seeing for influencing in central and south america as well as the caribbean, already seeing some criticism from us politicians in the u. s. government over hon doors. decision. but inevitably will you, what could be us really do? you can't tell another country who we can enter into diplomatic relations with other then, you know, try and carrot and stick approach. china their, their, their, with their, their, with infrastructure projects. they're there with trade as well. the united states has been there. obviously it's the united states is back yard just before we go, some breaking news now from central france, where one person has been killed and several policemen injured in an explosion in a private home. the bus took place when police officers arrived to arrest a suspect who was killed in the incidence. the strong smell of gasoline was reported at the scene at least 3 officers, and i've been treated in hospital. well,

that's all from me pizza, scott. but nicky are in will be taken over to take you through all the top stories as was developing story in front as we had into the evening. thank you very much for watching. the china has performed a master stroke of diplomacy. it is brokered in agreement that we'll see iran and saudi arabia, again reestablish diplomatic relations. this could be a step not only to reorder the middle east, but also usher in an air of stability in the region. today. washington is the odd man out ah, imagine you're in the u. s. military and your job is to take care of waste disposal . that sounds easy enough and your orders are to bulldoze everything into a giant pile, spray it with jet fuel and set it on fire. that sounds like

a terrible idea. it'll pollute everything, and it will cause untold health problems. i'm john curiosity and you're watching the whistleblowers burn pits have become a serious issue in u. s. military policy. the concept of burned pits is relatively simple. the military needs a way to dispose of its waste. but that waste includes every thing, food scraps, plastics, rubber, medical, waste, chemicals, even broken military equipment. the policy for decades was to bulldoze everything into a giant pile using acres of land hose it all down with jet fuel and then set it on fire. just imagine all of that burning waste, it would have to be one of the most toxic environments on earth. and what happened

is that soldiers and proximity to the burn pits began returning to the united states and showing signs of rare cancers, especially glee, oh bless, domus brain cancers claiming the lives of people like bo biden, the son of president joe biden, and claiming the life of my best friend, david mccracken, the connection between the burned pits and these rare cancers was clear, but the pentagon refused to acknowledge it. and for years after the burned pits were wound down and the u. s. withdrew from places like iraq and kosovo, the victims continued to suffer and to die. our guest today is joseph hickman. joe hickman spent most of his life in the military 1st as marine and then as a soldier in both the army and the national guard. he is deployed on several military operations throughout the world, sometimes attached to foreign militaries, the recipient of more than 20 commendations and awards. jo hitman was awarded the army chief met metal and the army commendation metal. while he was stationed at

guantanamo bay, he's also the author of the book, the burn pits, joe, welcome back to the show. thanks john. joe, the problem of burn pit seems to be patently obvious. everybody knows that you can't burn plastic. everybody knows that you can't burn rubber or medical waste out in an open field. everybody knows you can't mix chemicals and equipment and food and just set it all on fire. how did this stupid policy begin in the 1st place? i began in the beginning, you're remembering trash and military years, decades during the war we birch. but we really started to realize something's wrong . even though we changed that realization we gave the job to dispose of waste from soldiers. and from the basis we're building to government contractors and the government contractor that did we gave

her to a j, v r, which was james. he was former ceo that company or vice president united states. and they were cutting cost figure out way, way instead of high temperature generators is cited. take a bridges of fields and burn our ways joe, how long was it before people began to see a correlation between the burn pits and illnesses. even if those illnesses weren't these rare cancers, what happened then? did the complaints go back to the pentagon in a timely fashion? it was just cause it moves so slowly on. we started seeing crowns almost within months after really rated. and

once we got into iraq, they call it the iraqi cried within 2 to 3 months. so you're coming down really sick with a lot of illnesses and mostly sort of a life symptoms understood and they call it into the regular people. begin to realize that you're living. this is causing this so called the cylinders. you've done a major investigation of this policy that led to your 3rd book, the burn pits. why did the pentagon deny for so long that there was a problem? why did they deny that these clusters of rare cancers affecting a wide variety of people who had one thing in common that they worked in or near the burn pits? was this financial issue that the pentagon just didn't want to have to deal with? it was definitely a financial issue. it was also after,

while the pentagon stopped at 9, it was in the ship. so it was a legal li loophole. they could use j. b, r was held responsible for the birth. so that's actually also from over $400.00 soldiers illnesses of the burg this well gave york laid it on a military towing saying the military saying that the military came up with the idea of where to build this and give your schools the military stake on the issue because the parents are cancer, the military. so have you are going to military no solid. and it was just the case for the liberal cues of this problem because it just who do you blame?

