BernieHund: The Political Watchdog

How much intense stress can a person take?  General Petraeus, the senior commander in Iraq, will probably tell Congress this week that troop draw downs will be “paused” in July, but it is questionable as to what he will say about the mental state of our troops.

According to NYT

Among the 513,000 active-duty soldiers who have served in Iraq since the invasion of 2003, more than 197,000 have deployed more than once, and more than 53,000 have deployed three or more times, according to a separate set of statistics provided this week by Army personnel officers. The percentage of troops sent back to Iraq for repeat deployments would have to increase in the months ahead.

The Army study of mental health showed that 27 percent of noncommissioned officers — a critically important group — on their third or fourth tour exhibited symptoms commonly referred to as post-traumatic stress disorders. That figure is far higher than the roughly 12 percent who exhibit those symptoms after one tour and the 18.5 percent who develop the disorders after a second deployment, according to the study, which was conducted by the Army surgeon general’s Mental Health Advisory Team.

One in four of combat troops on their third or fourth tour are showing signs of anxiety and depression.  The most important issue should be that we take care of our troops by not continuing to redeploy them over and over again with only a few months of home time.  An equally important question is does no one in Washington or wherever the joy stick is located realize that when a person isn’t at his best mentally and physically, he doesn’t perform on his highest capabilities? 

Just this past week Congress chewed the asses out of FAA supervisers for allowing Southwest and other airlines to put planes in the air knowing there were stress fractures and that some parts were fatigued.  Does anyone get the similarity?  The military is sending troops into combat knowing full well that they are stressed and fatigued.  Yet, there is the expectation that these men and women are to perform to peak capacity without failure.  Let’s hope that in the coming week when General David Petraeus testifies before Congress that someone asking the questions will see the light. 

So far, this has been a kiss ass war.  The generals, who aren’t in combat, but sitting in an easy chair with their hands on the joy stick, know or should know that we have worn our forces out with the endless rotations and extended tours.  But, do any of them speak up?  Hell, no!  They are marking time and counting dead soldiers while they try to make another year or two to get a few more dollars into the pension plan.  And, those who may have been “Army tough” have been retired. 

And, if anyone on the face of the earth still believes that the Emperor and the Court Jester care one iota about the welfare of the military men and women serving in this war, may he join the idiot on the funny farm when he returns to the village of Crawford.  Over and over and over again, there have been reports of military fatigue, expressions by some few nameless leaders that the military is cracking under pressure and duration, and ever expanding reports of increased PTSD and suicides.  Are we supposed to believe that this is a “trend” without cause? 

While it has been reported that many of the “top brass” have warned about the extended missions and close rotations, none who are left standing have been brave enough to say enough is enough.

The Army and the rest of the service chiefs have endorsed General Petraeus’s recommendations for continued high troop levels in Iraq. But Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs, and Gen. George W. Casey Jr., the Army chief of staff, and their top deputies also have warned that the war in Iraq should not be permitted to inflict an unacceptable toll on the military as a whole. “Our readiness is being consumed as fast as we build it,” Gen. Richard A. Cody, the Army vice chief of staff, said in stark comments delivered to Congress last week. “Lengthy and repeated deployments with insufficient recovery time have placed incredible stress on our soldiers and our families, testing the resolve of our all-volunteer force like never before.”

And, we wonder why we don’t hear more and more about this on the front pages of every published media.  The explanation was explained:

Senior officers at the Pentagon have tried to avoid shrill warnings about the health of the force, cognizant that such comments might embolden potential adversaries, and they continue to hope that troop levels in Iraq can be reduced next year. Still, none deny the level of stress on the force from current deployments.

My question is whether the potential adversaries that might become emboldened are the so-called terrorists or the people at home and the Congress.  I dare say, no one should fear that Congress will take action to stop this war.  For whatever reason the House and the Senate continue to herd together like sheep and follow the whims of the Shepherd in Chief.  Unfortunately the Capital Sheep don’t realize that the Shepherd is wearing sheep boots and is counting on the House and Senate sheep remaining stump broke.  For anyone who has never been on a farm, please consult a rural farmer for a more explicit explanation, but inquire in private to avoid personal embarrassment.

Lest anyone think the pause in the draw down in Iraq is the only stress related issue, DOD Secretary Robert Gates this past week said

that he expected that the United States would be able to add significantly to its deployments in Afghanistan in 2009. But to do that — and to increase time at home for soldiers between deployments — probably would require further reductions in troop levels in Iraq, Pentagon planners said.

Please read the qualifiers carefully… such as “probably”.  “Probably” in Washington is like that “one day” my dad used to say to me.  It just never got here.

As far as sending troops to Afghanistan rather than back to Iraq “one day”

Members of the Joint Chiefs also acknowledge that the deployments to Iraq, with the emphasis on counterinsurgency warfare, have left the ground forces no time to train for the full range of missions required to defend American interests.

The men and women who are not killed in Iraq fighting for this useless and unjust occupation are going to return home broken either mentally or physically, just as those who returned from Viet Nam.  And, yes, these broken soldiers will end up getting less than shoddy care in a VA hospital or separated from families who love them but cannot handle the mental fatigue and distress.  Many of these men and women will end up homeless, lost in the mental anguish of a war that won’t end for them or for their families.

The time has come for Congress to demand an end to the war.  Bring our troops home.  They have been pawns in a stalemate long enough.  We can’t afford to democratize Iraq, Afghanistan or any other country.  It isn’t our right.

Or… let’s reinstitute the draft.  That would stop this war.