Perhaps the Ft. Hood tragedy and the resulting focus on the military will help cause President Obama to rethink his plans to increase troop levels in Afghanistan. Something has to change for our military men and women and their families!
There was a lot of media discussion yesterday about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and related battle stresses with speculation on how they may have affected the suspected shooter. (It has been reported that, as an Army psychiatrist, Major Hasan counseled troubled troops.) It was repeatedly suggested that the horrors he had heard from his patients may have contributed to his taking such terrible action since the savagery of their stories could have eventually caused him to "snap" as his own deployment date neared. It is plausible since it is known that PTSD affects not only troops subjected to battle conditions, but their families as well. Perhaps support staff is impacted as well, since it was brought out yesterday that fewer people are available to provide needed services in our overburdened military.
Even if PTSD didn't play a role in what happened yesterday, its existence is a grim reality that is possibly still being downplayed by a military leadership needing a steady supply of recruits to send to battle. We hear that our armed forces are stretched to the breaking point with 3, 4 or more rotations back to war zones for troops who may not be psychologically or physically ready. What national nightmare are we creating by doing this?
Incidents of atrocities committed by returning military, even against loved ones, are increasing. According to Army statistics, the Army suicide rate in 2008 surpassed that for civilians for the first time since the Vietnam War and is expected to increase.
VA studies show that about one-third of our adult homeless population have served their country in the Armed Services and that nearly half of them suffer from mental illness plus close to 75% have substance abuse problems. Although there are fewer homeless women veterans, their numbers are increasing. The Natl. Coalition of Homeless Veterans reports that, as of 20006, in Arizona alone, there were nearly 4,000 homeless veterans and only 199 funded beds available. Nationally, there were about 26 homeless veterans for each available bed.
And this information doesn't even mention the ancillary services that are needed by our veterans and/or their families. Or take into consideration the thousands killed or the tens of thousands injured because of Iraq and/or Afghanistan. Or talk about the staggering financial burden to our country . . . and to all of us.
Perhaps yesterday's atrocity will force us to examine more closely the often overlooked "hidden" costs of war and cause us to question why we keep sending yet another generation of men and, now, women into battle. What is this accomplishing? Not much good and a whole lot of bad, as far as I can see. Do we not learn from the past, such as Vietnam?
Let's hope that something beneficial will come from the Ft. Hood tragedy so that those unfortunate victims did not lose their lives in vain. A start would be to stop sending more men and women to Afghanistan and to continue the troop withdrawal in Iraq!
Nancy
There was a lot of media discussion yesterday about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and related battle stresses with speculation on how they may have affected the suspected shooter. (It has been reported that, as an Army psychiatrist, Major Hasan counseled troubled troops.) It was repeatedly suggested that the horrors he had heard from his patients may have contributed to his taking such terrible action since the savagery of their stories could have eventually caused him to "snap" as his own deployment date neared. It is plausible since it is known that PTSD affects not only troops subjected to battle conditions, but their families as well. Perhaps support staff is impacted as well, since it was brought out yesterday that fewer people are available to provide needed services in our overburdened military.
Even if PTSD didn't play a role in what happened yesterday, its existence is a grim reality that is possibly still being downplayed by a military leadership needing a steady supply of recruits to send to battle. We hear that our armed forces are stretched to the breaking point with 3, 4 or more rotations back to war zones for troops who may not be psychologically or physically ready. What national nightmare are we creating by doing this?
Incidents of atrocities committed by returning military, even against loved ones, are increasing. According to Army statistics, the Army suicide rate in 2008 surpassed that for civilians for the first time since the Vietnam War and is expected to increase.
VA studies show that about one-third of our adult homeless population have served their country in the Armed Services and that nearly half of them suffer from mental illness plus close to 75% have substance abuse problems. Although there are fewer homeless women veterans, their numbers are increasing. The Natl. Coalition of Homeless Veterans reports that, as of 20006, in Arizona alone, there were nearly 4,000 homeless veterans and only 199 funded beds available. Nationally, there were about 26 homeless veterans for each available bed.
And this information doesn't even mention the ancillary services that are needed by our veterans and/or their families. Or take into consideration the thousands killed or the tens of thousands injured because of Iraq and/or Afghanistan. Or talk about the staggering financial burden to our country . . . and to all of us.
Perhaps yesterday's atrocity will force us to examine more closely the often overlooked "hidden" costs of war and cause us to question why we keep sending yet another generation of men and, now, women into battle. What is this accomplishing? Not much good and a whole lot of bad, as far as I can see. Do we not learn from the past, such as Vietnam?
Let's hope that something beneficial will come from the Ft. Hood tragedy so that those unfortunate victims did not lose their lives in vain. A start would be to stop sending more men and women to Afghanistan and to continue the troop withdrawal in Iraq!
Nancy
