"It Takes A Network To Defeat A Network"

[UPDATE: Craptastically, I forgot to include General Abizaid's take on the Iraqi military mission. Because it just may be relevant to the rest of the post, it's this: The US military presence in Iraq is buying the country time to progress in governmental development and to buy time to build its army. Buying time.

Why is it that I have yet to hear Bush, Cheney, Gates, Rice or any member of Congress utter that phrase when referring to the express use of US military combat operations in Iraq?

Care for a little air sickness bag to go with that cognitive dissonance and spin?]

Northeastern University hosted retired Central Command General John Abizaid to speak to its Middle East Center for Peace, Culture, and Development students about the U.S. and the Middle East this morning.

General Abizaid, a Colorado Rockies fan, apologized for competing with the Red Sox homecoming parade.

However, the NU Middle East Center host, Professor Denis Sullivan, let him know that his presentation would end in plenty of time to take in the festivities.

Northeastern's President Joseph Aoun, a professor of linguistics, introduced General Abizaid with this intriguing proposition: America is unique in being "hyphenated". People can be Arab-Americans, Latino-Americans, African-Americans, etc., and in America, this enrichment thrives and cultural and ethnic heritage is celebrated and valued, instead of the enforced assimilation that occurs in other countries policies toward their immigrants.

Were that it was so. President Ayoub has not perhaps lived in homogeneous communities in the South or Midwest, for example, where immigrants are not only not rewarded for cultural pride and immersion, but are discriminated for it. However, I digress, and this optimism is not a bad thing.

General Abizaid used a few maps of the Middle East to highlight the major points of his presentation.  The first was a plain geographical map of the countries and nation/states of the broader Middle East and adjoining regions.

He gave himself away when he produced this anecdote:

"A few years ago The Secretary of Defense called me to ask a question.  You can't say that he didn't consult the military.  At that time I had 25 areas under my command in the Middle East.  I didn't have Lebanon and Syria.  The Secretary asked me if I would take them on.  I replied that I would rather not.  After a period of reflection and consideration - about 5 or 6 seconds - he replied, 'you've got them.'" (The audience dutifully laughed.)  "I replied, 'why don't you give me North Korea, too?'"

Har.  Har.

But in that little funny is contained Rumsfeld's contempt, hubris and stupidity, and Abizaid's acknowledgment of it.

Back to the presentation.  Gen. Abizaid proposed that the current conflicts are representative of what he views as the first battle of globalization, where there are elements of the population that are trying to remain local and separate from the world, while other elements are trying to engage in world trade, politics and the economy.

With that as his meta view of extant Middle East conflicts, he repeatedly asserted, "You can criticize how we got where we are, but we are where we are, and now we have to move forward."

He then produced the map but with US military perceived conflicts superimposed on the region.

The four major meta problems he perceives include:

• A rise in extremist organizations which include religious indoctrinated extremist views
• Al Qaida - stateless and centerless, a complex and dynamic network including infrastructure, economies and cyberstructure relationships - difficult to infiltrate, understand and contain/minimize
• A rise in Shi'a extremism - nationstates - Iran
• seeks to dominate the region/Persian Gulf
• Arab/Israeli conflict where he perceives a "sense of hopelessness in the region"
• Oil - the Middle East fuels the global economy

Next up is the map with US military goals and objectives superimposed:

• Containment of Iranian aggression
• Control of the Afhan/Pakistani border with an emphasis on the Pakistani side with the aim of reducing the strategic leadership presence of Al Qaida
  
  
• Notably, the Taliban was not mentioned throughout this presentation, and no questioner mentioned it, either
• Stabilize Afghanistan
• Work to stabilize Arab/Palestinian/Israeli relationships
• Monitor extremist groups flowing into North Africa to ungoverned areas
• Monitor Darfur

Interestingly, there are three operations locations generally superimposed in Iran, but Abizaid didn't refer to them specifically.  Does that mean that military operations are officially underway there?  Or does it refer to covert intelligence operations? (Hello, Valerie Plame) Or does it refer to special ops units?  Something else?  Again, no questioner asked about it.

Then Abizaid, who answered one question with the preface, "I may be a retired general, but I still uphold my oath.  I won't criticize this president, the vice president or the secretary of defense," flashed his model of Al Qaida which portrayed a complex network of relationships, information and material and human resources. This was titled simply, "The Network of Al Qaeda."  And after this was Abizaid's policy recommendations and philosophy hidden in plain sight with the US response to that titled, "It Takes A Network To Defeat A Network."

