Veterans For America

Five Army recruiters from the same Houston-area battalion have committed suicide in recent years — focusing more attention on the psychological strains confronting all of our men and women in uniform. The suicides are a “very loud, very bright alarm,” according to troop advocates. This year’s Army suicide rate is poised to set a record, sadly. To help ward off the demons that haunt our veterans, the Indiana National Guard is changing how its troops demobilize. When some 3,200 Indiana Guard members return home in November, they will only be given an hour or two with their families instead of an immediate 48-hour leave. Then they will begin a three-to-five day session on decompressing from war and mental health assessments. 

The U.S. has halted grounded raids into Pakistan’s tribal areas — but not because all of al Qaeda’s membership in the region has been apprehended. Instead, there is concern that the efforts to chase extremists from Afghanistan into Pakistan is destabilizing Pakistan and creating growing friction between the U.S. and Pakistan. In Pakistan, public opinion seems mightily opposed to recent U.S. incursions. Unfortunately, these border fights are likely to continue, according to Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs said Sunday. The border is increasingly becoming a busy, worrisome place.

Lost in the debate over the so-called success of the surge is where Iraq is actually headed — rather than how calm it is now. Sectarian violence is the largest threat to Iraqi stability, which has been torn by Sunni-Shiite fighting for years. Now comes word that questionnaires are being sent around asking about religion and ethnicity in Baghdad, stirring new fears over civil bloodshed. Calling the situation “victory” is probably not accurate — especially as current troop plans call for leaving some 138,000 troops in Iraq early next year, more than when the surge began. Two of those troops will be a mom and son deploying together with the North Carolina National Guard.

More enlisted Soldiers are beginning to speak out against the Iraq War - and the military is increasing trying to silence them. “Please listen” to their stories.

Good news: the new defense funding bill includes a $500 monthly allowance for those who have been stop-loss’ed into continued service. Bad news: the pay will not be retroactive, as had been proposed. Instead of some 160,000 troops qualifying for some payment because of stop-loss, now only about 12,000 are eligible.

As VFA made clear, the candidates for president failed to address the strain of war on our National Guard. They also failed to talk about the “delayed casualties” of the war that will continue to plague our troops, their families and communities.