Roger That: Ten Illinois veterans have died from Legionnaires’ disease

At least 10 people in western Illinois have now died from Legionnaires' disease, after a state veterans home reported two new fatalities among its residents, according to Military Times.

An outbreak first identified in late August after an initial case was detected several weeks earlier has sickened 53 people at the Quincy home, nine of whom died. Four others in Quincy have been diagnosed with the illness, one of whom died. Officials say those cases aren't connected to the larger outbreak.

The Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs said Wednesday that it planned to disinfect water systems at the veterans home with chlorine after previously cleaning its hot water tanks and air conditioning system and shutting down decorative and drinking water fountains and other potential sources of aerosolized water.

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The U.S. military has spent more than $41 million on the program to train and equip Syrian rebels to combat Islamic State militants that has yet to maintain a single fighter on the ground in Syria, according to DoDBuzz.

In a statement, Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook said that through May 30 the Defense Department had “spent $41.8 million to fund the training and equipping of the vetted Syrian opposition.” He said the Pentagon comptroller was working to get more updated numbers on the costs of the program.

Congress authorized $500 million last year for the program that was intended to put more than 3,000 “moderate” opposition fighters in Syria by the end of the year. In July, the first group of 54 fighters entered Syria from Turkey but they were attacked by the al-Qaeda affiliated Al Nusra Front and quickly returned to Turkey.

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More than 50 intelligence analysts working out of the U.S. military's Central Command have formally complained that their reports on ISIS and al Qaeda’s branch in Syria were being inappropriately altered by senior officials, The Daily Beast has learned.

The complaints spurred the Pentagon’s inspector general to open an investigation into the alleged manipulation of intelligence. The fact that so many people complained suggests there are deep-rooted, systemic problems in how the U.S. military command charged with the war against the self-proclaimed Islamic State assesses intelligence.

“The cancer was within the senior level of the intelligence command,” one defense official said.

This story was originally published September 10, 2015 at 10:17 AM with the headline "Roger That: Ten Illinois veterans have died from Legionnaires’ disease."