In this representation was diplomatic efforts, international aid, regional policy development and participation (sort of a neighborhood watch model), economic aid, nation building, global relationship building and the engagement of Iraq's government in driving its national security and thus providing the means of egress for US military presence and involvement.

Abizaid repeated this nugget:  "The Iraqis don't want us there, and the military doesn't want to be there." Ahem, Washington.

He also referenced every single remark about the presidential role relative to the Middle East as "what the next president will have to do...." Digby has so presciently remarked that the Repubs are disappearing George W. Bush, and this is evident as well with retired military who would like to criticize by speaking to everything which should be done (and should be happening now) by fast forwarding to January of 09. Essentially, if you want to know what Abizaid thinks about Rumsfeld, Cheney and Bush, just pay attention to what he recommends for the "Next" administration, and fill in the gap between that and what this administration is doing.  The criticisms will reveal themselves quite clearly.

Abizaid also spoke to concerns about Bush's remark about WW III.  His take?

"I don't think we're heading for war in Iran.  It would be terrible for Iran.  I don't think we're headed for WW III."

He emphasized the need to actively discourage Iran from becoming a nuclear state. But he also stated that the US could live with Iran as a nuclear state, saying, "We lived with Russia and Korea having nuclear states, didn't we?  Don't underestimate out power.  We tend to forget how powerful the US is."

The Northeastern students, many of whom are from areas in or near the Middle East, asked intelligent, thoughtful and informed questions which were answered, for the most part, in optimistic tones.

One NU professor of comparative religion asked about the US role and responsibility for creating the extant problems.  Abizaid skirted the issue and emphasized the need to understand that Iraqis are for the most part, not extremists, are trying to get along with the same concerns that citizens have around the world: work, live, and support their families in their communities.

Overall, there was a lack of depth of substantive specific information in the General's presentation, which was remarked upon after the presentation by a faculty member to the university president.

However, I think that if one understands that the message delivered was in the model of the "network to defeat a network" as Abizaid's policy stance toward containing and addressing terrorism, then the lack of the US diplomatic, economic and infrastructure/humanitarian aid and development efforts and policies to do just that are ample criticism of Bush/Cheney  and the Departments of State and Defense.

Abizaid also spoke to the need to draw down the Army presence in Iraq.  He used a five year time table, and he didn't address the 20% broken soldier rate, the 10% exodus of junior and mid-level officers, nor the 18% recruitment waiver rate as parts of the Army sustainability picture, but he did in passing, reference the Army's overstretched situation. He also expressed his opinion that presidential candidates should be asked about this.

Except for his overly optimistic stance about POTUS/Cheney and Iran, his presentation was helpful to understand the complexity of the situation, its timeframe, and the meta-military role of the US - extant and optimal.

With regard to Iran, all I will say is consider the Balad CSH which has been made enormous and permanent and which is fully staffed jointly by the USAF and the Army.  It's ideally situated to receive Iran airstrike and ground forces casualties and to fly them out of theatre.  Where air evac, triage, and treatment facilities are robust and ready, the action isn't too likely to be too far behind or too far away.

General Abizaid engaged with students immediately after the Q and A portion of his presentation. He became very animated when one student identified himself as a sergeant in the Army Reserve who had served a tour in Najaf. Abizid immediately thank him for his service to his country (he had previously exhorted all of us to do the same when we encountered military personnel regardless of personal feelings about military action). Then he encouraged this student to speak to his fellow students about what he experienced there.

Communicate, communicate, communicate.

Abizaid gets the message across. Clearly. Effectively.

Criticize Washington?

Just fill in the blanks.

Health News Roundup

I'm still making this up as I go along. Today's focus is on finding some of the gems about healthcare and health policy that you can subscribe to via email. These are typically daily reports with excerpts and kinks to primary health and policy resources. They are deeply referenced, cited transparently, and they have a high degree of reliability and validity.

