“They really don’t want this out”: The biggest Iraq War scandal that nobody’s talking about

[G_j]

http://www.salon.com/2016/02/16/burn_pits/

“They really don’t want this out”: The biggest Iraq War scandal that nobody’s talking about

“The Burn Pits” reveals how a Dick Cheney-connected company got rich while U.S. soldiers got poisoned

Liam O'Donoghue

The first 10 pages of “The Burn Pits: The Poisoning of America’s Soldiers” will rip your heart out. In the opening chapter of this new book, Joseph Hickman, a former U.S. Marine and Army sergeant, shares the brief and tragic life story of one Iraq War veteran. In a nutshell, a healthy young man shipped off to Iraq, was stationed at a U.S. military base where he was exposed to a constant stream of toxic smoke, returned home with horrible respiratory problems, was denied care by the VA, developed brain cancer and died.

Thousands of soldiers have suffered similar fates since serving in the vicinity of the more than 250 military burn pits that operated at bases throughout Iraq and Afghanistan. Many who haven’t succumbed to their illnesses yet have passed along the legacy of their poisoning to their children. “The rate of having a child with birth defects is three times higher for service members who served in those countries,” according to the book.

The impact on local civilian populations is even more widespread. Although collecting data in these war-ravaged areas is extremely difficult, the studies that have been conducted reveal sharp increases in cancer and leukemia rates and skyrocketing numbers of birth defects. The toxic legacies of these burn pits will likely continue to devastate these regions for decades.

So what are the “burn pits”? When the U.S. military set up a base in Iraq or Afghanistan, instead of building incinerators to dispose of the thousands of pounds of waste produced each day, they burned the garbage in big holes in the ground. The garbage they constantly burned included “every type of waste imaginable” including “tires, lithium batteries, asbestos insulation, pesticide containers, Styrofoam, metals, paints, plastic, medical waste and even human corpses.”

Here’s where the story gets even more infuriating. As a result of the privatization of many aspects of military operations, the burn pits were operated by Kellogg, Brown, and Root (KBR), a former subsidiary of Halliburton, the company where Dick Cheney was CEO before ascending to the White House. During the Bush administration, Halliburton made nearly $40 billion from lucrative government contracts (despite many corruption scandals), Dick Cheney and his corporate allies got incredibly rich, and the soldiers whose lives have likely been destroyed by this reckless operation… are pretty much screwed.

..more..

http://www.salon.com/2016/02/16/burn_pits/

[ghostsinthemachine]

1. shame. k and r'd (NT)

[Mika]

2. If corporations are people, then they deserve the death penalty for such crimes. eom

[Ford_Prefect]

17. They certainly deserve to pay the bills for those damaged by this.

[Enthusiast]

80. Plus a bazillion!

[Person 2713]

82. Yes including iraqis

[spanone]

3. and benghazi is STILL being investigated

[maddiemom]

52. Unlike 9/11/2001.

[Enthusiast]

81. Huge +1!

[snagglepuss]

4. Here's hoping someone will publish photos of all the filth who were enriched

by the Iraq War. May they all rot.



K and R

[wildbilln864]

5. k & r & thanks! n/t

[abelenkpe]

6. Privatization

No responsibility and lots of sweet sweet taxpayer money. What a scam.

[Depaysement]

7. Cheney should have been hanged

High treason to save his own ass, bailing himself out of the Dresser purchase. Fuck him.

[2naSalit]

30. +1

[grasswire]

60. Is it too late? nt

[Solly Mack]

8. K&R

[G_j]

19. generations

We still suffer from the physical and emotional damage from the Vietnam war, and yet we fail to acknowledge how many generations into the future people will suffer and die from the Iraq travesty.

[Solly Mack]

29. Very true.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

9. First I've heard of this.

[scottie55]

10. If War Wasn't Profitable

We wouldn't have them.

BTW wasn't it great watching Bush come out of hiding yesterday......

[Lars39]

22. Was watching The Man Who Never Existed last night.

They referred to a Mae West as part of their gear, so I googled...it's a life jacket.
Well, anyway, the article talked about how
"During the war, Congress passed an “Excess Profits” tax on earnings from sales to the military during wartime".

So when did it become ok to make obscene profits from war?


http://americacomesalive.com/2011/09/15/mae-west-life-preserver-countless-owe-lives-to-it/#.VsU5GoFOKK0

[ohheckyeah]

53. With the first war.

[AwakeAtLast]

11. One reason why I never got to have another child

Aside from a mild TBI and PTSD, he was afraid of passing on something.

