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VA BUCKLES TO DoD PRESSURE AND LOWERS "WOUNDED"
TALLY -- VA had posted 50,508 wounded in Iraq
and
Afghanistan. Now they say it's just 21,649.
Wounded is wounded.
This whole thing smacks of the phony
"body counts" we got during the Vietnam War.
DoD and VA will give the lowest numbers
and try to justify them with bureaucratic double-speak.
The lower number sounds good. But,
the higher number is what the VA needs to recognize because they will
all be seeking healthcare.
Story here...
http://www.nytimes.com/
2007/01/30/us/30wound.html?_r
=1&ref=world&oref=slogin
Story below:
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Agency Says Higher Casualty Total Was Posted in Error
By DENISE GRADY
For the last few months, anyone who consulted the Veterans Affairs
Department’s Web site to learn how many American troops had been wounded
in Iraq and Afghanistan would have found this number: 50,508.
But on Jan. 10, without explanation, the figure plummeted to 21,649.
Which number is correct? The answer depends on a larger question, the
definition of wounded. If the term includes combat or “hostile” injuries
inflicted by the enemy, the definition the Pentagon uses, the smaller
number would be right.
But if it also applies to injuries from accidents like vehicle crashes
and to mental and physical illnesses that developed in the war zone, the
meaning that veterans’ groups favor, 50,508 would be accurate.
A spokesman for the veterans’ department, Matt Burns, said the change in
the count was made simply to correct an error. Mr. Burns said the
department posted the higher figure by mistake in November, when an
employee who was updating the site inadvertently added noncombat
injuries listed by the Defense Department. The Pentagon Web site had the
correct total all along.
The previous total on the Web site was 18,586, strictly for combat
injuries. Apparently, no one noticed the sudden leap.
The 50,508 figure caught the attention of the Pentagon when Prof. Linda
Bilmes of Harvard mentioned it in an opinion article on Jan. 5 in The
Los Angeles Times. A few days later, said Professor Bilmes, who teaches
public finance, she had a call from Dr. William Winkenwerder Jr.,
assistant secretary of defense for health affairs, challenging the
number.
Professor Bilmes explained that she had used the government tally, the
one on the “America’s Wars” page of the veterans’ department Web site.
She faxed him a copy.
A few days later, the number on the Web site was changed.
A spokeswoman for Dr. Winkenwerder confirmed that he had called the
veterans’ department to have the figure corrected and that the worker
had misunderstood the Defense Department figures.
For her purposes, Professor Bilmes said, the higher figure was the
relevant one because she was writing about the future demands that
wounded veterans would place on the veterans’ health care system. Many
of the veterans would be treated in the system regardless of whether
they had been injured in combat or in vehicle crashes.
About 1.4 million troops have served in Iraq or Afghanistan, and more
than 205,000 have sought care from the veterans’ agency, according to
the government. Of those, more than 73,000 sought treatment for mental
problems like post-traumatic stress disorder.
No one disputes that more 50,000 troops have been injured in Iraq and
Afghanistan or that nonhostile injuries can be serious. Of the more than
3,000 deaths that have occurred, 600 have been listed as nonhostile.
The Pentagon generally directs reporters to
www.defenselink.mil , which
lists counts of the wounded and dead. The deaths are divided into
hostile and nonhostile, but the injuries include just those “wounded in
action.”
Another site on the Web,
http://siadapp.dior.
whs.mil/personnel/CASUALTY/castop.htm , shows diseases and
nonhostile injuries. It is the source of the higher counts.
“The government keeps two sets of books,” said Paul Sullivan, director
of research and analysis for Veterans of America. Until last March, Mr.
Sullivan was a project manager in the Veterans Affairs Department who
monitored the use of disability benefits by Afghanistan, gulf war and
Iraq veterans.
He suggested that the differing numbers might be cleared up by a bill
that has been introduced in the Senate to improve the collection of
health information on Afghanistan and Iraq veterans.
---------------
Larry Scott
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