Awful indeed. They come home to an economy which has no decent jobs for them. They must feel abandoned, completely unappreciated, and without hope.

Retired general warns: Don’t be fooled by Iraq War claims

A retired U.S. Army officer now living in Pittsford [NY] on Thursday said that claims that the last American combat troops have left Iraq are “disingenuous.”
…
Batiste, who retired five years ago, said more than 50,000 American troops remain in Iraq and half are combat troops “fully prepared to go to war.”
…
Batiste also said it was a mistake to invade Iraq and that he believes American troops should no longer be in Iraq or in Afghanistan.

We’ll be We are paying for these wars for with a generation. Minor correction.

Thanks for the post BT. Deeply depressing though it may be, it must be talked about and addressed.

Meet the new boss….
Same as the old boss….

Who was it that said “He who does not learn from the mistakes of the past is doomed to repeat them”? Quagmire. Intervention. Military/Industrial Complex. War of aggression. Any of these ringing any bells Mr. Obama?

sometimes they TAKE THEIR BABIES with them

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5g-_1hZKPHbpY7603UBAB2Fc8fiDQD9HN2PBG0

Mornin’, BT, pups

We’ll be paying for these wars for a generation.

With regard to PTSD and it’s consequences it’s the vets, their families and friends who will be paying the lion’s share.

the mofo shot his 3 dogs too
gahhhhhhhhhhh i hate what has happened inthe last decade

Has there ever been a study to determine under what types of commands suicides are happening? I can’t find any information on that. Seems like they are almost exclusively enlisted persons though. When I was in the service, it was common practice that enlisted people were treated like expendable garbage while officers were treated like royalty. The obvious need for a command structure aside, that was no excuse for the disparate treatment between officers and enlisted. I can’t imagine it has gotten better since I left. People who have a very limited or non existent sense of self worth are much more likely to suicide. I’ll bet a study would show that commands that are most enlisted contemptuous also have the highest suicide rates. I was just an airframe mechanic, I can’t imagine actual combat soldiers being treated like I was by the majority of officers.

Yeah, the 2000s have been the worst of my lifetime by far. For the nation at least, though they were up and down for me.

These things bring the events of the past crashing back to the old vets, too. The VA is crammed with Vets from all of the wars, suffering from recurrences of the old horrors, the nightmares, the insomnia, the PTSD classes & Group Therapy Sessions are packed. Thank dog that the VA is at least funded now. I dread what will happen under a new regime when we revert to the former funding levels (or worse, now that we must all suffer for “the sake of the children”…)

Superior police are investigating the possibility of post-traumatic stress disorder. Laura Podgornik reports from Superior.

Police say the investigation is still in its early stages. What they do know so far is that the deceased all died from gunshot wounds believed to be fired by 23-year-old Matthew Magdzas. Superior Police Chief Floyd Peters says evidence points to Magdzas killing his pregnant wife and year-old daughter.

“It’s with a heavy heart in hearts that we meet with you concerning the incomprehensible tragedy that we discovered in our community yesterday afternoon

incomprehensible?,………..not to me

with no end in sight,hope and change ,not

my DAD an MD,never got over WW2….60 yers plus

Yep. Barack Obama: Change we can only imagine. :(

It stays with a combat vet forever.

Up until recently they called it “shell shock” but whether you call it shell shock or PTSD, the fact remains that sending children to slaughter people and keeping them away from home for years on end is a terrible thing to ask them to adjust to and in more cases than not, the people demanding they do so have never been there, nor are their close relatives likely to ever be asked to do the same.
I wasn’t a huge fan of the music in it but War Pigs‘ lyrics said it all.

that is why chickenhawks such as BHO should never be elected

wars of choice,wars of empire…………..gah!!!

Michael Herr, author of Dispatches, wrote Willard’s narration in Apocalypse Now. One line stands out, “Rock ‘n rollers with one foot in the grave.”

