Post by wyldberi on May 13, 2007 20:42:52 GMT -5
Every once in a while I hear a politician or news commentator start to praise the men and women who wear the uniforms of the U.S. military. They'll usually say something to the effect that these are America's finest sons and daughters, and go on to comment about how noble and patriotic our soldiers are.
It's true that anyone who wears a military uniform deserves our respect -- as long as they wear that uniform with honor. But when I think back to the characters whom I met when I was in the Army, I have to ask myself how big a change having an all-volunteer Army could have possibly made. When I wore the uniform, to be sure I served alongside some good men. But without looking too hard you could also find thieves, rapists, drunks, addicts, and even a few murderers who committed their crimes before entering the military. And if you want to know the truth, I would rather have had some of those thieves and drunks standing at my back in a firefight than some of those you might otherwise consider to have been "good men."
But that's neither here nor there. What I rarely hear politicians and news commentators comment on is how dispicable the foreign policy of the U.S. actually is, as it is being conducted in Iraq today. "We're fighting them over there so we don't have to fight them here." That's the best excuse our military strategists could come up with to gloss over American imperialism? And that's the strategy our ground forces are following???
It doesn't matter if you're talking about Marines and soldiers like Pat Tillman who serve from a sense of patriotism and duty, or Twopack-Bang-Bang from the 'hood who's running from the police 'cause he killed a cop, what's going on today in Iraq can only be called a criminal enterprise.
We are taking men and women out of a civilian population and putting them into an intolerable situation where the pressure will make everyone crack eventually. For those who come back with any kind of conscience at all, you're going to find 50% - 80% with personalities that have been de-stabilized by what they've done and seen during their tours of active duty. And for the rest, you've got walking time bombs. When these people ETS, the transition to civilian life will be critical not only for their own lives and the lives of their families and neighbors, but for our society as a whole.
I believe most metropolitan police forces have a general policy that states when a cop is involved in a shooting they go visit the resident shrink. There's no discussion, and no talk about being a "girly-man." Either you do what you're told or you turn in your badge and you're gone. If this isn't the case, it certainly should be.
And it should be the case with every combat veteran and every hired mercenary who returns to the U.S. from Iraq. You been there? You go spend some time in counseling. You don't get pumped full of drugs to dull the ache. You don't get slapped on the back for the number of "ragheads" you shot. Whether you were a dog-faced ground-pounder or 3-star general don't mean a thing. You go get meaningful treatment on the taxpayer's dime for as long as it takes you to be able to face and control the demons you brought back with you. And you don't stand in line waiting for bush to sign some bill Congress passes to fund the VA to hire enough counselors. You walk into the office of any licensed therapist and start telling your story. If you're a therapist who's not qualified to handle combat-related PTSD, you make a referral. And as long as you are a licensed therapist when a VET comes in you get paid $50.00 per hour. It don't matter how high your usual fee is, you get the 50 bucks and write off the balance as a tax deduction for being a good citizen who truly does support our troops.
It's true that anyone who wears a military uniform deserves our respect -- as long as they wear that uniform with honor. But when I think back to the characters whom I met when I was in the Army, I have to ask myself how big a change having an all-volunteer Army could have possibly made. When I wore the uniform, to be sure I served alongside some good men. But without looking too hard you could also find thieves, rapists, drunks, addicts, and even a few murderers who committed their crimes before entering the military. And if you want to know the truth, I would rather have had some of those thieves and drunks standing at my back in a firefight than some of those you might otherwise consider to have been "good men."
But that's neither here nor there. What I rarely hear politicians and news commentators comment on is how dispicable the foreign policy of the U.S. actually is, as it is being conducted in Iraq today. "We're fighting them over there so we don't have to fight them here." That's the best excuse our military strategists could come up with to gloss over American imperialism? And that's the strategy our ground forces are following???
It doesn't matter if you're talking about Marines and soldiers like Pat Tillman who serve from a sense of patriotism and duty, or Twopack-Bang-Bang from the 'hood who's running from the police 'cause he killed a cop, what's going on today in Iraq can only be called a criminal enterprise.
We are taking men and women out of a civilian population and putting them into an intolerable situation where the pressure will make everyone crack eventually. For those who come back with any kind of conscience at all, you're going to find 50% - 80% with personalities that have been de-stabilized by what they've done and seen during their tours of active duty. And for the rest, you've got walking time bombs. When these people ETS, the transition to civilian life will be critical not only for their own lives and the lives of their families and neighbors, but for our society as a whole.
I believe most metropolitan police forces have a general policy that states when a cop is involved in a shooting they go visit the resident shrink. There's no discussion, and no talk about being a "girly-man." Either you do what you're told or you turn in your badge and you're gone. If this isn't the case, it certainly should be.
And it should be the case with every combat veteran and every hired mercenary who returns to the U.S. from Iraq. You been there? You go spend some time in counseling. You don't get pumped full of drugs to dull the ache. You don't get slapped on the back for the number of "ragheads" you shot. Whether you were a dog-faced ground-pounder or 3-star general don't mean a thing. You go get meaningful treatment on the taxpayer's dime for as long as it takes you to be able to face and control the demons you brought back with you. And you don't stand in line waiting for bush to sign some bill Congress passes to fund the VA to hire enough counselors. You walk into the office of any licensed therapist and start telling your story. If you're a therapist who's not qualified to handle combat-related PTSD, you make a referral. And as long as you are a licensed therapist when a VET comes in you get paid $50.00 per hour. It don't matter how high your usual fee is, you get the 50 bucks and write off the balance as a tax deduction for being a good citizen who truly does support our troops.