[antimedia] antimedia: What a crock of....

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Posted by antimedia:
What a crock of....
http://www.antimedia.us/posts/1178511470.shtml


   ....[1]pure, unadulterated crap!

     The detailed mental health survey of troops in Iraq released by the
     Pentagon on Friday highlights a growing worry for the United States
     as it struggles to bring order to Baghdad: the high level of combat
     stress suffered during lengthy and repeated tours.
     The fourth in a continuing series, the report suggested that
     extended tours and multiple deployments, among other policy
     decisions, could escalate anger and increase the likelihood that
     soldiers or marines lash out at civilians, or defy military ethics.
     That is no small concern since the United Statesâ counterinsurgency
     doctrine emphasizes the importance of winning the trust and support
     of the local population.
     The report was provided in November to Gen. George W. Casey, Jr.,
     then the senior American commander in Iraq.
     Pentagon officials have not explained why the public release of the
     report was delayed, a move that kept the data out of the public
     debate as the Bush administration developed its plan to build up
     troops in Iraq and extend combat tours. Rear Adm. Richard R.
     Jeffries, a medical officer, told reporters on Friday that the
     timing was decided by civilian Pentagon officials.
     The survey of 1,320 soldiers and 447 marines was conducted in
     August and September of 2006. The militaryâs report, which drew on
     that survey as well as interviews with commanders and focus groups,
     found that longer deployments increased the risk of psychological
     problems; that the levels of mental problems was highest - some 30
     percent - among troops involved in close combat; that more than a
     third of troops endorsed torture in certain situations; and that
     most would not turn in fellow service members for mistreating a
     civilian.

   You'll notice they use weasel words like "could" and "might".
   Furthermore, until I read the report myself, I'm not taking these
   guys' word for it. The comment about hiding the report to slant the
   debate is a dead giveaway to their bias, as is their whiney complaint
   about the stress on our troops.
   Did you know that, in WWII, our soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines and
   coasties served for the duration? There was no such thing as a
   rotation, tour extensions, overstretched military or any of the other
   bullcrap that the whiney pyscho docs wring their hands about all the
   time these days. They fought the enemy on the sea, on the beaches, in
   the forests and the towns and everywhere they found them until they
   were defeated. Then they came home.
   Yet somehow the "Greatest Generation"(TM) managed to survive, come
   home, marry, raise families and have great careers in civilian life.
   Yet, supposedly, the poor guys who are serving now can't make it
   through twelve month tours, can't deal with the stress of combat
   without cracking up or going postal on civilians, can't handle
   multiple tours without falling apart in a blubbering puddle on the
   floor.
   Give me a break! Our active duty military is the most dedicated, the
   highest educated and the most principled military force we have ever
   fielded. These guys are both tough and compassionate, lethal and
   loving, decisive and discerning. No one in the world is better at
   putting up with bullcrap and slogging on than our guys, and I am damn
   sick and tired of the constant infantilizing of our warriors. These
   are men, not boys. Volunteers not victims.
   It's past time to tell the people that treat them like children to
   just shut up! (Hat tip to [2]CJ.

References

   1. http://freeinternetpress.com/story.php?sid=11655
   2. http://www.soldiersperspective.us/2007/05/06/utter-stupidity/