TBI is the signature injury of this century's wars. The piece has a wealth of information in it, and I ask that you take a moment today to read it. If you're in a hurry, get a definition of TBI, learn of its sometimes cozy relationship with PTSD, get inspired by one person's actions, and then find out what Operation Helmet is doing to prevent TBI incidents. They've been working to equip all Marine, Guard, and Reserve helmets (Army helmets are ok) with special protective inserts proven to be superior to helmets without.

I will pull one portion out of yesterday's commentary to give an idea of how large the TBI problem is for the American people. Yes, you read that right -- for all of us.

Are you sitting down?

The Human and Financial Costs
So, why is preventing TBI important to all of us -- and not just the individual soldier or Marine who comes home with it? Although the human cost is obvious and by far gives reason enough to do what we can to prevent such violent and life-changing injuries, there are financial considerations as well for every American taxpayer.

From a Jan. 2006 paper, The Economic Costs of the Iraq War: An Appraisal Three Years After the Beginning of Conflict [pdf] by Linda Bilmes and Nobel Prize-winning economist Prof. Joseph E. Stiglitz:

"There is a special category of health care expenditures that go beyond those included in the above calculation -- for those with brain injuries. To date, 3213 people - 20% of those injured in Iraq - have suffered head/brain injuries that require lifetime continual care at a cost of $600,000 to $5 million. The government will be required to commit resources through intensive care facilities, round-the-clock home or institutional care, rehabilitation and assisted living for these veterans.

For the conservative estimate, we have used a midpoint estimate of a net present value of $2.7 million over a 20 year expected survival rate for this group, which is about $135,000 per year, yielding a cost of $14 billion. This amount seems low for brain-injured individuals who will require round-the-clock care in feeding, dressing and daily functioning.

For the moderate estimate, we use a higher cost estimate ($4m) and assume a longer life duration for a total cost of $35 billion. In both cases we assume that the number injured will rise in a manner consistent with the duration of the conflict."

Still sitting? The money's already drying up for TBI research and care. Already.

From USA Today:

Congress appears ready to slash funding for the research and treatment of brain injuries caused by bomb blasts...House and Senate versions of the 2007 Defense appropriation bill contain $7 million for the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center -- half of what the center received last fiscal year. ...

The Brain Injury Center, devoted to treating and understanding war-related brain injuries, has received more money each year of the war -- from $6.5 million in fiscal 2001 to $14 million last year.

According to the article, the Pentagon doesn't like hearing about TBI.

The center has clashed with the Pentagon in recent months over a program to identify troops who have suffered mild to moderate brain injuries in Iraq from mortars, rocket-propelled grenades and roadside bombs -- the most common weapons used by insurgents.

What's the Pentagon's Problem?
Could it be that the Brain Injury Center's research has already shown ~10% of troops overall, and ~20% of the infantry receive concussions while deployed? Well, maybe the Pentagon should consider equipping the troops with better helmets. They're available. What's the problem, now? Busted budgets. Busted budgets stand in the way of getting the best helmet protection available today to everyone serving on the front lines.

The founder of Operation Helmet says:

Marine Combat Equipment Team tells me they have a limited budget and can't afford to retrofit all the existing PASGT helmets (cost $99.06 per kit), while at the same time purchasing the new LW helmets.

Yep, that extra $100 per Marine would really set the American taxpayer back a bit of change, now, wouldn't it? Can't find any money for something like that. Am I the only one wondering if it's wise for us to balk at pitching in an extra $100 per helmet today? Or am I pure genius to think that it would be better than spending millions and billions in lifetime care?

Yet, the Pentagon doesn't even want to find out how many troops are returning with TBI. The Brain Injury Center has recommended they screen every returning vet for future research (by putting their findings in a database) and for treatment. The Pentagon refuses to do it. They say they need to do more research.

Research? Did somebody say research? Well, no problem!  That's what the BIC wants to do - more research, see? The Pentagon needs more reseach, and they're willing to do it. So, the funding should be pretty easy to come by, right? Are they going to get the funding for that research so the Pentagon can be reassured? Can they begin screening our troops and providing the care they need? (Why is it whenever anyone talks about the Pentagon it's always in a series of questions?)

What's Congress' Problem?

Rather than give the BIC the $17 million they had asked for, Congress has decided they're only prepared to give them $7 million. $7 million, folks. In the `richest' nation on earth, we can't come up with an extra $10 million to take care of the people that our leaders sent to war and said that we should support.

Spokespersons for the appropriations committees in both chambers say cuts were due to a tight budget this year. "Honestly, they would have loved to have funded it, but there were just so many priorities," says Jenny Manley, spokeswoman for the Senate Appropriations Committee. "They didn't have any flexibility in such a tight fiscal year."

I mean, has it really come to this?

This administration's priorities include tax credits for energy companies swimming in the highest profits they've ever seen, and tax cuts for those who need it the least? The Bush administration argues they need to cut the deficit in half.

Well, they are not going to be able to snip from the budget here and snip from the budget there. These troops are returning home and someone is going to need to pay for their care. These people are physically and mentally impaired due to the war - and they want to cut research and treatment funding to the very services and programs that will help them begin putting their lives back together again?

Act Now and In the Weeks to Come

• Contact your elected leaders. While Congress is away on vacation, we need to reach out to them and talk to them about this issue. This must not stand. We need more funding for TBI and PTSD - not less. Contact their home offices; heck, go visit them in their home office, if possible.

• Contact your local news outlet. Tell them what's happening. Then ask them to contact your Senators and Congresspersons to get them to make a statement on what they think about this issue, and what they're going to do when they get back to Washington, DC.

• Contact Keith Olbermann. Ask him if he could put the Bush Administration, the Pentagon, Congress on his `Worst Person in the World' segment.

• Contact national media outlets.Tell them what you've learned. Ask them if they might consider covering the issue. Suggest they ask an OEF/OIF veteran from Veterans for America (VFA) or Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA) to come on the show and debate the issue with someone who's in favor of cutting these funds from the budget. Don't forget to contact outlets like Air America or Howard Stern (gulp), too.

• Write a Letter to the Editor.Ask the American people if they agree this is the way to go. How are we supporting our troops if we're gutting the programs that they're relying on most as they return home? Start with USA Today since they wrote the article highlighted in this diary; but, don't stop there. Write as many as you can.

• Consider donating to Operation Helmet. If our government is incapable of protecting our troops, then lets be the leaders that they obviously aren't. People are already doing it at OH. Donate here. Spread the word. And if you're a service member currently deployed, be sure to request your free helmet upgrade kit.