Feedback makes me all warm and fuzzy - and it makes the quality and focus better for you, dear reader. Please let me know what you think, what you would like to read, and what stories and issues you're interested in reading about. Here's your cup to sip from the health fire hose. *g*

Health References About Public Health And Pandemic Influenza

The Flu Wiki

The purpose of the Flu Wiki is to help local communities prepare for and perhaps cope with a possible influenza pandemic. This is a task previously ceded to local, state and national governmental public health agencies. Our goal is to be:

* a reliable source of information, as neutral as possible, about important facts useful for a public health approach to pandemic influenza
* a venue for anticipating the vast range of problems that may arise if a pandemic does occur
* a venue for thinking about implementable solutions to foreseeable problems

No one, in any health department or government agency, knows all the things needed to cope with an influenza pandemic. But it is likely someone knows something about some aspect of each of them and if we can pool and share our knowledge we can advance preparation for and the ability to cope with events. This is not meant to be a substitute for planning, preparation and implementation by civil authorities, but a parallel effort that complements, supports and extends those efforts.

While we will continue to administer and maintain the Wiki, we are turning the wheel over to the community, to take it where the road leads us.

Influenza Pandemic Preparation and Response: A Citizen’s Guide v.1.3 (PDF)

Use Doctrine
This manual is meant to be a guide for many citizens in its present form, but we
encourage individuals, communities, and organizations to revise and adapt it to their
individual needs and cultures and to translate it into other languages. We ask that
such revisions reference the original document and remain in the public domain.
Revisions should be posted on fluwikie.com so that those derivates will be widely
available. To check for current updates to this manual, please visit
http://www.fluwikie.com/pmwiki.php?n=Consequences.VersionHistory
Corrections and Additional Acknowledgments
If you wish to correct an error in this manual or if you find material for which the
original author or source is not properly acknowledged (an increasingly common
and unavoidable problem in the age of multiple postings and of extracts that do not
retain identification of the original source) please document your concern and email
it to PandemicPrepAndResponse@gmail.com.

Reuters Humanitarian Crisis Alerts

Want to know about flu in Fiji or cholera in Colombia? Easy and fast search functions to find crisis, locations, severity and statistics.

AHRQ Public Health and Pandemic Flu Information, News and Guides

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality's research in public health emergency preparedness is an outgrowth of its mission to develop evidence-based information to improve the quality of the U.S. health care system. This is critical to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services developing programs to combat bioterrorism and other public health emergencies such as pandemic flu.

To help communities prepare for a flu pandemic and other emergencies, AHRQ offers these tools from its Bioterrorism and Emergency Preparedness Program.

Health Policy Subscriptions

Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report

Add Daily Reports via RSS

Kaisernetwork.org provides four daily online reports -- summaries of news stories with links to the original articles and a fully searchable archive. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, the Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, the Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report and the Kaiser Health Disparities Report keep you in touch with legislative, political, legal, scientific, and business developments in each area. Issues include Medicare reform, Medicaid, patients' rights, access, the uninsured, minority health, children's health and health care advertising.

Kaiser First Edition, available each weekday morning at 8:30, provides headlines and links to the day's top stories and events.

You may also be interested in GlobalHealthReporting.org's Weekly TB/Malaria Report, which provides summaries of malaria and tuberculosis news stories, containing links to original articles and related resources.

Email DailyReports@kaisernetwork.org with story submissions and press releases.

Enhanced Search: Based on user feedback, we have improved the Daily Reports Search so you can more effectively search by date, sort by date or relevance, narrow your search results and more.

This is my favorite. The reportage is fast, timely, heavily referenced and fairly comprehensive.

Fierce Healthcare is a proprietary daily newsletter that is also referenced well, has a fairly comprehensive approach to issues coverage, and leans heavily toward promoting healthcare IT issues, in which it has a business interest.

AHRQ Patient Safety Network

AHRQ Patient Safety Network (PSNet) is a new national web-based resource featuring the latest news and essential resources on patient safety. The site offers weekly updates of patient safety literature, news, tools, and meetings ("What’s New"), and a vast set of carefully annotated links to important research and other information on patient safety ("The Collection"). Supported by a robust patient safety taxonomy and web architecture, AHRQ PSNet provides powerful searching and browsing capability, as well as the ability for diverse users to customize the site around their interests (My PSNet). It also is tightly coupled with AHRQ WebM&M, the popular monthly journal that features user-submitted cases of medical errors, expert commentaries, and perspectives on patient safety. AHRQ PSNet and AHRQ WebM&M are both funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and edited by a team at the University of California, San Francisco, with the technical support of Silverchair.

Subscribe here.