why the sides denying it and the other side by side. this denying it and you should that well let me ask you a follow up on that issue because i think i think you're hitting on a very important point here. you've got these military contractors who are more or less indemnified for what they're doing in war zones. during war time, you've got k, b r, which is a multi 1000000000 dollar company with very, very close ties to the military industrial complex, but then they get away with something like this. this is the same company that got away with multiple accusations of sexual harassment, of female employees. for example. why is it that these 2 big to fail military contractors who are clearly in the wrong on some of these issues of life and death? just get away with it. how does this happen? whoa, i get the q u r i c biggest thing there. like i said,

do you the timers before or become and why? he had resigned years ceo. he was he, you know, he had very close hires. gave your money when he left, which $1000000.00 in stock. gosh, that was part of his stepping down. was part of what he sees after the iraqi and started his stock options for trips. so i really, i mean, i figured there was a lot of evidence. so yeah, it's a lot of things why you're got the contract, which is a no big contract waste management and the money that you're you know, government official date on this. absolutely,

sir. yeah. yeah. it's astounding for these members of the u. s. military who were exposed to the burn pits. joe, tell us a little bit about what they had to endure. in the case of my friend david mccracken, he worked on burden pitts, both in kosovo and iraq. he came home and developed a glee, oh, blessed alma and was dead. less than a year later, at the age of 46, his family was denied defense department medical benefits. and he was even denied permission to be buried at arlington national cemetery. because they said that his illness was not service related. was that kind of treatment common for soldiers coming back, who had been exposed to the burn pits? is that what ho biden's family and others endured? yes, and i did practice and this was for client was a terrible story. terrible story. unfortunately, the story is very common and it is to show the back or

yet i don't understand why this should be right on the front page. a lot of people actually be denied at 1st, everyone was denied now denied benefits need. a lot of them died. just completely broke and not given heroes. you know, all under the radar. these are all your lessons. tell us about some of the diseases that we're talking about here. i mentioned a moment ago glee, oh, blessed oma, which is this rare brain cancer? it's something that my friend had at something that bo biden had. it turned out that in my friend david's case, he had to tumors in his brain, one the size of a walnut and one the size of a p. but they were so deep in his brain that they were in operable. there was just

nothing that could be done. it turned out that bo biden had pretty much the same thing. but what else are we talking about here? are we talking about respiratory illnesses like c o, p d? are we talking exclusively about cancer's? what are these people coming home with home? what was so different diagnosis? you have to share. there was you're burning anything and everything. so you're, you're deal with with thousands of cars that are affected by so many different ways . i've talked to people that had this soldier who had a tumor on the side as side on the side the side and i think to really understand look at the rack. and what was your purpose? asked the cdc don't even have names for dorms.

so i think, i think the facts were just, you know, so many different things. the soldiers are having an error and this is, i'm believe you make a, you make a very good point there. and a very important point. i read a new york times account of burn pits in iraq that said that when the, when the wind would shift, the smoke would settle on a u. s. military base. and literally everybody on the base was, was forced to breathe in this. iraqi gunk, as you called it, everybody got sick, whether it was from asthma or a cold, or an upper respiratory infection, all the way down to these, these rare cancers. but then just imagine what people, the neighboring villages had to go through. if you're a soldier, you're eventually going to cycle out of that base. you're going to come home or

you're going to be transferred somewhere else. if you're an iraqi national or a coast of our or an afghan, and you live near these, these burn pits, you breathe this in for years and, and nothing good is going to come to this. no, it was um you're talking about over a 180 different build law for us, iraq or outside or military basis. and like i said, the earth respects their state. now the 1st tried to say it was uranium acre lot, several dockers. and she can see that there is from the oven, air burn hits the country on it's a developing story. it is very sad to know the story. these children are being born with some of the worst part of the fax you ever see we are speaking with joseph heckman, about the toxic burned pits created and used by the u. s. military around the world and how they lead to untold human misery among american soldiers and others,

including the locals. we're going to take a short break and come right back, stay tune. 2 2 2 2 2 2 with i'm willing at the i so booty, toya know cranium. g doin soon enough idea. she ship duck lean that report to control input to abort solutions. she'll delete it via them. awarded by latest, early premium did not sing the vice president of lucy lena with

falconer insurance. actually it's kim jeff dr. room. dish bradley and were both eliana cranes. his dad to larry's to model the my saw glenn, but just story finished on us. i live, share a lease, get us which i, we ship it with them that just stick with what i needed your daughter to take you more. what of them? i need a says there you train schools with that for a musician will one they reached over the course. and if a teacher who could and should not to love usually go to work, it doesn't feel good to break global. i'm saying years about how she took on the job is to promote the enough room for a few quick to take a picture, go double play, you have to go so good on that. oh,

welcome back to the whistle blowers. i'm john kerry arco, were speaking with joseph hickman, a u. s. military veteran and author of the book, the burn pitts. good to have you back joe. the u. s. defense department is now estimating that 3 and a half 1000000 troops that us troops in kosovo, iraq and afghanistan eventually returned to the u. s. with respiratory or other health problems because of exposure to the burn pits that is a gigantic number. but the problem that we've seen since 2010 is that the pentagon didn't bother to keep records of what was actually burned, where it was burned, how it was burned, and who was exposed to the smoke. as a result, the u. s. department of veterans affairs has been reluctant to admit that these diseases were service related. has that finally been fixed, or veterans finally receiving the care and the benefits that they deserve. a lot more veterans are getting here. this was