I don’t know if I’m ready to apply that label to Obama yet. Take off the hawk and he is a chicken certainly. Too afraid to be called weak on defense to end this destructive and pointless war. I’ve got a news flash for you Mr. President, this war can be described in many ways but “defense” is not one of them. Revenge, (without involving the country they actually came from), is much more apt. More civilians have been killed by far and more Americans have been killed than “Al Quaeda” have been inconvenienced.

imagine this too

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/chris-rodda/us-soldiers-punished-for-_b_687051.html

Yeah. I didn’t know who wrote it but it was pretty obvious to me that whoever did knew wtf they were talking about. That was before my time but near enough that I saw a lot of friends go off to that war and some didn’t make it back.

for NO REASON AT ALL,he has RAMPED UP,the war in Afghanistan,when their no Al Quaida there….what is he then,i ask you?

snip

We started marching to the theater. At that point two Muslim soldiers fell out of formation on their own. Student leadership tried to convince them to fall back in and that a choice will be presented to us once we reach the theater.

At the theater we were instructed to split in two groups; those that want to attend versus those that don’t. At that point what crossed my mind is the fact that being given an option so late in the game implies that the leadership is attempting to make a point about its intention. The “body language” was suggesting that “we marched you here as a group to give you a clue that we really want you to attend (we tilt the table and expect you to roll in our direction), now we give you the choice to either satisfy us or disappoint us.” A number of soldiers seemed to notice these clues and sullenly volunteered for the concert in fear of possible consequences.

Those of us that chose not to attend (about 80, or a little less that half) were marched back to the company area. At that point the NCO issued us a punishment. We were to be on lock-down in the company (not released from duty), could not go anywhere on post (no PX, no library, etc). We were to go to strictly to the barracks and contact maintenance. If we were caught sitting in our rooms, in our beds, or having/handling electronics (cell phones, laptops, games) and doing anything other than maintenance, we would further have our weekend passes revoked and continue barracks maintenance for the entirety of the weekend. At that point the implied message was clear in my mind “we gave you a choice to either satisfy us or disappoint us. Since you chose to disappoint us you will now have your freedoms suspended and contact chores while the rest of your buddies are enjoying a concert.”

That kind of thing was common even when I was in. I was publicly ridiculed in front of two companies of sailors for having the temerity to say that I am an atheist and would not be attending a church service that we were all being “encouraged” to attend.

You make a valid point. I’m not defending the man in case you didn’t read past my first line.

Off to swim in the great capitalist cesspool.

US KIA Irak: 4,416

US KIA Afghanistan: 1,233

Iraki and Afghan casualties: estimates vary to over 1.5M

US MBS 2010: 28,644 and counting

Democracy

Be good to yourselves, and all other living things.

Namaste

ONWARD XTIAN soldiers…..marching off to war

hows Necko?

terror,can you imagine the terror,these bullshit wars have wrought on A merican families

Obama listens to his military advisers, who prolly to a man believe we can win in Afghanistan, given enough time. Now that a huge reserve of oil has allegedly been found in the country we’ll never leave.

Kuroneko is back to her old self. She even had the energy to play an especially fierce game of hand under the pillow. Thanks for asking. :)

How’s her appetite?

New post up top…

Good. She ate most of her tuna this morning.

Good.

goody!

Looks as if not a lot of folks wanted to engage on this topic this mornin’. Can’t say I blame them.

when no other empire ever has? good taxpayer money thrown down the drain

it is a horror, gahhhhhhhhhhhhh
waste of precious life

“Batiste, who retired five years ago, said more than 50,000 American troops remain in Iraq ,,,”

I hear this and get and get this image of 50,000 clerks, cooks and medics scratching their heads, wondering “What are we supposed to do now?” and the utter absurdity of “no more combat troops” hits home

I’ve heard dealing with the deadly effects of uranium poisoning is a common cause of suicide for our vets. Naturally that is all denied and covered up.

DU,argh……what sociopaths design this stuff?

My father told me horror stories of basic training, he never saw combat, thank god.

i need to go can my tomatos,been putting it off for days…have a lovely day,and roar!

Who was it that said “He who does not learn from the mistakes of the past is doomed to repeat them”?

Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.
George Santayana, The Life of Reason, Volume 1, 1905

my dad had a nervous breakdown when he came home

We’ll be paying for these wars for a generation.

