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 Trump agenda: where's the beef? President Trump says big things are happening. After celebrating a House bill on health care, he doesn’t yet have Senate agreement. With James Comey’s public testimony scheduled tomorrow, the President today tweeted his selection of a new FBI Director. Is the Chief Executive all style and no substance? Later, terror attacks in Iran and conflicting claims about who’s behind them.
Left, Right & Center
How was the trip? President Trump's travels got less fun as he went from the Middle East to Europe.
To the Point
Trump plays scolder-in-chief with NATO allies At the opening of NATO’s dramatic new headquarters in Brussels today, President Trump acknowledged that Article 5 — promising that “an attack on one nation is an attack on all” -- has only been invoked one time: in the aftermath of September 11. But the President failed to provide what 27 other Alliance members have been waiting for: a re-commitment by America’s new leader to Article 5. Instead, they got a scolding.