People have been talking about this since the occupation of Iraq began, but this is the first time I've seen any numbers, particularly in a large MSM newspaper, like the New York Times.
The New York Times found 121 cases in which veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan committed a killing in this country, or were charged with one, after their return from war. In many of those cases, combat trauma and the stress of deployment — along with alcohol abuse, family discord and other attendant problems — appear to have set the stage for a tragedy that was part destruction, part self-destruction.
Victims of this violence range from a soldier's child to a spouse to fellow soldiers. All of these cases were quite violent.
One of the most far-reaching aftermaths of the Iraq occupation, I think, is going to be the continued fallout (that will only increase) from soldiers returning home with no resources, no outlets and no knowledge of how to go from being a soldier, trained to kill, back to being a regular citizen, and part of our/their society.
And here is the rest of it.
2 comments:
The "Rah!Rah!" crowd does a good job of cheering on the troops from the safety of their living rooms, but when the troops return you can't hear the cheers above the din of silence.
Not to mention the crowd that has never actually been in battle, or had to come home from one.
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