So far we have not seen any signs of cancer, however he has had some digestive problems lately. He's going back to the VA soon.

They should call these corporations what they are: War Criminals. If they can donate to politicians as a"person" they should be prosecuted the same way.

[Plucketeer]

13. Even tho they were a result of "war"

I doubt these pits would qualify as War Crimes. Wanton and reckless endangerment? NO QUESTION! Should they be held responsible? Yes, but at some level, someone in government oversaw (or certainly should have overseen) what they were doing. The whole damned war was/IS a debacle we'll never ever totally absolve ourselves of.

5000 Americans dead - for NOTHING! Billions down bottomless pits with NO results but the enrichment of the blood-sucking privateers. And there's THE head war criminal stumping for his brother. Lady Justice is dead.

[ronnie624]

37. Here is what makes them war crimes:

The impact on local civilian populations is even more widespread. Although collecting data in these war-ravaged areas is extremely difficult, the studies that have been conducted reveal sharp increases in cancer and leukemia rates and skyrocketing numbers of birth defects. The toxic legacies of these burn pits will likely continue to devastate these regions for decades.

http://www.salon.com/2016/02/16/burn_pits/

[renate]

72. that's heartbreaking

I'm so sorry.

The pain that this war caused just never, ever ends....

[AwakeAtLast]

73. Thank you for caring

Soldiers AND families always pay the highest price.

[zentrum]

12. Thanks for this. But

…..now what? Can we still do anything?

Can soldiers bring a class action against responsible parties?

Can Progressives (such as they are) in Congress hold hearings? Maybe Barbara Lee? Elizabeth Warren?

What do we do to make something happen?

[floppyboo]

14. And don't forget Larium

Pharma's experiment with recruits. Disgusting. I have a friend suffering from this trial. He volunteered as a Canadian, and has been waiting 3 years since he filed for a claim. Or so he says. He's pretty fucked up and sometimes its hard to figure out what is real and what is not. Is that not a definition of hell?
http://www.army-technology.com/features/featuremefloquine-the-militarys-deadly-malaria-treatment-4402886/

[Person 2713]

83. Latium can = hell on earth . Some bodies are able to process it . Many others can not.

A crap shoot using humans
Then as the article said using this in a combat zone
I did not know it is issued at Guantanamo
More outrage!

[Scalded Nun]

15. And this guy is out making bullshit comments

Why is he not behind bars?

[Fast Walker 52]

16. the whole war was a crime of simply unimaginable proportions

[Ford_Prefect]

18. Another case of too big to prosecute?

[Fast Walker 52]

41. good way to put-- certainly, there were way too many powerful people responsible

all of the top people in the Bush admin.

[Doctor_J]

20. When Obama decided not to prosecute Bush and Cheney, the curtain came down

I think everyone knew at that point that he'd joined the BFEE.

[leftstreet]

38. +1

[Fast Walker 52]

42. or just simply sold out

but to be sure, I never expected that he would do something so bold, and the Dem party was just as meek.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

55. After Pelosi's 'Impeachment is off the table', too. nt

[alfredo]

21. A guy I worked with was downwind from burn pits. It really screwed him up.

[tblue37]

23. KnR for visibility. nt

[elljay]

24. They Could Have Showered

To wash the toxins off. Of course, they would then have been electrocuted. Guess who was the contractor who built the showers?

http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/toll-rises--at-least-18-u_b_124863.html

[polly7]

36. I remember that. So awful. :(. nt.

[burrowowl]

25. Knew about it

Why does this info not get published when it was discovered.

[JEB]

26. K&R for exposure.

[Stainless]

27. Your headline says it all - "They really don't want this out"

Anyone who has been paying attention knows there has been a cover-up by the Media about the Burn Pits and the resulting illness and death. Hopefully, the Media and the MIC will all have a judgement day after Bernie becomes POTUS and a more Liberal SCOTUS is in place. I won't hold my breath though.

[annabanana]

71. I'm sure it's no shock to long-time DUers

KBR and burn pits figured into our discussions at the time.

[WillyT]

28. K & R !!!

[global1]

31. What I Still Can't Fathom Is How The Repug....

candidates still talk of wars and how Repug voters eat that kind of talk up. Equally I have a problem with military families support that kind of talk as well. Why would anyone support any Party or candidate that is talking hawkish? Why would they want to put themselves, their sons and daughters or for that matter anyone in that kind of peril? Really - Enough is Enough.

No more wars!!!

This is just another way the top 1% uses the 99%er's to further feed their greed. This is why we need a person like Bernie as President.

[magical thyme]

48. sorry, but the Dems are complicit.