Today's Health News

Health Insurance Gaps Keep Would-Be Retirees Working

The number of Americans between 65 and 74 who are still working has jumped sharply, from 19.6% in 2000 to 23.2% last year, the Census Bureau said today. This morning’s Washington Post suggests several reasons for the jump, but one caught the Health Blog’s eye: Cuts in retiree health benefits have pushed employees to work longer to save on health care costs.

“People are simply hanging on to their job as a way to hang on to their income and to their health insurance so they can supplement their Medicare coverage,” Christian Weller, a University of Massachusetts professor and a senior fellow at the liberal Center for American Progress, told the paper.

Health Savings Accounts Aren't Catching On

A closely watched survey of employer-sponsored health insurance released today is getting attention for finding a 6% rise in premiums this year.

That headline number is climbing faster than inflation, though still below the double-digit increases of a few years back.

But the Health Blog was interested in a nugget buried inside the results. High-deductible insurance plans tied to special savings accounts continue to lag behind expectations, despite being praised high and low as a tool to slow the rise in health-care costs.

The Wall Street Journal is always looking for the free market, employer-focused angle.

Here's the New York Times' take on the same report:

Cost of Health Insurance Rises Again, but at a Slightly Slower Rate

The cost of employer-sponsored health insurance premiums has increased 6.1 percent this year, well ahead of wage trends and consumer price inflation, but below the 7.7 percent increase in 2006, the Kaiser Family Foundation reported yesterday.

Because doctor and hospital costs continue to rise at an even faster rate, the modest slowdown in insurance inflation mainly reflects cutbacks in coverage by many health plans, which have found ways to make employees pay more for their care. Industry experts said that without those measures, premium costs would have risen by 9 percent or more.

The total average annual cost for family coverage premiums rose this year to $12,106.

“For that kind of money, you could buy a compact car every year,” said Drew Altman, president of the Kaiser Foundation, a nonprofit group that produces the widely watched annual survey. He noted that health costs had increased 78 percent since 2001, more than four times the pace of prices and wages.

The 2007 increase was the smallest annual rise since 1999, when health premiums jumped 5.3 percent.

When the cupboard is bare, there isn't anything left over to put into HSAs (healthcare savings accounts).

That's a wrap for today. Your doses of flu references, email health news subscriptions and individuals' healthcare insurance costs will keep you wise to the latest in prevention and self-preservation.

Where The Surge Is Working

There is a real effective surge in Iraq. It just isn't with the combat forces.

Cholera is surging through the country.

A cholera epidemic in northern Iraq has infected approximately 7,000 people and could reach Baghdad within weeks as the disease spreads through the country’s decrepit and unsanitary water system, Iraqi health officials said Tuesday.

The World Health Organization reported that the epidemic is concentrated in the northern regions of Kirkuk and Sulaimaniya and that 10 people are known to have died. But Dr. Said Hakki, president of the Iraqi Red Crescent Society, a relief organization that has responded to the epidemic, said that new cases had turned up in the neighboring provinces, Erbil and Nineveh, indicating that the disease had spread.

What is cholera?

Cholera is an acute diarrhoeal infection caused by ingestion of the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. Transmission occurs through direct faecal-oral contamination or through ingestion of contaminated water and food. The disease is characterized in its most severe form by a sudden onset of acute watery diarrhoea that can lead to death by severe dehydration and kidney failure. The extremely short incubation period - two hours to five days - enhances the potentially explosive pattern of outbreaks, as the number of cases can rise very quickly. About 75% of people infected with cholera do not develop any symptoms. However, the pathogens stay in their faeces for 7 to 14 days and are shed back into the environment, potentially infecting other individuals. Cholera is an extremely virulent disease that affects both children and adults. Unlike other diarrhoeal diseases, it can kill healthy adults within hours. Individuals with lower immunity, such as malnourished children or people living with HIV, are at greater risk of death if infected by cholera.

Isn't that a disease from the Middle Ages?

During the 19th century, cholera spread repeatedly from its original reservoir or source in the Ganges delta in India to the rest of the world, before receding to South Asia. Six pandemics were recorded that killed millions of people across Europe, Africa and the Americas. The seventh pandemic, which is still ongoing, started in 1961 in South Asia, reached Africa in 1971 and the Americas in 1991. The disease is now considered to be endemic in many countries and the pathogen causing cholera cannot currently be eliminated from the environment.

