thedrifter
08-11-07, 09:20 AM
Marine families still stonewalled
People who drank poisoned water from Camp Lejeune wells must be near the end of their ropes. After 20 years, they still don't have facts and findings that the government doesn't have or hasn't revealed.
Now they're being told they'll have to wait longer - maybe until the end of the year.
Government scientists may now be doing their best to find the truth and find it quickly. They may be right in saying they need months more. But they shouldn't be surprised if their conclusions are greeted with skepticism.
The Marine families and Marine employees who drank from tainted wells over a 30-year period weren't told of the danger then or of the possible consequences since then. And the coverup - it's hard to call it anything else - continues.
The Bush administration objected in June when a congressional committee asked for testimony from an investigator for the Environmental Protection Agency. He told the committee that it looked as if civilian employees of the Navy had been coached before they were questioned in 2005.
Even now, the government is hiding documents, claiming that releasing them would endanger national security - the administration's all-purpose excuse.
Given this stonewalling, it's no wonder that many former Lejeune residents don't believe what they are being told. No wonder some believe the contaminated water caused serious, sometimes fatal, illnesses.
They may not be right about that. But they are obviously right about their government's unconscionable failure to take this issue seriously and to deal with it - and them - honorably.
Honor is something Marines are taught to believe in. Too bad other employees of the federal government aren't.
Ellie
People who drank poisoned water from Camp Lejeune wells must be near the end of their ropes. After 20 years, they still don't have facts and findings that the government doesn't have or hasn't revealed.
Now they're being told they'll have to wait longer - maybe until the end of the year.
Government scientists may now be doing their best to find the truth and find it quickly. They may be right in saying they need months more. But they shouldn't be surprised if their conclusions are greeted with skepticism.
The Marine families and Marine employees who drank from tainted wells over a 30-year period weren't told of the danger then or of the possible consequences since then. And the coverup - it's hard to call it anything else - continues.
The Bush administration objected in June when a congressional committee asked for testimony from an investigator for the Environmental Protection Agency. He told the committee that it looked as if civilian employees of the Navy had been coached before they were questioned in 2005.
Even now, the government is hiding documents, claiming that releasing them would endanger national security - the administration's all-purpose excuse.
Given this stonewalling, it's no wonder that many former Lejeune residents don't believe what they are being told. No wonder some believe the contaminated water caused serious, sometimes fatal, illnesses.
They may not be right about that. But they are obviously right about their government's unconscionable failure to take this issue seriously and to deal with it - and them - honorably.
Honor is something Marines are taught to believe in. Too bad other employees of the federal government aren't.
Ellie