They are as responsible. Both parties corrupt to the core.

[Stonepounder]

32. Unfortunately, this is nothing new in war.

In Viet Nam it was Agent Orange, which the VA refused to admit caused all kinds of issues so refused to pay for or treat, while Monsanto got rich.

In WWII US Steel sold inferior steel to the US Navy for its ships, while Curtis-Wright sold defective aircraft engines and parts to the military. (cf. http://www.themilitant.com/2005/6923/692350.html)

Go read Gen. Smedley Butler's 'War is a Racket' (http://www.ratical.org/ratville/CAH/warisaracket.html)

War is basically a way for the 1% to get richer and to hell with the cannon fodder. And it has been going on for a very long time.

[mhatrw]

85. Which is why war should only be the last resort. Not a way to fill a Cheney Warbucks' coffers

while the NY Times, the Washington Post, corporate cable TV and network news, the DNC, and the Clintons cheer.

[demigoddess]

86. apparently there was also a cluster of babies with birth defects after

Gulf War I which was under GeorgeHWBush.I was at the local military hospital at the department of pediatrics for children with birth defects and the bulletin board had a meeting for the mothers of children born during/as a result of that war. Also I am quite sure there has been a cluster in this Gulf War considering how long it has gone on and the depleted uranium used and the fact that there has been some pictures of Iraqi babies with horrific birth defects on Youtube that I saw years ago. I am interested as a parent of a birth defect child.

[Elwood P Dowd]

33. Too bad this post can't be pinned at the top of every forum on DU until something is done about this

I knew two guys who died in their 50's from cancer related to Agent Orange. Both had children with all kinds of health issues, and the child of one died of cancer.

[Octafish]

34. Money trumps peace.

Cheney monetized as much of the Pentagon as he could.

http://m.motherjones.com/politics/2000/08/cheneys-multi-million-dollar-revolving-door

[G_j]

57. Cheney's Multi-Million Dollar Revolving Door

the racketeer ...

[dmr]

35. Makes me wonder about Beau Biden.

Brain cancer at such a young age.

There's also stories of those who died while serving at Gitmo, and I thought of Beau then.

There wasn't lodging for JAG personnel, so they housed them in make shift quarters on an old air field. I don't recall the numbers of how many were stricken with deadly health issues, but it was very high. Many of which was brain cancer, and then death.

Don't have a link, but it was on 60 Minutes, I think. One of the rare instances I watched this program.

This is criminal to me. KBR made a killing on these contracts, which I bet were non-bid contracts. What ever happened to making a modest profit?


I wonder if Joe Biden doesn't wonder himself about this.

This is just too heartbreaking thinking of the lives damaged by the irresponsible greed of a major industry.

[malaise]

39. War criminals all

and they want more

[MaeScott]

40. K and R. nt

[Fast Walker 52]

43. actually, this is not unlike happened with the smoldering rubble of the WTC

and all the first responders who got sick.

[Blue_Tires]

44. Who in fuck's name ever thought

burning all that shit in a giant jumbled mess would ever be safe??

[randr]

45. The fucking anti regulation crowd that's who

Millions were made disregarding the safety of our troops and someone should pay dearly.

[librechik]

46. Gas Cheney. n/t

[Orsino]

47. This is what we support when we support war...

...particularly the blank-check variety run by corporate sociopaths. War zones are outside the law for the most part, and there murder, rape and other forms of torture go largely unchecked. The profiteering is only the mildest consequence.

[blackspade]

49. The legacy of this miserable debacle continues.

All of this was entirely predictable and avoidable.
More politicians with courage to vote "no" on the IWR would have made a world of difference.
They own the deaths as far as I'm concerned.

[Victor_c3]

50. Do a google search for "burning shit and diesel Yankee candle"

The first thing that pops up is a picture someone photoshopped of me stirring shit in a burn pot in Iraq.

I was a 1LT at the time and my soldiers were burning our shit and classified documents. It looked like fun so I had my picture Doug the job that most officers would never think of doing. It was a shitty job (pun intended)

Since I've been back from Iraq I've had a chronic cough - and I got back from Iraq in 2005.

[maddiemom]

51. The Clintons took continual flack about a land deal that happened before either were in public

office. Cheney sailed by without much ever said about his association with Halliburton and its crimes. Perhaps he "gave up" his position with them when entering office. Certainly he maintained plenty of stock and/or stock options.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

54. Most of Bush regime era policy seemed to be centered around making Dick Cheney money.

From burn pits to shoddy wiring electrocuting soldiers in showers to kabuki TSA body scanners to fossil fuel loving energy policies. Did they do anything during that 8 years that didn't make Dick Cheney more money?

