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WASHINGTON - April 30 - Averting what one veterans' advocate called a "public-relations nightmare," the Pentagon reversed itself yesterday by announcing that it has now decided to perform medical exams on troops returning from the Iraq war, as required by law. The military must test troops both before and after deployment, according to Public Law 105-85, but the Pentagon has admitted that it did not test troops bound for the Iraqi conflict, and it had said it would not do so upon their return.
The Pentagon's admission and its intransigence led to criticism from veterans' advocates, members of Congress, and doctors who advised the military on soldiers' health.
That criticism inspired today's TomPaine.com opinion advertisement on the op-ed page of The New York Times, and accompanying articles posted at www.TomPaine.com. The Pentagon made its announcement yesterday at 6:20pm, long after the Op Ad had been submitted to the Times and after the articles were posted on line.
The announcement "looked like a pre-emptive strike" by the Pentagon's press office, said Steve Robinson, a former Army Ranger who now heads the National Gulf War Resource Center, a veterans' advocate. "At the eleventh hour and the fifty-ninth minute, it appears that DoD has averted a public relations nightmare by changing certain aspects of the deployment policy for soldiers. Someone must have gotten wind that this ad by TomPaine.com was going to run."
"When Mr. Rumsfeld says that America has conducted the Iraq war with 'compassion,' just remember: He's the guy who disobeyed a law passed to protect our soldiers' health," said TomPaine.com Editor John Moyers. "When he's about to get a black eye in the media, he shows plenty of compassion -- for his reputation."
To view the ad, visit http://www.tompaine.com/op_ads/opad.cfm/ID/7673.
For additional detail, read http://www.tompaine.com/feature.cfm/ID/7661.
TomPaine.com is a nonprofit, nonpartisan Internet journal. Since 1999, its online content and ads have been praised by Rolling Stone, Forbes.com, the Columbia Journalism Review, Chicago Tribune, PC Magazine and many others.
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