When no one wants to cover price of war

2001, troops sent into Afghanistan. 2003 troops sent into Iraq. No one wanted to pay higher taxes to pay for either one. No one wanted to really support the troops we sent by paying for any of it. President Bush didn't even have these wars in his budget and continually asked for supplemental emergency funds. Some in congress were asking for more funding for the VA to care for the increased need while others were pointing to the two wars needing more funding as an excuse to not gear up the VA to deal with the increased demand. Funding for the VA came last on the things to do list almost as if the wounded were totally forgotten about. This continued despite the fact medical advances left more surviving horrific injuries, thus creating more wounded survivors needing care.

Contractors managed to take the spotlight and bulk of the funding. The troops had to deal with what they had to do their jobs with, scavenging for metal to protect their vehicles because no one thought to order the up armored Humvees or the fortified new design to deflect road side bombs. They came last.

It always seems we claim to have no limits when it comes to defense of this nation, at the same time, we have no desire to spend it on the men and women we send.

But the burden and blame is not all on the citizens of this nation. It is on the shoulders of the media as well. When you stop and think about what they can accomplish when they want to, it leaves us wondering where their priorities are.

Remember the coverage dedicated to Haiti after the earthquake and what resulted from the devotion to cover the suffering? Hundreds of millions of dollars flooded in along with aid workers volunteering to step up. Over 200,000 dead, millions homeless, wounded and in need of everything to stay alive with. Their stories touched all of us because we saw their eyes, heard their cries and we saw humans just like us suffering. We knew we could help because we were told we could and how we could help.

Well, here we have more servicemen and women committing suicide because they are not getting the care they need. Attempted suicides have gone up in the military. Divorces have gone up. All the suffering has gone up but most Americans have no clue. The media has not taken the same kind of attitude to cover this crisis as they have with scandals, politics, celebrities or how ketchup is now being packaged differently so that you can dunk into it or squirt it out. (NBC had this last week.) There always seems to be yet one more crisis more important than what is happening to the men and women we send to fight our battles.

Add up the suicides of our veterans starting with the 18 taking their own lives today, then multiply them over the last nine years but you better factor in the 12,000 attempted suicides every year as well. Don't stop there because those are veterans and we have active military committing suicide at higher numbers every year as well. Don't stop there either because with those numbers come the families left behind.

Here we have an interview Al Jazeera did with Give An Hour's founder Barbara Van Dahlen. Ever wonder why an organization like this would be needed if we really lived up to the claim about supporting the troops and caring for our veterans? Why would there be a need for mental health workers to give up the kind of money they make if we were any good at really taking care of them? Then after you read this article or watch the video interview, ask yourself when the last time it was you heard any of what is being said on CNN, MSNBC or FOX.

Where is the coverage of this crisis in our communities as National Guards and Reservists come home to an oblivious neighborhood? Where is it as the men and women in the military return to bases trying to recover from one deployment while another one waits for them hanging over their heads like the Sword of Damocles appearing to be safe back on US soil but nonetheless still in danger? Why don't they report on any of this more than just a story here or there when this is a huge crisis that does not need to be happening?

No one wants to pay for war but when it comes to the men and women we send, they seem to be the only ones paying for all of it with body, blood, spirit along with everyone in their lives. Aren't there any advertisers willing to step up and fund specials for CNN, FOX or MSNBC to report on the magnitude of this suffering? Who is willing to pay the price for their sake? It's time all of us were willing to cover the price only they have been asked to pay.

The war against PTSD in the US army
FOCUS

The war against PTSD in the US army



After ignoring and dodging the issue for years, the US army is being forced to face the alarming numbers of soldiers who are suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

The suicide rate among troops on active duty is at an all time high and rising, while veterans are bringing the war home to their families and communities in the form of addiction, abuse and even murder. They are committing suicide at the rate of 18 a day.

Al Jazeera's The War Within programme examined the toll repeated deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan are taking on soldiers.

To understand the symptoms and causes of PTSD from a medical perspective, Al Jazeera spoke to Barbara Van Dahlen, a clinical psychologist and the president and founder of Give An Hour (GAH), a nonprofit organisation that provides free mental health services to US military personnel and their families who have been affected by the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
read more here
http://english.aljazeera.net/focus/2010/02/20102685951740629.html