News Analysis: February 23, 2009
To withdraw from Iraq as speedily as possible or not, that is the question churning through the brass. There’s nothing wrong with testing possible exit routes, though. One soldier is determined not to go back to the “illegitimate, unnecessary campaign.” In Afghanistan, with a war that still has no end in sight, the front is well into Pakistan now, too. And with all of our attention and resources over there, is the terrorist threat now likely to hail from Canada?
PTSD victims are at risk of terrible, self-inflicted violence even when in treatment for their psychological injuries, as the latest sad story out of Nellis Air Force Base reveals. Will Connecticut be the next state to set up special courts for veterans facing criminal charges? The special courts help ensure that war veterans with psychological injuries are not treated simply as criminals and denied the help they need. Our psychologically wounded troops and their families need as much help as possible. A new breed of counselors to help our veterans deal with PTSD — veterans who have been there, too. PTSD and the female soldier, on the rise. PTSD affects spouses of veterans, too.
Nearly six years after the invasion of Iraq, with our warriors returning from the battlefield almost constantly in the continuing cycle of deployments and redeployments that has strained our active and Guard forces, their needs and the needs of their families have never been more acute. So why is the largest charity inside the US military hoarding cash instead of helping troops and their families? For our returning troops, scarred by war, home can be as scary as the battlefield. Going from combat to college isn’t easy, either.
The war comes home: Washington’s battle against America’s Veterans.
Our Guard keeps deploying to war zones over there…even as needs loom on the homefront.
How many concussions can our troops take before becoming nondeployable? Adm. Mike Mullen wants to know.
The new GI Bill preliminary payment list is out, giving service members and veterans a sense of how much money they can expect to receive. Meanwhile, thousands of troops are still awaiting their tour bonuses –and the payment is required by law.
Welcome to the Traumatic Brain Injury Warrior Resiliency and Recovery Center at Fort Campbell, Kentucky.
Is our military tied with knots to private contractors, and destined to remain so for years?