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With the Iraq War’s coverage waning, many Americans have changed their focus to the failing US economy. But for war veterans and troops still serving, the effects of the war and mistreatment by government loom large. The LA Times reported yesterday that the Pentagon recently quietly changed its definition of combat-related disabilities, rendering many wounded veterans ineligible for medical benefits to treat their war wounds. One such veteran is James Dixon, a Marine who was wounded in Iraq twice, by a roadside bomb and a land line. His injuries, which include “a traumatic brain injury, a concussion, a dislocated hip and hearing loss,” as well as Post-traumatic Stress Disorder, were ruled non-combat related by the Pentagon. With Obama’s transition to the White House, many veterans are hopeful that such treatment will end.

GUEST: Aaron Glantz is an independant journalist who reported extensively as an un-embedded reporter in Iraq during the first three years of the war and has been covering the stories of American veterans since his return, author of the forthcoming book, “The War Comes Home: Washingtons’ Battle Against America’s Veterans” and co-author with Iraq Veterans Against the War of “Winter Soldier Iraq and Afghanistan: Eyewitness Accounts of the Occupations.”