While I do have some concern over this, this still looks for all the world like more propaganda. The troops are dying, it's a quagmire. It's costing lots of money. What are we doing there?
Remember that the AP is not a monolithic entity unto and of itself, but a cooperative membership of affiliated newspapers. If there's something about the AP's coverage you're upset with, let your local newspaper know about it, and it does indeed start getting back to the AP personnel in the field.
But note that this story is sourced from United Press International, and in the past, Unipressers have been both better sources of accurate reporting, and often former military participants themselves, who tricky PAO officers found it hard to prevaricate their way past. And other UniPressers, like UPI staffer Kate Webb, tasken as a POW in Cambodia and who surprisingly lived to tell about it, were often equally dedicated and knowledgable. We'll see if a sharp UPI reporter who meets those standards comes out of this war as well.
Interesting, though that out of all of the 1991 Desert Shield/Desert Storm period, not one AP guy's story was even nominated for a Beidler for their war reporting; only freelancer/semiretired cartoonist Bill Mauldin and one other newspaperman.
-archy-/- -archy-/-
"While I do have some concern over this, this still looks for all the world like more propaganda.".
I agree with this sentiment. Below, I have analyzed the original article, to support this opinion.
[I am not dismissing anyone's death or suffering. Nor, am I attempting to make the case that these vaccines are harmless. I am merely analyzing the article.]
WASHINGTON, Oct. 6 (UPI) -- Unexplained blood clots are among the reasons a number of U.S. soldiers in Operation Iraqi Freedom have died from sudden illnesses, an investigation by United Press International has found.
"Blood clots are among the reasons..." Below, we see that: the "Pentagon" "told families" that blood clots were the cause of TWO deaths:
In addition to NBC News Correspondent David Bloom, who died in April of a blood clot in his lung after collapsing south of Baghdad, the Pentagon has told families that blood clots caused two soldiers to collapse and die.
This apparent fact is coupled with another apparent fact:
At least eight other soldiers have also collapsed and died from what the military has described as non-combat-related causes.
This juxtaposition of two facts leads the reader to ASSUME that these "eight other" deaths are ALSO from blood clots. The fact that "the military" described these eight deaths as "non-combat related" merely means not shot or blown up. The "cause" could be anything--accident, camel bites, malaria, etc. etc.
A disturbing parallel has also surfaced: soldiers becoming ill or dying from similar ailments in the United States. In some cases, the soldiers, their families and civilian doctors blame vaccines given to them by the military, particularly the anthrax or smallpox shots.
There is NO "parallel" shown here. Soldiers got sick, or died, both here, and in Iraq. "In some cases..." "families and civilian doctors blame vaccines..." Whether "some cases...in the United States..." were caused by vaccines does not mean there is any connection with eight otherwise unexplained deaths in Iraq.
Further, what does "similar ailments" actually mean? Unexplained blood clots? Or unexplained deaths? We are forced to make ASSUMPTIONS, which are not supported by any actual evidence.
Some of the soldiers who died suddenly had complained about symptoms suffered by Bloom -- including pain in the legs that could indicate problems with blood clots.
Which are "some of the soldiers?" Were they the ones in the US, whose illness was blamed on vaccines? Or, maybe, were they the TWO deaths known to have been caused by blood clots? A real "journalist" should be able (and WILLING) to make that clear.
"If there is a significant number of deaths of this type, it would make you wonder what was going on," said Rose Hobby, whose brother-in-law, Army Spc. William Jeffries, died of a massive lung blood clot and swelling of his pancreas on March 31 after being evacuated from Kuwait.
"How many others are out there?"
Do you imagine that this lady just HAPPENED to ask this question, when this reporter just happened to be there? This case must be one of the TWO known cases of "blood clots." Merely because she was induced into asking these questions does not imbue the questions with any actual significance. This is no more than a propaganda technique intended to make us ASSUME that there are hordes of relatives demanding THE TRUTH.
"I would say that that number of cases among young healthy troops would seem to be unusual," Dr. Jeffrey Sartin, an infectious diseases doctor at the Gundersen Clinic in La Crosse, Wis., said about blood clot deaths. Sartin, a former Air Force doctor, last spring treated a soldier who might have died from anthrax or smallpox side effects.
