Posted on 05/13/2009 3:15:49 AM PDT by Doctor13
BAQOUBA, Iraq | The U.S. commander of the Multi-National Force -- Iraq on Tuesday ordered a top-to-bottom review of mental health services for U.S. troops in the country after the worst act of U.S. soldier-on-soldier violence in the Iraq war.
Army Lt. Col. Brian Tribus, media relations chief for Multi-National Force - Iraq, told The Washington Times that Lt. Gen. Charles Jacoby ordered procedures "to look into [mental health] services available and delivery of those services."
Gen. Jacoby also requested that the Army inspector general review all mental health services available to troops in Iraq, Col. Tribus said.
Five U.S. service members - two doctors and three enlisted men - were killed Monday afternoon at Camp Liberty on the outskirts of Baghdad when a soldier from the 54th Engineer Battalion entered a combat stress center and opened fire.
Col. Tribus identified Monday's suspected shooter as Sgt. John M. Russell but did not disclose additional personal details. He said Sgt. Russell has been formally charged with five counts of murder and one count of aggravated assault and is being held at a detention facility near the shooting location.
No reason for the shooting has been determined, officials said, but soldiers in the field cautioned against jumping to a conclusion of "combat stress" until an investigation has been completed.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
"Today, we have an all-volunteer military in which less than 1 percent of the population serve in the military. GIs have returned to the war zone, some as many as three, four and even five times and this is where I have the problem. I hear people say, "Well, after all, they volunteered!" Just because we have an all-volunteer military, does it mean that they are to be sent back into battle time and time again until they are either maimed or killed? Does it mean we should use our brightest and best as cannon fodder because they "volunteered" to serve their country? US suicide rates among US soldiers are heading for a record high, according to army data. According to other statistics, 120 War Vets commit suicide each week. It is just plain unfair. It should be the willing patriotic duty of every red blooded American to take up arms against an enemy, an enemy far more evil than we faced in World War II."
The commentary received some pretty nasty responses as a resounding "NO!" and even going so far as to call the author a communist.
In view of what just happened, we can add "stress," to the equation as to why there should be a draft- this time, to be applied equally and fairly.
"War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself." John Stuart Mill, English economist & philosopher (1806-1873)
I read that the shooting suspect was an electronics technician. Even if this was his third Iraq tour, not sure why this is as a case of combat stress as electronics technicians don’t normally see combat. Of course, maybe he was the guy who went out into the field to fix things and routinely got shot at. I guess we’ll see.
In an overseas deployment to a war zone, there are other factors besides combat that can lead to stress. Which, of course, does not excuse this person's actions in the least.
You are a first rate idiot.
How many others of you out there does this apply to? You'd rather have these brave young soldiers go back again and again until they are either maimed or killed rather than stick your necks out to defend your country.
John Stuart Mill must be rolling in his grave.
And don't lecture me about serving. I am VERY familiar with it right now. I can't imagine anyone in the military who wants to serve with people who are only there because they have to be there. Talk about miserable.
Once the draft was ended in Vietnam, the huge anti-war protests stopped.
Kinda hard to respect the anti war principles of those who only demonstrated to keep themselvs out of harm’s way....but that happened back in the 1860’s as well.
What is worse those who don’t want to serve and protest to keep others from having to, or those who won’t serve but support sending others in their place? Not so much of an ethical dilemna now that there is no draft, but during the Viet nam War, this was a real question....
As I recall....the illegitimacy of the war wasn’t an issue until the draft started getting to the spoiled boomers who were enjoying the drug and sexual revolution.
Of course McNamara’s strategies and the bloody scenes on the 6 pm news didn’t help anything.
Doc, I think if we had the draft we probably would have had fewer Liberals voting for Obama.
No doubt. But, you are not taking into account that the people who don’t want to serve aren’t going to be very good soldiers and may put volunteers into harms way. Believe me when I say that people in the military don’t like the idea. Furthermore, I knew an NCO in the British Army who said that he had trained with military forces from all over the world and the volunteer forces were far superior.
I guess you know best then. You and Charlie Rangel.
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