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Permalink Reply by elaine kilshaw on November 16, 2009 at 12:38pm

If it is becoming almost unbearable for me to read of these tragedies what must these men and women feel when they are told their comrades are dying and being left in such appalling circumstances, affecting them for the rest of their lives.
Those leading us to wars have no idea what they are going through and never will, they should be made to visit all those in hospitals and looking after them for the rest of their lives..
Stop saying it is ‘gods will’ blaming everything on a god that does not exist so as to ease their consciences. If this is their god then I don’t want to even waste a thought on him, or her, or whatever. Sports personalities seem to think if they do the sign of the cross and look up to the sky somehow their god will help them win. Get real.

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Permalink Reply by Lord Atheist on November 20, 2009 at 10:55pm

LOL Elaine that is the most realest shit I have ever heard in my life. Everytime an actor or musician wins an academy award they always look to the sky and thank the Spaghetti Monster.

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Permalink Reply by Johnny on November 16, 2009 at 6:02pm

During the Iraq war, however, the great difficulty veterans experienced in getting psychiatric care—greater than before—was not a product of cost-cutting, but of conviction: many Bush administration officials believed that soldiers who supported the war would not face psychological problems, and if they did, they would find comfort in faith. In a resigned tone, one prominent researcher who worked for the VA, and asked that he not be identified because he was not authorized to speak to the press, explained that high-ranking officials believed that “Jesus fixes everything.”

To me, this scares the shit out of me. Almost more than the people who welcome the second coming being the ones with access to the button that starts armageddon. These are people willing to throw away American lives, and have no reserve about it because “Jesus fixes everything.”

Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy Michael McLendon. McLendon, an intensely focused man in a neatly pressed suit, kept a Bible on his desk at the office. Sullivan explained to McLendon and the other attendees that the rise in benefits claims the VA was noticing was caused partly by Iraq and Afghanistan veterans who were suffering from PTSD. “That’s too many,” McLendon said, then hit his hand on the table. “They are too young” to be filing claims, and they are doing it “too soon.” He hit the table again. The claims, he said, are “costing us too much money,” and if the veterans “believed in God and country . . . they would not come home with PTSD.” At that point, he slammed his palm against the table a final time, making a loud smack. Everyone in the room fell silent.

An interesting, eyeopening, and sickening article; thanks for posting this Jason.

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Permalink Reply by Dave G on November 16, 2009 at 9:45pm

A double emphasis on sickening. The deputy assistant director should be sent into a war zone, and when (if) he comes back, told that there's no medical care for him, because clearly if he has any trouble, it's because he doesn't believe in Jeebus enough.

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Permalink Reply by Jason Brown on November 16, 2009 at 6:07pm

What gets me is the shirking of responsibility that comes along with it. I'm NOT an american, so my perceptions are naturally clouded in regards to american culture - but I am smart and well informed enough to at least make an attempt to sort the facts from the propoganda and I am still appalled. If something like what's mentioned in the article (PTSD is "made up" by liberals for example) was done here in NZ, a good percent of the populace would be very angry and I predict we would at least get a citizen's referendum to inform the government of how the nation feels about things.

"God will make it right", "Trust in the Lord", "Offer it up to God" might work for when your lover dumps you or you back your car into a lamp post, but the horrors of war? Death? There should be MORE atheists in foxholes.

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Permalink Reply by Matt on November 16, 2009 at 6:27pm

Things that make you sick for $1000

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Permalink Reply by Reggie on November 16, 2009 at 7:43pm

Geez, do I even want to read this article? I'm already riled up. I think I'll wait until later.

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Permalink Reply by Christian Thompson on November 17, 2009 at 9:00pm

I know people who have never been to war and have a form of ptsd. So if these are the mild cases, then we ought to be doing a lot more for soldiers who have it. Because what I have seen scares me.

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Permalink Reply by Johnny on November 20, 2009 at 8:43pm

Veteran Fasting Outside White House

Asking that action be taken by the "Administration and our Military to stem the tragic and ever-increasing rise in the incidence of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder which is rapidly approaching epidemic proportions among our Fighting Men and Women."

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