[2naSalit]

56. Can I kick this again?

[Botany]

58. I helped a neighbor's son who served 3 tours in Iraq and got brain cancer thanx ....

... to KBR's burn pits. He is dead now just like Beau Biden. His illness was ruled as
service related too.

The real # of dead from the Iraqi war is much higher then the 4,600 figure we now have.

[Paper Roses]

59. Another 'Agent Orange' lie and deception.

Want to know why I am voting for Bernie? Because I am sick and tired of all the BS that is coming our way.

This old timer has had enough of the government baloney, big biz shenanigans, military excesses et al.

[muntrv]

61. To quote Smedley Butler:

"WAR IS A RACKETT!"

[Rex]

62. One day the GOP will pay for their massive crimes against the nation.

Their lies are not as well believed as they once were.

[LiberalLovinLug]

70. I so hope

That Cheney will receive justice for his war crimes while he is still alive.

[Marty McGraw]

63. an interesting stat sheet

of the company. Really interesting who's string in govt they currently pull - middle of the link

http://government-contractors.insidegov.com/l/61690/Kellogg-Brown-and-Root-Services-Inc-in-Houston-TX

[Old Codger]

64. All of this

Is most likely true and factual, but in this country the "elite" 1% could rape children in the streets and no one could or would do anything about it, many would cheer them on...

[Admiral Loinpresser]

65. When Hillary makes a mistake, it's a whopper. n/t

[rladdi]

66. I have said from day one Bush and Cheney should be charged for war crimes, for treason, but they

got a free pass. And Cheney has the nerves to continue his false claims about the war. Even after the tax payers paid for his new heart, he still is heartless. But I suspect this still goes on, house committees, hearing, are a waste. Nothing get fixed nor is anyone ever charged. We continue to waste trillions on companies like Halliburton. contractors being hired thru the military.

[FourScore]

67. Can we throw him in jail yet? n/t

[liberalnarb]

68. The members of the shrub administration should be rotting in a federal prison.

But instead we're still investigating benghazi. Even though the gop controlled congress is more at fault than Hillary or Barack Obama

[colsohlibgal]

69. If Only Our Media Had Done Their Job

Instead they had their Pom Poms out cheerleading for "shock and awe".

The whole lot of the PNAC gang should be on trial at The Hague for war profiteering and so much more...all on our dime.

[felix_numinous]

74. Class action suit

not a legal professional, yet for the life of me cannot understand why there aren't whole legal firms out there willing to stand up for the vets. I'm sure there must be a good reason...

[Angry Dragon]

75. The little dick is scum

[randys1]

76. And guess what GOP will say about the need to pay them lifelong benefits like the PTSD

settlements, they are gonna scream and cry about taxes.

[KT2000]

77. this falls under environmental

illnesses which do not exist. The controls on people through medical associations, insurance companies and especially the military and VA assures that illnesses caused by the environment to do not exist except in the minds of those who are ill. Judges have been "educated" to dispose of these cases for those attempting to sue.

It can be proven that toxic fumes came from the burn pits but it cannot be proven beyond a shadow of doubt that the illness was caused by the toxic fumes. That is how it is set up. Take a look at the discovery questionnaire for defendants in a toxic tort case.
Ex. Have you ever put gas in your car?
How many times have you walked past the laundry room in your house?
Do you use household cleaners such as.....?
Do you use lawn chemicals at your house?

All this muddies the issue as to make it impossible to point out any single cause for illness. The VA and medical folks are also ready to diagnose mental illness after their list of questions.
Everyone who is poisoned by toxic exposures is thrown overboard.

Amputated Lives by Alison Johnson
They're Poisoning Us: From the Gulf War to the Gulf of Mexico, An Investigative Report by Arnold Mann

[G_j]

90. +1000

[Dont call me Shirley]

78. This is disgusting.

[Enthusiast]

79. Kicked and recommended to the Max! Proudly cast the 298th recommendation!

Thank you, G_j!

This is what happens when you privatize the military.

[mhatrw]

84. How appropriate. Because that's where anyone who supported the Iraq War travesty deserves to spend

eternity.

[sarcasmo]

87. Kick.

[CanSocDem]

88. Kicking for exposure.

This is one of those threads that needs to survive. Even if the "cannon fodder" doesn't.



.

[JohnyCanuck]

89. In the meantime veterans,

Dick Cheney and his bank accounts thank you most sincerely from the bottom of Dick's borrowed, replacement heart for your service.