SPECIAL PROSECUTOR DEMANDED

By Gordon Duff STAFF WRITER/Senior Editor

The individual responsible for overseeing the "accidental" destruction of million of vital veterans records may be the person most responsible for the backlog in claims handling and the suffering of our veterans and their families.  Cooper, famous for saying, "Bible study is more important than doing my job" definately did a job, and did it well, if that job was to cheat veterans.

Bill Eckard, 34 year VA employee, highly decorated Marine  and Vietnam double amputee, former Chief of Prosthetic Services for the VA said of Cooper, "he brought in a new system, as soon as a claim came in, the files were either shredded or sent from desk to desk until the veteran finally died.  He invented a shell game that led from hiding files to pushing them off on others and eventually losing or destroying them.  The end result was to totally destroy the claims handling system.  I worked thru all of this, it was a nightmare."

Cooper is accused of spending the majority of his time while employed by Veterans Affairs working as a fundraiser for religious groups.  Cooper's primary accomplishments, other than to cause a massive backlog in claims was to deny a record number of veterans, already diagnosed by the military,  compensation for PTSD and to have given his assistant, Ronald Aument, a $33,000 bonus during a time when office performance reached record levels of incompetence.

Demands are being made for a Special Prosecutor to look into wrongdoing by Cooper, who is said to have continually violated federal ethics laws during his tenure with the VA.  Key veterans leaders have gone to the FBI since the VA Inspector General cleared Cooper in a report still being kept secret.  Veterans leaders claim Cooper is being shielded by other Bush appointees within the VA's oversight agencies. 

Paul Sullivan of Veterans for Common Sense says of Cooper, "We're very concerned about this because hundreds of thousands of veterans are waiting for their benefits while Cooper himself says that promoting his religion is more important than helping the veterans."

The most significant issue isn't just Cooper's abandoning his job for continual religious prosletizing but that his extremist religious views , as seen in his management style and job performance, express a value system that characterizes veterans as undeserving and chosen by God for punishment.

The issue:  Should a person whose religious beliefs are at direct odds with his job responsibility have been chosen by President Bush in the first place?  If Cooper sees veterans asking for compensation or medical treatment for PTSD, Traumatic Brain Injuries, amputations or other wounds as undeserving of God's favor, should such an individual be put in a position to destroy the lives of thousands of American veterans and their families?

Gordon Duff is a Marine combat veteran and regular contributor on political and social issues.