a huge but again it moves so slow, we're still seeing a lot of people being denied that we shouldn't be there. but it is, it is turning around. it's getting better. it should've been better a lot faster. what happens with aged arm, which is very similar to. ready as far as how we handle it, it took 27 years for this veterans from the army and were just seeing the same thing with them. or what do you try to do? do you tribute that to, to just bureaucratic normalcy or, or is there some other reason why the, the pentagon in the department of veterans affairs just can't seem to get it's, it's act together on this issue. i, i think it's, it's deeply cool at all. i can tell you that before that, okay,

now i had a company global research solutions and i submitted a detailed report on what was happening with the firm this better and we're going through the problems. i told me directly to sen ron johnson directly to senator ron john thompson. question. and i asked him to explain to this, you got behind it 100 percent to me when i was going to this office and he said he would do what he can. and then just a couple weeks later, a bill was introduced to, to actually recognize the issue and to do some sort of, you know, testing evaluations on soldiers or the purpose. and he, he against the bill. oh,

i couldn't understand why he was met with his office staff and his veterans. people don't staff in any yeah. a couple we 7 bill on a missile system. i think i'm he had to go for 35000000 dollars to help them and the bank, i believe the one that this will just because it hasn't worked in 2 years trial trials, but he passed it. i id deep lives where she were or something we're just really paid by the military industrial military and so much and slows these issues down. one of the things that has me perplexed is, it's now clear to everybody, including at the pentagon and the pentagon's leadership, that burn pits are toxic,

that they kill people and that they should not be in use. but at the same time, the defense department still has not officially bands there use. why is that, and is there any role for congress here? why are the oversight committees? not banning the bern pits and legislation your job, you're just as good as mine. actually. my wife has serious respiratory issues. i don't know why she's on the shoes in my racket into this issue is just not going away and their, their band aid, but they're not all in late summer, jo, president biden signed a bill into law that is supposed to improve medical benefits for service members. who were exposed to the burn pits. do you think that's enough? it took

a long time and it doesn't look like there's any more legislation pending. is there more that you think should be done? or do i think there's more on morality issues that should be done military deal with their veterans? i don't, i didn't. i didn't like the abilities time, but there's so much to do hardly see the bill itself. i think i think we should just start, i believe in our veterans sentences that he has worked for years and years years under the concept. ok, you're sick, you're injured, military related and that's how they operate. instead of operating that way, they have to just change change. okay. you are showing you tell me we have to prove it's not. ready that should be changed. i don't

see each year we started off here talking about k b r and and defense contractors have defense contractors taken a position on these legislative issues that k b r a side obviously because k b r has a vested interest in bern, pits not being recognized as a health concern, what about some of the other big defense contractors or are the victims of the burn pits standing alone these, these covered these companies. they drop the drake, this flag as you know, out of your window in the end. they don't, they don't they, it's all about them. and why do you think we're not seeing more support on capitol hill? you just now told this awful story about senator ron johnson,

which i completely believe. i worked on capitol hill for many years and, and this kind of thing happens all the time. but why isn't there a movement among other members of congress? whether it's the house, the senate, to do something to protect our service members, it just seems like there's this is a no lose situation. if you're a politician the all the games you have a couple that are really good. was the north carolina marriage, impassioned the guy the driver was helping excellent for helping others. all these. but there's just too far between like there's, there's some that are just independence. some seem like the talk again. but when it comes there, they're not as really and i think is over is the country we have to start paying attention to how you go. yes or no and all these things are

supposed to help. not just for joe back in august, there was a protest about the burn pits right here in washington, d. c. with big names like john stuart, standing with veterans and trying to bring this to light. what more do you think needs to be done to bring about change? ah, well, like i said, i think it has to start in into the system itself has to be completely has to be turn around and start actually better actually give stacks. when i go on there is a lack of respect to the better so they don't really believe with a better saying maybe the doctors are are just overwhelmed because it's short staff . every time i go to church and they have a lot to do,

it just has to. they have to changes. no, good luck. we haven't seen that yet. i'm sorry to miss it. that's okay. you have to follow the fax joe. one last question for you. you have blown the whistle on 2 major issues affecting the u. s. military, that's torture at guantanamo. and we're going to discuss that separately. and on these bern pits, what has the reaction been to you personally by the us military? i'm sure the rank and file are grateful for what you've done. i know that my friend, david's widow, is grateful for what you've done. but what's the reaction been from the pentagon? pentagon that they i had a hard time when i came forward with this group one time 1st rate are still active duty and it was probably

a really bad time. but i had to use literally a life or death situation. so they, they gave me a hard time. sometimes we're 1010 months of age because there is payroll issues, some issues with where i was stationed to be moved to a different job. it was a lot of problems in a lot of people hired them, spoke pretty roughly why the people in my life years got longer and i'm logged in casting research. joe hickman, thank you so much for joining us today. that's all we have for you today. remember, in this case,

the words of the dalai lama. a compassionate concern for others well being is the source of happiness. a self centered attitude is the source of the problem. we have to take care of ourselves without selfishly taking care of ourselves. if we don't take care of others, we cannot take care of ourselves. i'm john curiosity. and this has been the whistleblowers. we'll see you next time. ah. 2 2 2 ah, ah ah,

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