Some Marines Mentally Ill After Iraq, Documents Show

[bemildred]

Bizarre story. Note the lack of byline.

U.S. Navy documents released Tuesday provided detailed accounts of Marines suffering from deep psychiatric problems after serving in Iraq.

The portraits of the psychologically damaged troops were painted in documents obtained by the American Civil Liberties Union through a Freedom of Information Act petition.

According to the documents, some Marines appeared delusional, describing how they single-handedly shot Iraqi soldiers in combat, or stabbed Iraqis on the ground who might have been feigning death.

One said he was feted at a special dinner with Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld. Another bragged of being honored at a homecoming parade. Neither event occurred.

LA Times

[Az_lefty]

1. Oh shit, and these guy's are going to be turned loose on the streets.

[saigon68]

8. The lone SNIPER in the Building shooting at everything that moves

Soon to make a reappearance on the streets of AMERIKA--- See Full-Metal Jacket.

[ender]

2. sigh...

put people in an insane environment, and they go insane, film at 11.

[yardwork]

3. Are they delusional or did the horrors really happen?

It's going to be difficult to tell the difference. We know that the CIA and hired mercenaries did horrific things in Iraq. We know that young troops were made to do horrific things - look at Fallujah.

When the troops come home and tell some of these things, will their stories be dismissed as delusions?

[elehhhhna]

4. Who would invent the delusional horror of dinner with Rumsfeld?

[Deja Q]

5. Hmmm. Troops lyin' or Rumdrinker and * admin lyin'? Um,

How well were the troops known before going to Iraq? Was he crackers then?

I'm more inclined to believe the troops right now.

[Bigmack]

6. Too much time in the shit!

I've read.. no link... that during WWII most soldiers and Marines actually spent comparatively little time in combat. Transport took so long and the battles were short (and bloody).

Since then, soldiers have remained for longer and longer time periods in lower-level combat.... patrols and such.

The Iraq soldiers and Marines are in the shit from the moment they get there, and for long and indeterminate periods of time.

This is a prescription for PTSD.

The disastrous Gulf War I... with 1/4 of our ground force drawing Vets disability ... is gonna look like a cakewalk compared to this clusterfuck.

God knows how many of these guys are gonna come home totally fucked up.

Bush is a war criminal.. to the Iraqis and to our own people.

[CornField]

7. No shit.

If I had to see other humans being shot up, blown up and ripped apart, I'd probably be a little unsettled too. If I had to view my friends and co-workers getting shot up, being blown up and ripped apart, I'd probably have trouble getting to sleep at night too.

On of my brother's good friends from Vietnam often tells me: "I'm envious of your brother. He doesn't have to live with the fucking memories." (My brother lost his life in Vietnam.)

[Unity]

9. Reminds me of this song...

Clean Cut Kid
by Bob Dylan


Everybody wants to know why he couldn't adjust
Adjust to what, a dream that bust?

He was a clean-cut kid
But they made a killer out of him,
That's what they did

They said what's up is down, they said what isn't is
They put ideas in his head he thought were his

He was a clean-cut kid
But they made a killer out of him,
That's what they did

He was on the baseball team, he was in the marching band
When he was ten years old he had a watermelon stand

He was a clean-cut kid
But they made a killer out of him,
That's what they did

He went to church on Sunday, he was a Boy Scout
For his friends he would turn his pockets inside out

He was a clean-cut kid
But they made a killer out of him,
That's what they did

They said, "Listen boy, you're just a pup"
They sent him to a napalm health spa to shape up

They gave him dope to smoke, drinks and pills,
A jeep to drive, blood to spill

They said "Congratulations, you got what it takes"
They sent him back into the rat race without any brakes

He was a clean-cut kid
But they made a killer out of him,
That's what they did

He bought the American dream but it put him in debt
The only game he could play was Russian roulette

He drank Coca-Cola, he was eating Wonder Bread,
Ate Burger Kings, he was well fed

He went to Hollywood to see Peter O'Toole
He stole a Rolls Royce and drove it in a swimming pool

They took a clean-cut kid
And they made a killer out of him,
That's what they did

He could've sold insurance, owned a restaurant or bar
Could've been an accountant or a tennis star

He was wearing boxing gloves, took a dive one day
Off the Golden Gate Bridge into China Bay

His mama walks the floor, his daddy weeps and moans
They gotta sleep together in a home they don't own

They took a clean-cut kid
And they made a killer out of him,
That's what they did

Well, everybody's asking why he couldn't adjust
All he ever wanted was somebody to trust

They took his head and turned it inside out
He never did know what it was all about

He had a steady job, he joined the choir
He never did plan to walk the high wire

They took a clean-cut kid
And they made a killer out of him,
That's what they did

[TahitiNut]

10. Can it be shown they WEREN'T delusional before Iraq?

This is a bizarre story. Just what baseline have they established to determine there has been any change whatsoever? I'm not aware of any psychological screening of recruits other than basic training - where such confabulations might be regarded as a positive attribute.

[MADem]

12. There is screening throughout the recruitment process

Though, admittedly, it isn't the sort of thing where one sits down with the shrink and gets the full monte. The recruiter asks about psychiatric history as part of the initial screen. At every physical, they give you a questionnaire that asks all sorts of ordinary questions, including a few odd ones (ever see things that aren't there? for example). They also toss a bunch of these into the ASVAB, and ask them more than once in different ways throughout. Then, those who are doing the training, including the instructors, have some guidance in looking for problematic recruits, and the boot camp process itself is designed to put max stress on people, so they'll either get with the program or drop by the wayside.

People do slip past, but for the most part, they are just kids looking for a paycheck and maybe a bit of adventure. They don't realize until they are well into it that it ain't a video game and they can't turn the computer off. I feel for them. They don't deserve this treatment, when all they were doing was responding to a patriotic call in volunteering for service. They aren't very political, for the most part, but they think the USA is a good place, with good people, and democratic values. They were raised to believe that we are always the Good Guys. They bought the Saddam equals Osama horseshit, just like an appalling majority of this nation did (to the chagrin, later, of some).

They just didn't know when they signed up that they were being used. They're kids. Scared, fucked-up kids...

[Megahurtz]

11. I'm sure they all have PTSD after this experience

and actually PTSD is classified as a "mental illness"
It doesn't mean they're crazy.

If I were them I would be going and getting my well earned disability pay from the government.

And hurry before Bushitler borrows it all up. :hurts:

[Lena]

15. I don't want to quibble...

But actually PTSD means Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. It's a mental disorder, not a mental illness. Soldiers have always suffered from it.



You're right, though!! "It doesn't mean they're crazy."

And I agree: "If I were them I would be going and getting my well earned disability pay from the government."


One site that is helpful in dealing with it is www.hadit.com

[rocktivity]

13. That pesky ACLU!

The portraits of the psychologically damaged troops were painted in
documents obtained by the American Civil Liberties Union through a Freedom of Information Act petition.  

Hmm...that guy who killed Dimebag was not only an ex-Marine, he didn't even make it through his first enlistment. I wonder if he saw any action in the Mideast? I wonder if HE was getting disability pay?

:headbang:
rocknation

[Chicago Democrat]

14. Understatement Headline of the Year Award

Every single witness to this horror will incorporate the violence they saw and committed into every moment of their future lives.

[Karenina]

16. HALLO!!!

:hi: