen is that we don't want anybody to know about it until the war is over and the mission is accomplished. Besides, it costs millions of dollars to treat these cases and we just don't have it in the budget.

[mpcamb]

3. "Why, oh why does it take our military so long to acknowledge that their service members have been h

armed..."

Because they are so busy sending underlings out to lie about it to the press for years and years before admitting it.

[heaven05]

2. first

nuclear test exposure(s) in the 50's. Agent Orange n the 60's-70's and now this along with depleted uranium in iraqand Afghanistan. Do they really give a damn about us pawns on the ground? I just see a pattern here in which I must come to the conclusion, no. The soldier means nothing to the bottom line. I've had exposure to Agent Orange and dealing with that exposure now, so I can speak for my generation of soldier-pawn with some certainty. Some of my friends who were grunts, died real early from cancers ect.........

[NWModerate]

4. Army apologizes for handling of non-existent WMDs?

Wait. I thought Bush lied and there were no WMD in Iraq? But this post says US troops were wounded by blister or nerve agents?!

[arcane1]

5. Old-ass rusted out cannisters that troops mishandled. Not threats to America.

Nice try.