News Analysis: March 19, 2009
Today marks the sixth anniversary of the start of the current war in Iraq. Even the most optimistic prediction doesn’t see the last of our troops leaving within a couple of years and already the war has unleashed an epidemic of psychological trauma through our military’s ranks. While VFA is proud to have helped end stop-loss, there are many battles ahead that must be won on behalf of our troops — we are committed to helping restore America’s sacred contract with those who have voluntarily joined our military. Please help VFA continue to fight on behalf of our servicemembers and their families. “With your help, we will deliver adequate dwell time for our troops, end the cycle of repeated deployments, improve combat-related care, and work with policymakers to ensure that America better serves the needs of our heroes in the armed services, as well as their families,” says VFA’s Bobby Muller.
That’s right: stop-loss will end. The back-door draft on our troops, which Defense Secretary Robert Gates called “breaking faith” with our volunteer servicemembers, will be phased out by 2011.
The strain in the ranks is rising, PTSD is epidemic. It comes from years of continuous deployments, intense combat, too little rest between tours and not enough psychological care and support has led directly to a soaring suicide rate across the military. The true depth of the problems are likely to be even worse than official statistics suggest, in fact. “We are dealing with a tired and stressed force,” said Gen. Peter Chiarelli, the Army vice chief of staff, at a Congressional hearing on the subject yesterday. “And the effect in the most extreme cases has been, unfortunately, an increased incidence of suicide.” Military officials vow to lower the suicide numbers — but the best way to ease the strain on our troops is to increase dwell time between deployments and insure that our troops, and their families, are psychologically as well as materially cared for. Weighing a soldier’s medical condition when disciplining that soldier might also help. Adding more effective treatments for PTSD would be a big help. Our military moms know that. And so do our military children, who suffer along with their military parents.
Certainly the treatment and rehabilitation our injured troops receive is significantly better than that received by troops during World War II. Right? Sen. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii and a Medal of Honor winner from World War II, is not convinced. Concern for our veterans, and the brain and psychological injuries they’re suffering, is not limited to one side of Congress.
Service-connected injuries will not be billed to private insurance, as President Obama’s budget proposal had called for. The proposal had angered veterans groups and White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel declared his earlier support for the proposal “wrong.”
Adm. Mullen and Gen. Cartwright are nominated for second terms as the chairman and vice chairman respectively of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Just as the war in Iraq is now six years old, so too is an Iraqi boy named “War.” Baghdad’s water is still undrinkable six years on. It’s been a long, hard six years.
Six years after the invasion of Iraq, the focus shifts to Afghanistan. The latest US plans for Afghanistan call for ramping up the size of the local security force. This is in addition to the plans to send many more Americans into the country.
Sexual assaults in the military — a trauma that must be stopped.
Time to worry about Somalia, too?
Pentagon will help families of fallen soldiers travel to Dover Air Force Base…