"I am not aware that there were this many cases" during the first Gulf War, Sartin said.
This is very shabby reporting. "That number of cases..." "This many cases..." Is the good doctor talking about TWO cases? Or is he talking about some number made up by this "journalist?" Did he "treat a soldier" IN Iraq? In Wisconsin? Did "the soldier" die? Was he sick, with an unknown illness, and "might have died?" was the doctor induced (by leading questions) to state that the soldier's illness "might have" been caused by "anthrax or smallpox side effects?" Notice that he didn't even say "VACCINES side effects."
There is no actual connection between what this doctor said, and the rest of the story. It merely SEEMS as if there were.
The Pentagon has been investigating cases of a mysterious pneumonia that has killed two soldiers and put 17 more on ventilators. Besides the pneumonia, there do not seem to be any unexpected health trends given the number of troops in the region, said Army Surgeon General spokeswoman Virginia Stephanakis.
"We are not seeing larger numbers of most illnesses than we could have expected," Stephanakis said. "We have not seen any red flags. As far as I know, there has not been a huge red flag other than the pneumonia."
There does not seem to be any actual connection between these pneumonia cases, and the TWO blood clot cases. The juxtaposition makes it SEEM as if there were one.
UPI's investigation found 17 soldiers who died of sudden illnesses. Families say they are bewildered by the deaths.
OK. We have TWO blood clot deaths. We have TWO pneumonia deaths. We have the already mentioned "...eight other soldiers have also collapsed and died..." So, "UPI's investigation" found FIVE more "soldiers who died of sudden illnesses." The article does not mention whether these five deaths had a known cause, OR, whether they were in Iraq, or here, in the US.
Of course, the families will feel "bewildered," especially, if the cause of death is not known.
"Bill just dropped. They thought he had been shot. That is how suddenly it happened," said Rose Hobby, the woman whose 39-year-old brother-in-law William Jeffries collapsed in Kuwait.
After being evacuated from Kuwait to Rota, Spain, he was in intensive care for a week before dying, Hobby said in a telephone interview from Evansville, Ind. A doctor in Spain said Jeffries had "the largest pulmonary embolism he had ever seen," Hobby said. Jeffries also had a swelling of the pancreas, often caused by heavy drinking or some drugs. Jeffries was not a drinker, Hobby said.
Jeffries was back in the United States just days before his death to attend his own father's funeral. He had a scab on his arm from his recent smallpox vaccination. Hobby said she does not know if he got anthrax shots also, like most soldiers in the region.
What does "just days before his death," mean? A legitimate "journalist" would ask the question, and record the answer. Is it just THREE days? Or maybe THREE HUNDRED days? We must ASSUME what is meant.
Patrick Ivory arrived in Germany Aug. 16 to see his 26-year-old son, Army Spc. Craig S. Ivory, before he died. By then, Craig Ivory was already brain dead from a blood clot that hit his brain on Aug. 11.
"I had to make a decision to turn off life support, which was the most difficult thing I have ever done in my life," Patrick Ivory said in a telephone interview from his home in Port Matilda, Pa.
Obviously, this soldier is the other (of TWO) deaths known to be caused by a blood clot. It is touching, as any death is, but has no evidentiary value.
In other cases of apparently healthy soldiers who died suddenly in Operation Iraqi Freedom, families told UPI they have gotten few answers from the military. Local media reports have quoted military officials saying some of the deaths were apparent heart attacks; they have occurred from the beginning of the conflict through last week.
Maybe, there is no conspiracy. Maybe, "the military" just doesn't know. The second sentence makes it SEEM that there have been MANY unexplained deaths, even though the writer has only come up with ten.
"If anybody has a right to know what my husband died of, it is me," said Lisa Ann Sherman, whose husband, Lt. Col. Anthony Sherman, suddenly clutched his chest and died Aug. 27 in Camp Arifjan, Kuwait. "The only thing they (the military) had to tell me was severe myocardial infarction," or a heart attack.
Anthony Sherman, 43, was a marathon runner and a triathlete.
A close relative (of mine) had a heart attack, at 45, even though he was a highly conditioned mountain climber.
