USA: Investigation Reveals Military Punishing Wounded Troops

From Paul Rieckhoff’s blog in the USA:

Investigation Reveals Military Punishing Wounded Troops

Soldier Tyler Jennings says that when he came home from Iraq last year, he felt so depressed and desperate that he decided to kill himself.

Late one night in the middle of May, his wife was out of town, and he felt more scared than he’d felt in gunfights in Iraq.

Jennings says he opened the window, tied a noose around his neck and started drinking, “trying to get drunk enough to either slip or just make that decision.” (NPR)

1 in 5 Iraq vets are coming home with a serious mental health problem like anxiety, depression, or PTSD, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Experts believe that over time, the number will reach almost 1 in 3.

How has the military responded to these wounded warriors?

A new investigation by National Public Radio looked at troops diagnosed with mental health disorders, and concluded that “officers at Ft. Carson punish soldiers who need help, and even kick them out of the Army.”

Iraq Study Group report: here.

Iraq Study Group and oil: here.

Bush rejects Iraq Study Group report: here.

See also here.

Cheney and Iraq war: here.