Award winning journalist Jamie Reno has exclusive new reporting on the real legacy of the 1991 Gulf War, following the recent death of its commanding general Norman Schwarzkopf: Gulf War Illness, a debilitating, chronic multisymptom illness that still afflicts 250,000 of the 697,000 Gulf War troops -- and other U.S. forces -- and for which VA still has no effective treatments to offer.
Some excer Reno's latest article:
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So where was Stormin’ Norman during these 20 years of pain and suffering by his troops that had done everything he asked of them? Was he at the forefront in the effort to get to the real cause of this illness?
"No," Cook says flatly. "For the most part, he sat on the sideline and, when given a chance to speak out and demand something be done, he remained silent," Cook says. "These were the same men and women that had made him great, handing him his greatest victory, the crowning achievement to his career. And he did not speak out when he could have had a profound impact and built a bright fire under the bureaucracy. He did nothing."
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However, it would be far more fitting if there was a building somewhere bearing the name General Norman Schwartzkopf Rehabilitation Center for Gulf War Illness. Now that would be a bright, shining legacy to last through the ages, not the somewhat tarnished legacy he has left us."
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"So many senior commanders lose sight of what they were taught as Second Lieutenants as they move through the ranks, and that is to always take care of the troops because it is the troops that make you relevant, not the stars on the collar," says Cook. "Without them, you are nothing but a parade ground commander. Yes, somewhere along the way, General Schwarzkopf lost his way."
Read the full story here: http://therenodispatch.blogspot.com/2013/01/exclusive-army-officers-candid-thoughts.html
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Jamie Reno, an award-winning correspondent for Newsweekfor 20 years, has also written for The Daily Beast, The New York Times, Sports Illustrated,Rolling Stone, People, Men’s Journal, ESPN, Los Angeles Times, TV Guide, MSNBC,Newsmax, Entertainment Weekly, and USA Today. Reno, who’s won more than 95 writing awards, was the lead reporter on a Newsweek series on the 9/11 terrorist attacks that earned him and his colleagues the National Magazine Award for General Excellence, the highest award in magazine journalism.
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