Apropå det faktum att våra regeringar, oavsett om de är socialdemokratiska eller borgerliga, håller på att successivt och lite omärkligt så där, slussa in oss i NATO, så undrar jag om vi är beredda på vad ett sådant medlemsskap och exempelvis våra fredsinsatser (!) i Afghanistan sannolikt kommer att leda till:

Satt igår och läste artiklar om amerikanska soldater i Irak och Afghanistan och vad som drabbar dem – och deras anhöriga, om de överlever. Det påminde mig om vad jag vetat hela mitt vuxna liv men inte tänkt så mycket på de senaste åren och som de flesta unga bombliberaler inte tycks ha en aning om: Soldater blir psykiskt illa skadade i krig, även om de har turen att komma hem med både livet, armar och ben i behåll.

Artiklarna, som jag läste, påminde mig om att de som anser sig vara segrare på slagfälten alltid har en stor grupp förlorare i de egna leden, vid sidan om de dödade alltså, nämligen de fysiskt och/eller psykiskt skadade. Vad värre, segrarmakternas ekonomiska elit och politiker är sällan speciellt intresserade av att hjälpa hemvändande soldater med fysiska och psykiska problem, som dem som lider av posttraumatisk stress.

Submitted by Anonymous on 4 June 2008 – 3:37pm.
Who ever this person is should be married to someone who suffers from PTSD (posttraumatisk stress: Min anm.) Your life with them is a very hard and stressful one on a daily basis , 24 hours a day. As a wife, I must endure sparatic outburst of anger, hellish nightmares with screaming out in the middle of the night,and frequent moments of depression. I’m speaking of a vietnam vet who still suffers from this trauma, so I’m going to pray for this person that they never ever have to experience such trauma in their life, as a vet or a vets spouse, brother, sister, mother or child.
Källa: Wife of veteran who suffers from PTSD

Så här här har det alltid varit:

The shame continues….
Submitted by Anonymous on 23 May 2008 – 11:53am.
This is so unbelievably shameful and yet it really isn’t new. I am the daughter of a WWII vet. I want you to know that my father was severly wounded PHYSICALLY…lost an arm, all of his hearing, and a deep wound in his side. For these he was treated…they were ”respectable wounds”. He was able to deal even with the loss of the arm BUT for the mental wounds he never received an ounce of treatment. Mental wounds were NOT respectable, you see.
Therefore they affected to such a great degree, not only his own life but the lives of his wife and children. Today at 85 years old, he STILL suffers the effects. His children continue to deal with what his illness did to them.
Now we have identified the illness PTSD, but we don’t want to pay the price. So we deny it’s existance. Still isn’t respectable is it? We will hurt these soldiers and their families until the day they die….WHAT A DISGRACE!
I tell my 3 sons, ages 16, 19 and 21..I NEVER want them to even consider a military career. ”Serve Your Country’???
No Please…..Our country doesn’t care enough to treat our vets right.
sign me……
Källa: The shame continues….

Dags att börja tala om vad krig faktiskt gör med människor, och sluta romantisera kring dem, som blivit högsta konservativa, liberala/libertarianska mode att göra numer. I krig skickas unga pojkar ut för att mörda och våldta och/eller som kanonmat, för att försvara de ekonomiska och politiska eliternas intressen och om de överlever får de normalt inte mycket tack eller ersättning för sina insatser och sina livslånga fysiska och/eller psykiska skador.

Nu har den biologiska ingenjörskonsten dessutom nått soldatlivet. I Vietnamkriget fixade sig soldaterna hasch och annan narkotika för att stå ut med skräcken och oron, numer får de ”mediciner” för att klara av att ”kriga effektivt”, SSRI och sånt, preparat som Zoloft exempelvis.

The increase in the use of medication among U.S. troops suggests the heavy mental and psychological price being paid by soldiers fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. Pentagon surveys show that while all soldiers deployed to a war zone will feel stressed, 70% will manage to bounce back to normalcy. But about 20% will suffer from what the military calls ”temporary stress injuries,” and 10% will be afflicted with ”stress illnesses.” Such ailments, according to briefings commanders get before deploying, begin with mild anxiety and irritability, difficulty sleeping, and growing feelings of apathy and pessimism. As the condition worsens, the feelings last longer and can come to include panic, rage, uncontrolled shaking and temporary paralysis. The symptoms often continue back home, playing a key role in broken marriages, suicides and psychiatric breakdowns.
Källa: America’s Medicated Army, Time

Och:

”But he was part of a highly trained team, and we didn’t want to lose him. So we put him on an SSRI, and within a week, he was a new person, and we got him back to full duty.”

The medications, the doctors concluded, help ”to ’conserve the fighting strength,'” the motto of the Army Medical Corps.
Källa: Army: Suicide rate among soldiers continues on record pace”, CNN

Eller som det här:

So LeJeune visited a military doctor in Iraq, who, after a quick session, diagnosed depression. The doctor sent him back to war armed with the antidepressant Zoloft and the antianxiety drug clonazepam. ”It’s not easy for soldiers to admit the problems that they’re having over there for a variety of reasons,” LeJeune says. ”If they do admit it, then the only solution given is pills.”
Källa: America’s Medicated Army, Time

Och det här:

For the first time in history, a sizable and growing number of U.S. combat troops are taking daily doses of antidepressants to calm nerves strained by repeated and lengthy tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. The medicines are intended not only to help troops keep their cool but also to enable the already strapped Army to preserve its most precious resource: soldiers on the front lines. Data contained in the Army’s fifth Mental Health Advisory Team report indicate that, according to an anonymous survey of U.S. troops taken last fall, about 12% of combat troops in Iraq and 17% of those in Afghanistan are taking prescription antidepressants or sleeping pills to help them cope.
Källa: America’s Medicated Army, Time

Kul att vi (det vill säga några andra svenskar, inte just jag för det mesta) ska vara med och ta ”vårt ansvar” numer och att vi är i krig igen, efter c:a 200 år av mördande tråkig och förnedrande fred. Fred är ju trist – eller?