Sherman said her husband complained of pain in his legs after getting anthrax shots. She said she has since learned that he went to sick call complaining of pain in his legs on the day he died. NBC's Bloom, who also got the anthrax and smallpox vaccines, complained of pain in his legs, presumably from a blood clot that has been attributed to cramped quarters in his armored vehicle.
****This evidence has a lot more evidentiary value that ALL of the article above. Remember, the heart will be damaged in the same way, whether a coronary artery is blocked by plaque, or by a blood clot. A blood clot in the lungs will be called a "pulmonary embolism," and a blood clot in a coronary artery will be called a "coronary embolism," or a "heart attack."
"I am very suspicious about the true reason behind my husband's death," Sherman said.
And I am very suspicious about an "investigator," or "journalist," who uses the pain of a new widow to make a propaganda piece.
The Pentagon said side effects from the anthrax vaccine are generally mild and rare.
When did "The Pentagon" say this? Two years ago, or last month? Although I, personally, think that there is more likelihood of harm from these vaccines, the "Pentagon" statement is not proof of a cover-up.
In one case, however, the military said the anthrax vaccine did cause a soldier's chronic blood-clot condition.
Capt. Jason M. Nietupksi says he has suffered severe reactions to three anthrax shots given to him in the Army Reserves in February 2000, when he was 29 years old. Nietupski said the vaccine caused chronic fatigue, a skin reaction and a blood clot condition called Deep Vein Thrombosis. Nietupski described intense pain in his legs caused by the clots from that condition.
Nietupski is on blood thinners for the rest of his life. His records from the military state his blood clot condition was caused by the anthrax shots.
"CPT Nietupski had multiple adverse medical problems associated with three anthrax vaccinations he received while assigned to the 8th United States Army," read the results of a military line-of-duty inquiry report. "A condition described as Deep Vein Thrombosis, chronic fatigue and Steven Johnson's Syndrome all are adverse reactions that developed in this previously healthy individual from the anthrax vaccine. Evaluation by Walter Reed Physicians state (sic) that his symptoms are related to the anthrax vaccine."
****This particular case is again, much more valuable that the rest of the article. It ties "blood clots" to the anthrax vaccine. But, remember, this article has only presented TWO cases (probably three, counting the "heart attack" case) of death by "blood clots."
The anthrax vaccine label warns of infrequent reports of heart attacks or strokes among people who have taken that vaccine. Both heart attacks and strokes can be caused by blood clots.
With smallpox shots, top Pentagon health officials released a study in June that said 37 soldiers have had a swelling of the tissue around the heart probably caused by the vaccine and eight other "cardiac events" occurred within a fortnight of getting the vaccine, including heart attacks. The Pentagon said they had seen no deaths that might have been caused by the smallpox vaccine.
****This, also constitutes important evidence of disease (at least, apparently) caused by the smallpox vaccine.
Civilian officials have disagreed, at least in one case.
In the April 4 death of Army Spc. Rachael Lacy of Lynwood, Ill., a civilian doctor who treated her and the civilian coroner who performed her autopsy said the smallpox and anthrax vaccines the Army gave her March 2 in preparation for her deployment for Operation Iraqi Freedom might have caused her death. Lacy had pneumonia and a swelling of the tissue surrounding the heart, among other things.
"MIGHT have caused her death." This is written in such a way that we ignore the "MIGHT," and ASSUME that it DID CAUSE here death.
The Deputy Director of the Military Vaccine Agency, Col. John D. Grabenstein told UPI in August that Lacy's death has not been classified by the military as related to either vaccine.
"Rachael Lacy is still in the unexplained death program" at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Grabenstein said.
All this means is that "the military" has not (yet) changed the autopsy's "MIGHT have caused her death," to a DID CAUSE.
After two health care workers died of heart attacks after getting smallpox shots, in March the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended that people with a risk of heart disease not take the vaccine.
****This, again, is actual evidence in the case against these vaccines.
There is some sort of connection between these vaccines, and blood clots (and, I believe, other disease states). The four cases marked with asterisks **** have actual evidentiary value. The remainder of this piece is either horribly badly written, or constitutes propaganda, aimed at inflaming public opinion against the military, or the Iraq war.
DG