Two serogroups of V. cholerae - O1 and O139 - can cause outbreaks. The main reservoirs are human beings and aquatic sources such as brackish water and estuaries, often associated with algal blooms (plankton). Recent studies indicate that global warming might create a favourable environment for V. cholerae and increase the incidence of the disease in vulnerable areas.

Who is at risk? How do they get it? Global warming - is Al Gore behind this?

Cholera is mainly transmitted through contaminated water and food and is closely linked to inadequate environmental management. The absence or shortage of safe water and sufficient sanitation combined with a generally poor environmental status are the main causes of spread of the disease. Typical at-risk areas include peri-urban slums, where basic infrastructure is not available, as well as camps for internally displaced people or refugees, where minimum requirements of clean water and sanitation are not met. However, it is important to stress that the belief that cholera epidemics are caused by dead bodies after disasters, whether natural or man-made, is false. Nonetheless, rumours and panic are often rife in the aftermath of a disaster. On the other hand, the consequences of a disaster -- such as disruption of water and sanitation systems or massive displacement of population to inadequate and overcrowded camps -- can increase the risk of transmission, should the pathogen be present or introduced.

Since 2005, the re-emergence of cholera has been noted in parallel with the ever-increasing size of vulnerable populations living in unsanitary conditions. Cholera remains a global threat to public health and one of the key indicators of social development. While the disease is no longer an issue in countries where minimum hygiene standards are met, it remains a threat in almost every developing country. The number of cholera cases reported to WHO during 2006 rose dramatically, reaching the level of the late 1990s. A total of 236 896 cases were notified from 52 countries, including 6311 deaths, an overall increase of 79% compared with the number of cases reported in 2005.

Was it a surprise? Um - NO!

AMMAN, March 22 (Reuters) - United Nations agencies working in Iraq warned on Thursday a chronic shortage of safe drinking water risks causing more child deaths and an outbreak of waterborne disease such as cholera during the summer.

Four years after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, millions of Iraqi children still find that safe water is no easier to access, said a statement issued by leading U.N. aid agencies operating in Iraq.

Does General Petraeus have a slide for this?

The major human displacement caused by the Iraq conflict — people being driven from their homes or simply choosing to leave — is likely to be driving the epidemic, officials say.

Who is helping?

Between 23 August and 6 September 2007, the cumulative number of cases of acute watery diarrhoea reported from five out of eleven districts of Sulaymaniyah Governate stands at 3,182 including 9 deaths (case fatality rate, CFR: 0.3%). Of these reported cases, Vibrio cholerae has been laboratory confirmed in 283 stool specimens.

During the period from 29 July to 2 September 2007, the health authority of Kirkuk Governate reported a total of 3,728 cases of acute diarrhoeal disease including 1 death (CFR: 0.03%). The first index case of cholera, confirmed by laboratory test, was reported from Kirkuk Governate on 14 August 2007. Most recently, six laboratory-confirmed cases of cholera were reported from Erbil Governate.

The Government of Iraq has mobilised a multi-sectoral response to the outbreak. A high-level National Committee on Cholera Preparedness and Outbreak Response has been established. The provincial health authorities of Sulaymaniyah, Kirkuk and Erbil Governates have initiated a number of public health control measures to contain the outbreak, including risk assessment, improving water safety and sanitation, strengthening the surveillance system for diarrhoeal disease, improving coordination and information flow, standardising clinical case management, mobilising medical and other essential supplies, and implementing social mobilisation and health education campaigns. All public water supply systems in the affected districts have been chlorinated by the provincial authorities. In addition, water samples from the public water supply sources are being collected and tested routinely to ensure they meet potable water safety standards.

WHO, UNICEF, UNDP, International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), a number of non-governmental organisations including the International Medical Corps (IMC), and Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF - France) are supporting the Ministry of Health and local health authorities in ongoing response operations.

The Numbers

Up until the Iraq epidemic, in 2005 WORLDWIDE, there were 236,896 total number of cases with 6311 deaths.
In Iraq alone now, there are 3182 cases with 9 deaths, and the number is exploding. For comparison, in 2004, the WHO reported 35 cases of cholera in Iraq with zero deaths.

