Phrase changed but not opinion on PTSD crimes

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

121 NY Times veterans had no criminal history before
Iraq Vets Commit PTSD-Fueled Murders in the Wake of Returning HomePosted by Amanda Marcotte, Pandagon at 12:05 PM on January 15, 2008.Unlike the majority of civilians who commit murder, the majority of the 121 veterans documented by the Times reporters had no criminal history.This story about Iraq and Afghanistan veterans who've come back from the war only to commit acts of violence at home is a must-read. The NY Times found 121 cases of murders committed by veterans back from these wars, 1/3 of which were domestic murders, and the reporters suspect this is only a percentage of the actual murders committed, because they got that number by scouring newspapers around the country, not from statistics cultivated by the Pentagon, which, surprise surprise, doesn't collect such data. The numbers are not insignificant.

When I posted the links to the NY Times piece, I tried to point out that these veterans, these combat veterans, came home changed. Some came home changed because of PTSD and some came home almost as if the brutality of war penetrated their souls. It is possible and it is a human condition when you go through some of the things they go through. Statistically however, these incidences are few and far between. Some come home changed because of PTSD and the medications they are given or the propensity to self-medicate with alcohol and street drugs. We have years of documented suspected links between medications such as Lariam and crimes. I will continue to use the "suspected" link because we simply do not know for sure if it was the PTSD and Lariam or Lariam alone.

What I was saying, but put it rather inadequately, is that if they need help, they should get it no matter if they are in jail or in the hospital. If they are so deeply changed by what they went through, prison serves no purpose or justice. If they were only slightly changed then they need therapy even in prison. If they were just using it to try to get them off the hook, then throw the book at them.

The research I did for the suicide video lead me to numerous incidences of crimes committed by veterans. Most of the time they were against family members or significant others. These were not random crimes. We have a lot of veterans in prison right now directly tied to drug use and alcoholism otherwise known as "self medicating." We also have crimes committed because they are in fact a lot like the general population and some of us commit crimes too. No one should ever get a "get out of jail card" free for any reason, unless of course they are innocent or impaired. We all need to take a serious look at all the ramifications of combat and stop putting them into group A or B. None of them go into combat the same or for the same reason and none of them come out the same as their buddy does. The only one thing connecting all of them is that they are rare and they faced death because they served in a time of horror. Some times it comes home with them and we need to deal with it, step up when it did and try to provide the right response to it.