We pay longer than that. We squander our future possibilities on reckless adventurism to massage a few egos in the end.

Vietnam split the country and without accountability there is no final payment only interest payments on the principle, that being a military indoctrinated with a moral disconnect from their common humanity with their fellow opponents. Kill without reason or question, a military answer for every question that confronts us. This is the face of America we all pay for.

well said…bbl

That was our side.

Thank you.

Just like Vietnam. Only, this time, our National Guard was kidnapped. and forced into tour after tour.
I shudder to think that the righties will get hold of them.

Combat vets form the ‘Nam Era I know still talk about the military with pride, even tho they know their country sold them out for war profits, and they were there for no reason and were sold out, they are proud to have served. I’s a sorta of weird rationalization/denial for what they went thru.
The PTSD from ‘Nam was incredible, but most weren’t forced into “stop loss” situations to avoid the draft which mobilized my generation.

I wonder how they will be integrated into a society gone mad with hate and division?
I fear the Becks will get them ready to join in the civil “unrest” they are fomenting.

I’ve got to say that was the first thing I thought of when I heard Obama was bringing some home.

Since Vietnam and my friend’s suicide over it I came to believe that government does not care about the people the way we were taught in school.

I grew up on SAC Air Force bases… growing up in the military is a totally dehumanizing experience. It took me decades to break out of my shell.

I’ve met both Korean War & Viet Nam War vets (quite a few), who are proud of their “service to the country,” but readily admit that both wars were ginned up b.s. in the name of making money via the MIC. These vets are also very clear about the inanity (to put it mildly) of the ginned up, lied about wars in Iraq and Afganistan.

I’ve volunteered at a couple of Stand Downs, where mostly homeless vets come for a couple of days to get medical and dental needs met, plus food and counseling opportunities. It is heart-breaking how many of our vets are living on the streets. At least when vets returned from Viet Nam, there was some opportunities for them in terms of work. If they could get over any PTSD, they could probably make their way in society, find jobs, etc. Yet a certain rather large percent was not even able to do that.

Now these poor kids are coming back from these senseless wars – which have been very profitable, indeed, for the Bush & Cheney clans – and what do they face? There are NO jobs. Perhaps the VA is better set up to help them, I don’t know. But: what. a. mess.

Republics will care very little what happens to them now that they are useless “small” people. Eff ‘em. I no longer hear all that “support the troops” jingoism. The Republics never supported them, and they never will. They call them out for wanting to live in the “Nanny state” and for expecting the gov’t to help them. Suicides will only increase. Really a shame.

The alternatives are re enlist or be condemned by the power structure to be considered as “bums living off of the kind goodness of charities.”

The last numbers that I saw was that there are over 100,000 veterans living on the streets of America. 7,000 of whom are women, some with children.

Filth run America.

Marines see sharp rise in suicides
Recently released figures show Marines are taking their own lives at alarmingly high rates, and lengthy deployments appear to be a possible cause of this trend.
http://www.newslook.com/videos/155437-marines-see-sharp-rise-in-suicides?autoplay=true

there’s also a rise in suicides for those guarding the mexican border
Ten US Border Patrol have committed suicide since the beginning of 2009, the biggest surge in more than 20 years. Now the agency is responding, producing a video to help spot signs of trouble.
http://www.newslook.com/videos/241780-suicide-spike-among-border-patrol-agents?autoplay=true

My nephew served in Iraq — Army, 1st Bat. He was repeatedly deployed for extended tours. He was wounded. They sent him back. He was wounded again, and they sent him back. Then he and his squad were hit with an IED, and his heart stopped several times. He has significant internal damage and was also diagnosed with brain damage.

In prior wars, these kinds of injuries would’ve guaranteed discharge. Todd, on the other hand, was threatened with still another deployment — they wouldn’t let him go. His CO managed to get him transferred to the National Guard, where they supposedly promised he could serve out the remainder of his enlistment without risk of deployment — but I don’t trust ‘em.

This is a guy who ought to be on partial, if not full disability. He’s an effing mess. I just hope to God he can hang on.