Imagine for just a moment. You have explosive, debilitating diarrhea. It's over 100 degrees. You have no refrigeration, no bottled water, no cans of broth, soup and jello, no rehydration fluids, no toilet paper, no air conditioner or fans, no ice, no flushing toilets, no clean potable water of any kind, no medication, no clinic or hospital. How do you feel now?

Not a single US agency in the mix of health and relief agencies tackling this national nightmare. The US breaks a country, causes a 100% preventable epidemic, causes untold suffering, and leaves the mess for the international relief community to address.

And Americans have already learned that every single governmental agency is headed up with partisan political appointees who will report distorted and false information at the mandate of the Bush White House. So there is no trust in anything that the CDC or the HHS has to say about a cholera epidemic.

In Iraq with military supply lines becoming increasingly imperiled, it's only a matter of time before the beleaguered and exhausted troops also succumb to cholera. They are tired, they may not have timely and adequate deliveries of bottle or treated water, and just as they had to host bake sales to raise funds to purchase their own body armor, they have no guarantee that the White House won't fail them again, since the budget always funds political donors, regardless of what the troops need.

Love in the time of cholera. Not just a book title anymore.

Hearts and minds, baby.

Final Exam

What should the U.S. do vis-a-vis Iraq?

Well, let's start at the beginning:

What is the mandate via the Constitution for use of the military in foreign lands?

Under what stated mission is the military acting in Iraq? Afghanistan? (Really - provide the mission statement or the link to the same.)

What criteria are stated by which to measure the progress and/or completion of the stated mission(s). Again - provide the written criteria, the author(s) and the links or citations.

Provide the reports by independent and neutral third parties which states the methods used to identify how closely the military has met the mission.

WHAT? You can't answer any items past the Constitutional parameters for the use of the military in foreign lands?????

Now you get it!

Out. Of. Iraq. Now.

Chips and Cancer: Who Knew?

The AP published a story by Todd Lewan which is full of descriptions all sorts of problems with public safety, science and ethics in the US. Underlying it all is the active resistance to both governmental and private organizations and individuals to do the right thing. Over and over and over, known problems are hidden from view, and appointed government officials jump from their positions where they have oversight and regulatory authority to the very organizations for which they were charged to oversee on behalf of the public interest and safety.

When the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved implanting microchips in humans, the manufacturer said it would save lives, letting doctors scan the tiny transponders to access patients' medical records almost instantly. The FDA found "reasonable assurance" the device was safe, and a sub-agency even called it one of 2005's top "innovative technologies."

This story chronicles the problems with the implanted RFID chips commonly found used in pet identification, but which have also passed FDA approval for use as medical identifiers in humans.

But neither the company nor the regulators publicly mentioned this: A series of veterinary and toxicology studies, dating to the mid-1990s, stated that chip implants had "induced" malignant tumors in some lab mice and rats.

"The transponders were the cause of the tumors," said Keith Johnson, a retired toxicologic pathologist, explaining in a phone interview the findings of a 1996 study he led at the Dow Chemical Co. in Midland, Mich.

Leading cancer specialists reviewed the research for The Associated Press and, while cautioning that animal test results do not necessarily apply to humans, said the findings troubled them. Some said they would not allow family members to receive implants, and all urged further research before the glass-encased transponders are widely implanted in people.

To date, about 2,000 of the so-called radio frequency identification, or RFID, devices have been implanted in humans worldwide, according to VeriChip Corp. The company, which sees a target market of 45 million Americans for its medical monitoring chips, insists the devices are safe, as does its parent company, Applied Digital Solutions, of Delray Beach, Fla.

Once again, a Republican appointee acted in a way that is a clear conflict of interest with his role as the head of the FDA and his jump to an agency that he should have had no dealings with in any capacity. HHS continues to exhibit this unethical pattern with Dr. John Agwunobi's leap from his Assistant Secretary of the HHS position to that of Wal-Mart's Director of Health and Wellness position.

In the latter case, the AMA and the state medical board where Agwunobi is licensed should take a hard look at this disturbing breach of the public trust. Public health officials deal with patients as communities, and this is surely a breach of the physician patient relationship. Who can trust Agwunobi when his alliance is clearly to an organization paying his salary instead of as a professional advocate - as his profession stipulates - to his patients?

The FDA also stands by its approval of the technology.

Did the agency know of the tumor findings before approving the chip implants? The FDA declined repeated AP requests to specify what studies it reviewed.

