6-26-07, 1:37 pm

More than 180,000 veterans of the 'global war on terror,' which includes the invasion of Afghanistan and the oil war in Iraq, have filed for disability benefits according to Veterans Affairs documents. The document was obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request and distributed by the veterans' advocacy group Veterans for Common Sense.

The documents, written in February 2007, also indicate that close to 700,000 veterans of these wars left the service as of November 2006, or approximately one-quarter of the total number of service members in all US regular military, reserve, and National Guard units.

The entire US armed forces, active and reserve, are composed of approximately 2.7 million people. 180,000 veterans of conflicts between 2001 and the end of 2006, or 7%, have filed for disability.

Only 110,000 of the applications have been decided favorably upon. More than 21,000 have been awarded zero disability, and almost 17,000 have been ruled as unrelated to service.

As of January of this year, more than 44,000 claims were pending, with three-quarters of those pending claims labeled as 'first-time' claims.

Of the 131,000 disability claims that have so far been ruled on, just over 112,000 of them, or almost 85%, received 50% or less (down to zero) disability compensation.

These numbers indicate four things about the US armed forces and Bush's 'war on terror' that have been hidden from the public.

First, the 'war on terror,' especially with the erroneous addition of the illegal invasion of Iraq, has seriously depleted US military readiness, which inadequate recruiting has not replenished.

Second, there are far more casualties in the last six years than the Bush administration and the Pentagon would like us to believe. According to iCasualties.org, which relies on Pentagon sources, about 40,000 troops have been evacuated from Afghanistan and Iraq since 2001 for all injuries, diseases, and wounds. There is a gap of about 140,000 veterans of conflicts since 2001 who are claiming service-related disabilities.

(Note: The VA insists that a certain undisclosed number of these disability claims have been made on service-related injuries inflicted prior to September 2001, but it is reasonable to assume that this number must be insignificant in comparison to the number of claims filed as a result of injuries incurred after 2001.)

Third, the VA is very slow in handling and ruling on claims made by veterans returning from war.

Fourth, and probably not unrelated to the third, is that, as Political Affairs has reported before, the disproportionate number of claims awarded from zero to less than 50% disability appears to reflect a conscious Pentagon policy to scale back on veterans' benefits.

In 2005, Pentagon official David Chu defended a new round of cuts by describing funding for programs like veterans' education and job training, health care, pensions, VA housing loans, and the like as 'hurtful' to national security.

The Pentagon argued that its liabilities to reimburse veterans for their contributions and sacrifices undermine its priority of buying more jets and missiles and super bombs and cannon.

To counter the cost of benefits, the Republican controlled Congress at the time rubber-stamped a Bush administration plan to raise fees veterans pay to access health care, to more harshly rule on disability claims, and even refuse to inform veterans about benefits for which they are eligible.

While a recent Democratic measure to boost funding for veterans' benefits passed in Congress, this latest VA report indicates that the Bush administration's original plan is working.

Why is it so difficult for Bush and Republicans to spend the money to help heal the very people whom they sent into harm's way and whom they claim to support?

--Joel Wendland is managing editor of Political Affairs and can be reached at