Deputy Director, American Legion’s Veteran Affairs and Rehabilitation Division
Deputy Director of the American Legion’s Veteran Affairs and Rehabilitation Division
PROFILE
Ian de Planque
Guest
FROM Ian de Planque
Which Way, L.A.?
VA Takes More Liberal Stance on PTSD The Veterans' Administration has changed its policy regarding disability claims for veterans who suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorders. After years of complaints from veterans' advocates that the VA's rules were too tough, it will now be possible for veterans to make a claim without having to prove they suffered a specific traumatic event. Some two million soldiers have served in Iraq or Afghanistan since 9/11, and one study says that as many as twenty percent of them may suffer from these psychological wounds of war. Why has the policy change taken so long? How will this change affect the hundreds of thousands of soldiers believed to be struggling with PTSD ? What kind of treatment works?
To the Point
VA Takes More Liberal Stance on PTSD The Veterans' Administration has changed its policy regarding disability claims for veterans who suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorders. After years of complaints from veterans' advocates that the VA's rules were too tough, it will now be possible for veterans to make a claim without having to prove they suffered a specific traumatic event. Some two million soldiers have served in Iraq or Afghanistan since 9/11, and one study says that as many as twenty percent of them may suffer from these psychological wounds of war. Why has the policy change taken so long? How will this change affect the hundreds of thousands of soldiers believed to be struggling with PTSD ? What kind of treatment works?
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To the Point
The longest US war: Will Trump send more troops to Afghanistan? The Trump White House is divided over the Pentagon's request for more troops in Afghanistan—where the US has been fighting for the past 16 years. Is there a formula -- either for "victory" or a political settlement? Is there an end in sight for America's longest war?
To the Point
White House budget proposal slashes and burns President Trump's first budget request is considered dead on arrival in Congress — a familiar development in Capitol Hill. We hear what it reveals about the priorities of the new administration. What's likely to die… and what might survive?
To the Point
Terrorism and tweets, hate speech and murder Just days before an election, Britain is coping with a rash of deadly terrorism, and Prime Minister Theresa May is on the defensive. And again today, President Trump has tweeted criticism of the Mayor of London. Later, a double murder in Portland, Oregon has revealed the ugly past of a supposedly “progressive” city. One immediate question: is “hate speech” protected by the First Amendment?
To the Point
Who's to blame for the opioid crisis? Some of the lawyers who took on Big Tobacco are now going after Big Pharma. It’s all about the deadly epidemic of opioid use. Are the drug companies to blame? What about the users? Later, on today’s Talking Point: making sense of Britain’s upset election.