War takes toll on GI mental health
By Dustin Langley
Psychological conditioning and exposure to the
brutality of imperialist warfare is taking a heavy toll on the
young women and men in the U.S. armed forces. Close to one out
of five combat soldiers leaves Iraq with mental health problems
such as post-traumatic stress disorder, according to a survey
published in the July 1 New England Journal of Medicine.
The study found that as many as 17 percent of veterans who
had been deployed in Iraq showed symptoms of PTSD, depression
or anxiety. About 11 percent of those who served in Afghanistan
had similar symptoms. These can include flashbacks, nightmares,
sleeplessness and an inability to concentrate.
The numbers affected may be somewhat higher than the study
shows. This is because the severely wounded and others removed
from their units weren't included, according to psychologist
Carl Castro and psychiatrist Charles Hoge of the Walter Reed
Army Institute of Research, co-authors of the report.
The study also did not include National Guard and Reservists
called up for duty. They had much higher levels of PTSD than
active military personnel after the 1991 Gulf War, says
psychiatrist Matthew Friedman, executive director of the
National Center for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
As "stop loss" orders repeatedly extend tours of duty,
experts predict that the situation will only get worse.
Dr. Matthew Friedman, executive director of the Veterans
Administration's National Center for PTSD, said, "The amount of
uncertainty and traumatic exposure has increased." As tours of
duty are extended, Friedman points out, the risks only go up.
(USA Today, July 1)
Health officials say most of the soldiers with mental
disorders are not getting treatment.
Racism: It's the drill
Intense demonization of "the enemy" is drilled into the
troops, former Marine Chris White emphasized in his article
"Why I Oppose the U.S. War on Terror." (Counterpunch, October
2002)
White pointed out that this military brainwashing of troops
is crucial to war time planners. "Before carrying out a secu
rity exercise in Qatar, my unit went through [anti-]Muslim
'indoctrination' classes. The level of racism was
unbelievable."
White lists anti-Arab slurs the troops had drummed into them
during this indoctrination. Along with racism, the officers
also used anti-gay and anti-transgender characterizations of
Muslim men. "The object was demonization through feminization
and dehumanization, so as to make it easier for us to pull the
trigger when ordered to," White said.
White, now a doctoral student in history at the University
of Kansas, stressed: "You can't take civilians from the street,
give them machine guns, and expect them to kill without
question in a democratic society; therefore people must be
indoctrinated to do so. This fact alone should sound off alarms
in our collective American brain.
"If the cause of war is justified, then why do we have to be
put through boot camp? If you answer that we have to be trained
in killing skills, well, then why is most of boot camp not
focused on combat training?
"Why are privates shown videos of U.S. military mas sacres
while playing Metallica in the background, thus causing us to
scream with the joy of the killer instinct as brown bodies are
obliterated? Why do privates answer every command with an
enthusiastic, 'Kill!' instead of, 'Yes, sir!' like it is in the
movies?
"Why do we sing cadences like these: 'Throw some candy in
the school yard, watch the children gather round. Load a belt
in your M-60, mow them little bastards down!' and 'We're gonna
rape, kill, pillage and burn, gonna rape, kill, pillage and
burn!' ... If one repeats these hundreds of times, one
eventually begins to accept them as paradigmatically
valid."
Rape: 'collateral' casualties
Women soldiers are paying an even higher price within their
own units.
Female service members in the U.S. military stationed in
Iraq, Afghanistan and Kuwait have reported more than 100 cases
of sexual assault or misconduct by male soldiers.
Complaints have been filed against members of the Army,
Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps.
An inquiry conducted in 2003 by the Veterans Affairs Medical
Center in Iowa City, Iowa, found that 28 percent of the 558
female veterans surveyed had been raped or experienced an
attempted rape during their military service.
The June 3 Washington Post noted: "These problems take a
human toll. Dozens of veterans told the Post that being
assaulted ruined their careers and sent them down a destructive
path, including addictions and suicide attempts. Many carry the
scar for life.
"'When I looked at the American flag, I used to see red,
white and blue,' said Marian Hood, a veteran who was
gang-raped. 'Now, all I see is blood. ... The red represents
the blood I've shed. The blue represents my bruises--the way my
face looked. I was beaten and raped for my country. That should
be enough.'"
Langley is a GI counselor with the Support Network for an
Armed Forces Union. For information on discharges and other
types of GI counseling, contact SNAFU at info@join-snafu.org.
Reprinted from the July 15, 2004, issue of
Workers World newspaper
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