Most of us are vividly aware of the cost of the Iraqi war to our troops and their families. Nearly 3,400 of our brave soldiers have given their lives. Tens of thousands more have been wounded, many of them maimed for life. Each of these dead or wounded soldiers have a family, and their lives have been negatively altered also.
Now we learn that many of our soldiers are returning with mental health problems - the kind of problems that could affect them and their families for many years to come.
The University of California at San Francisco and the San Francisco VA Hospital have conducted a survey of 103,788 veterans returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan between 2001 and 2005. This survey shows that a stunning proportion of our vets are returning with mental health problems.
Out of the 103,788 vets surveyed, 32,010 (31%) have been disgnosed with some sort of mental illness. More than half of these with mental health problems have been diagnosed with two or more mental disorders.
This is what's been diagnosed in that 32,010:
52% have post-traumatic stress disorder
24% have anxiety disorder
24% have adjustment disorder
20% have depression
20% have substance abuse disorder
The disorders cut across racial, sexual, ethnic and social boundaries - affecting all groups in about the same percentages. This is a price being paid by all corners of our society, except the rich of course.
Former Senator and veteran Max Cleland, wounded during the Vietnam war said, "This is the price of war. You can't send young Americans to Iraq and Afghanistan...and expect them to come home and just fit right in. They bring that trauma with them. If you don't intervene with the emotional aftermath of the war up-front and early, it can slide down a precipitous path to hell."
The war in Afghanistan was a justifiable one. They had attacked us on our soil, and would have again if we had not acted. If Bush had used the full might of our military there, it would have been over by now. But he didn't.
I don't know why Bush left Afghanistan half done and went to Iraq. Was it for the oil? Was it some family grudge? Was it the neocon myth of spreading American influence through military power?
Whatever the reason, it screwed everything up. The Taliban is returning in Afghanistan, and we have accomplished nothing in Iraq except to cause the deaths of thousands of people on all sides.
That is the sad part of all this. Thousands of our soldiers have died, and many more have been wounded, both physically and mentally.
And there is still no end in sight. Bush's only solution is to sacrifice even more soldiers in the hope that his successor can find a solution. He has admitted this himself.
It is time to override this pathetic excuse for a president, and bring our troops back home. We cannot impose a democracy in Iraq thru military power, no matter how brave and resourceful our troops are. The Iraqis will install the government they want, whether we like it or not. It's time to leave and let them get on with it.
It's time to bring our troops home NOW - before we do even more damage to our troops and our country.
Back on March 4, I suggested we revisit this in six months. In the meantime, check out this editorial, not in the Washington Times or the Wall Street Journal, but the Washington Post.
ReplyDeleteWe're still not out of the woods, and I'm certainly not ready to stick my neck out and predict victory, but we're only a month into the Surge. Most experts weren't predicting progress until this summer at the earliest.
Give it time.
Here's some more, this time from CNN.
ReplyDeletePeople often suffer from mental illness when they believe their lives have no meaning. Many Vietnam veterans still suffer from the fact that they never saw the fruits of their efforts. Our troops in Iraq are finally making a difference. Let's not take that away from them now.
Last November, Democrats ran on a platform of a change in direction in Iraq, and the voters responded. This is a change in direction. Let's all pray that this success continues.
What change in direction? Sounds like the same old thing to me. There are still far too many bombings, deaths and kidnappings. Bush is asking for thousands more troops.
ReplyDeleteI think you're grasping at straws. The numbers may have decreased slightly, but that has happened periodically, and will probably rise again.
It's time to withdraw. A majority of Americans want it and a majority of Iraqis want it.
I think you're grasping at straws. The numbers may have decreased slightly, but that has happened periodically, and will probably rise again.
ReplyDeleteThis is reminiscent of the arguments of the so-called global warming deniers, i.e. it's bound to turn back on its own. But unlike climate, which really is cyclical in nature, warfare is very much determined by human activity.
I'll concede that a single event, like the bombing of the Golden Mosque in Samarra a little over a year ago, or a coordinated offensive by the insurgents could reverse the tenuous advances attributable to the Surge. But I'll continue to hope that this change in strategy will succeed, not for political gain - the errors of the past cannot and should not be forgotten - but simply because a free, peaceful and democratic Iraq would be in the best interest of everyone.
On a lighter note, I noticed last night that Keith Olberman covered the revelations obtained from Anna Nicole's computer, as well as Brittney's reaction to Justin's letter to her at rehab. Given that he'd be much more apt to report on Iraq if the news there were bad, I'd say no news is good news.