The Big Battle of Iraq Has Yet To Begin

The Big Battle of Iraq Has Yet to Begin - At Home, Not Abroad

The number of dead soldiers in Iraq continues to climb. Others lose their limbs when yet another IED blast blows up their transport vehicles as they move in and out of war-torn Baghdad.
The potential after-effects that soldiers may suffer from this war, however, has become one big ticking time-bomb that could explode the military's already fragile morale - if nothing is ever done about it.
And post-traumatic stress disorder has the potential to tear apart families already burdened by the roller-coaster ride of National Guard soldiers being called in-and-out of duty that they thought would simply help pay their college tuition.
Already, this PTSD enemy looks firmly entrenched: A recent report showed that 32 soldiers killed themselves in the war zone last year - a record high since the war began five years ago, according to The Hartford Courant.
The number of suicides in Iraq in 2007 climbed 18 percent from 2006, despite efforts by military officials to improve training and education in suicide prevention and mental health, The Courant reported.
The number of Army troops suffering from severe combat stress is "skyrocketing," rising from just over 1,000 new cases in 2003 to more than 28,000 soldiers today diagnosed with PTSD, according to The Baltimore Sun.
Yet, no one who has, or may have the power to do something - that being Congress, the Pentagon, Barack Obama, John McCain, President Bush and on and on - has come out with a clear-cut battle-plan for tackling post-traumatic stress disorder on a large scale.
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