[antimedia] War not necessarily immoral

Tue Jan 15 17:52:24 EST 2008

Not ALL wars are immoral.
And those who fight them DO NOT necessarily need to commit immoral acts.

If so, God is immoral; He did as a matter of fact tell the Hebrew children
to go into Palestine and kill EVERY living creature (sin had permeated even
the livestock).

Most of the leaders in our time who have started wars (against humanity)
have been immoral, such as Saddam Hussien - Thus the world had to put an end
to him and his insane sons.

Thanks though for your other research and putting the haters of our great
men and women of the Armed Forces of these United States, in their place.

Jim Fishback
Harrodsburg, KY

-------Original Message-------

From: Email subscription to blog articles
Date: 01/15/08 02:20:37
To: antimedia at lists.powerblogs.com
Subject: [antimedia] antimedia: What's the story....

Posted by antimedia:
What's the story....
http://www.antimedia.us/posts/1200381633.shtml

   ....behind [1]the story? It goes like this. War is hell. Anyone who is
   involved in fighting a war sees and does thing that sear the
   conscience. Since war is also immoral, those who fight them are forced
   to commit immoral acts. Therefore, when they return home, they
   struggle with terrible memories and bouts of conscience when they
   begin to face what they've done. For some the pressure is so great
   that they succumb. They become homeless. They have trouble getting
   and/or holding jobs. They engage in substance abuse. They sometimes
   become violent, suffering a break in consciousness and "returning" to
   the war in their heads. All of this is obvious.
   The results are equally obvious. Vets suffer from an abnormally high
   incidence of homelessness, joblessness, substance abuse and violent
   behavior. They commit murders and suicide at abnormally high rates.
   All of this is obvious.
   Except none of it is true.
   A [2]recent study of depression and suicide among veterans found some
   very surprising statistics.

     One finding was unexpected. Depressed veterans who did not have a
     service-connected disability were more likely to commit suicide
     than those with a service-connected disability.

   Conventional "wisdom" claims just the opposite. (Remember, PTSD is a
   service-related disability too.)

     The most surprising finding, according to the researchers a suicide
     rate of 68.16 per 100,000 PY for depressed veterans who also had
     post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), compared with a rate of
     90.66 for those who did not. This finding led the researchers to
     dig deeper and look at whether specific subgroups of depressed
     veterans with PTSD had higher or lower suicide risk. Further
     examination demonstrated that the 'protective' effect of having
     PTSD in addition to depression was strongest among veterans in the
     two older age groups (18 to 44 years, 45 to 64 years, and 65 years
     or older).

   Again conventional "wisdom" is wrong.
   In case you're wondering, the [3]national rate is 9.1 per 100,000. Ah
   hah! you say. But that rate is for the entire population, not just the
   clinically depressed. Of the [4]clinically depressed "Thirty percent
   of all clinically depressed patients attempt suicide; more than half
   are successful."
   Of the veterans in the study, 0.21% committed suicide during the
   study.
   [5]According to the VA (pdf) there are 25,532,000 living veterans in
   America. Of those veterans 249,904 (less than 1%) are 100% disabled.
   299,672 (just under 1.2%) have been compensated for PTSD. There are
   681 amputees from OIF/OEF.
   Regarding employment, the [6]most recent VA survey (pdf) found that

     More than 50 percent (54.9 percent) of the 2000 veteran population
     was employed. Almost one-third (32.0 percent) of veterans were
     retired, 3.6 percent were not working but were looking for a job,
     and 6.9 percent were disabled. These proportions are similar to
     those found in the 1992 survey.

   The current national unemployment rate is around 5%. Vets are employed
   at a higher rate than the general population.
   45.5% of veterans make $40,000 a year or more. Less than [7]38% (xls
   spreadsheet) of the general population does. Vets make more money, on
   average, than the general population.
   60% of vets have completed more than a high school education. [8]66%
   of the general population has. Vets are more successful, with less
   education, than the general population.
   [9]A recent study found that there were just under 200,000 homeless
   vets nationwide. If it were true, just under 8% of all vets would be
   homeless. Yet only 3.6% are unemployed and looking for work. What
   explains the discrepancy? Every study I've looked at admits that
   "accurate numbers are impossible to come by ... no one
   keeps national records on homeless veterans". Yet many are all to
   eager to cite the numbers, pulled out of thin air, to buttress their
   arguments about the cost of war. We've all heard the stories of the
   down and out vet, homeless, hooked on drugs and suffering from PTSD,
   only to find out that many who claim veteran status are lying.
   What about [10]substance abuse?

     Combined data from SAMHSA's 2004 - 2006 National Surveys on Drug
     Use and Health indicate than an annual average of 7% of veterans
     aged 18 or older experienced past year serious psychological
     distress, 7.1% met the criteria for a past year substance use
     disorder, and 1.5% had co-occurring serious psychological distress
     and substance use disorder. Veterans aged 18 to 25 were more likely
     than older veterans to have higher rates of serious psychological
     distress, substance use disorder, or co-occurring psychological
     distress and substance use disorder in the past year. Veterans with
     family incomes of less than $20,000 per year were more likely than
     veterans with higher family incomes to have had serious
     psychological distress, substance use disorder, or co-occurring
     psychological distress and substance use disorder in the past year.

   Sound serious? [11]Perhaps not.
   I could go on, but you get the idea. In every category, the statistics
   prove that the overarching theme of the liberal claims about veterans
   is false, not based on facts and defamatory to veterans. Veterans, on
   average, are better off, more successful financially and more stable
   mentally and emotionally than the general population.
   None of this, of course, will bother the NY Times on iota -- or stop
   them from publishing more of the same libelous claims about veterans.
   Tags: [12]liberals [13]lies [14]veterans [15]statistics

References

   1. http://www.antimedia.us/posts/1200191106.shtml
   2. http://www.findcounseling
com/help/news/2007/11/study_findings_may_shed_light_on_veteran_suicide.html
   3. http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5526a1.htm
   4. http://www.carsonjspencer.org/awareness_suicide2.htm
   5. http://www1.va.gov/vetdata/docs/4X6_fall07_sharepoint.pdf
   6. http://www1.va.gov/vetdata/docs/VETPOP.pdf
   7. http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-soi/05in11si.xls
   8. http://www.heritage.org/Research/Education/WM134.cfm#3
   9. http://www.endhomelessness.org/content/article/detail/1839
  10. http://www.drugabusestatistics.samhsa.gov/Veterans.htm#Use
  11. http://www.drugabusestatistics.samhsa.gov/2k6/suicide/suicide.htm
  12. http://technorati.com/tag/liberals
  13. http://technorati.com/tag/lies
  14. http://technorati.com/tag/veterans
  15. http://technorati.com/tag/statistics

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