The FDA is overseen by the Department of Health and Human Services, which, at the time of VeriChip's approval, was headed by Tommy Thompson. Two weeks after the device's approval took effect on Jan. 10, 2005, Thompson left his Cabinet post, and within five months was a board member of VeriChip Corp. and Applied Digital Solutions. He was compensated in cash and stock options.

Thompson, until recently a candidate for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination, says he had no personal relationship with the company as the VeriChip was being evaluated, nor did he play any role in FDA's approval process of the RFID tag.

"I didn't even know VeriChip before I stepped down from the Department of Health and Human Services," he said in a telephone interview.

Also making no mention of the findings on animal tumors was a June report by the ethics committee of the American Medical Association, which touted the benefits of implantable RFID devices.

Had committee members reviewed the literature on cancer in chipped animals?

No, said Dr. Steven Stack, an AMA board member with knowledge of the committee's review.

Was the AMA aware of the studies?

No, he said.

So much for protecting the public. The HHS, the FDA, the AMA - all of the agencies charged with assuring the public's safety and holding the public's trust - have not only failed to do that, but they actively undermine efforts to do what they are charged to do.

Where does that leave Americans?

Former US Surgeons General have testified that science is being distorted and suppressed. They have testified that the public's safety has been subjugated by political partisanship.

The first thing Americans must do is to mandate full Congressional oversight into the HHS, FDA, CDC, and all governmental agencies that are charged with protecting the public's safety.

Henry Waxman has introduced legislation to promote and to demand independence of the US Surgeon General position, and this is a good start.

The public must demand that the AMA, American Nurses Association, and the American Public Health Association put into place tough ethical conditions of membership, and that they publicly disclose members who are expelled or applications that are rejected for breaches of patient trust.

Congress must enact tough legislation that clearly prohibits any elected or appointed official from having any relationship with entities for which they have oversight or regulatory authority and responsibility. No more revolving door from comfy governmental position to private sector conflict of interest lobbying and advocacy. None. The policy must clearly and transparently be, if it appears to be a conflict of interest, it is, and therefore, it is not tolerated, nor is it acceptable.

The private sector is concerned with maximizing profits for its investors. Period.

Government is charged with protecting the public's welfare and safety.

Let the two remain separate and distinct entities.

And let the chips fall where they may. In Veri-Chip's case, may that be in a red bottom line for its egregiousness.

Say What?

Health08.org is a fascinating place to visit now and then. It is a website devoted to chronicling the presidential candidates' stances on health issues.

You can find gems like this:

It's time to bring together businesses, the medical community, and members of both parties around a comprehensive solution to this crisis, and it's time to let the drug and insurance industries know that while they'll get a seat at the table, they don't get to buy every chair. -Barak Obama

This sounds pretty nice until you realize who's missing at Obama's table: everyone who needs health care. That would be us. In other words, Obama just wants to switch the power brokers' seats at the table. His vision isn't any different than the status quo because it doesn't include the users of healthcare to have a say in creating the system for it.

Let's have another look at the candidates' statements, shall we?

We're hearing those phrases again; national health care, universal health care, socialized medicine. We're being told that government bureaucrats can take over our entire medical industry -- which by the way is the best and most complex in the world -- and make it better.

It used to be a lot easier to make the case for nationalizing health care before we actually started looking at the countries that have it.

Thompson's stance is the talking outta my ass one. He makes outrageous statements but doesn't have a single fact to support any of his television script assertions. First of all, he implies that national health care, universal healthcare and socialized medicie are one and the same. Wrong, Freddy.

And by the way, how is it that Fred has free campaign advertising courtesy of ABC Radio Networks? I don't believe that candidates are supposed to be able to use their employers as a free campaign forum, but clue me in if I'm wrong.

At any rate, here's what I'd like to learn:

Presidential candidates' health platforms:

• Who receives accessible and affordable healthcare services
• What those services are and what they are not
• Who pays for them?
• Who administers them?
• How are they administered?
• Who provides them?
• Where are they provided?
• Who regulates them? How?
• Who profits?
• How is preventive health care included?
• How do people obtain prescription medication? Who pays? How much do they pay? Who regulates and negotiates payment?
• How is the public's health assured?
• Who controls public health policy and programming? How does it interface with the rest of US health care?
• What role, if any, do employers have in providing health care coverage?
  

Answer these questions, candidates. The one who answers the most questions correctly has my vote.