Unbalanced President holds troops hostage, inflicts severe physical and mental damage upon them

[G_j]

(my headline of course)
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/070504/4pentagon.htm

Mental Health Survey Shows Troops Need More Time at Home

By Anna Mulrine
Posted 5/4/07

The Pentagon this week released its fourth report on the mental health of troops serving overseas. What emerges from the latest Mental Health Advisory Team survey, the fourth in a series of such studies since 2003, is a troubling picture of troops who are experiencing increasing levels of anxiety and depression with each successive deployment. "We looked under every rock–and what they found wasn't always easy to look at," said Ward Casscells, assistant secretary of defense for health affairs. The Pentagon is now examining "how we can do better," he said. "There are ways we can do better."

What has become abundantly clear, say military officials, is that the longer tours of duty for soldiers (who must now serve 15 months in Iraq) and shorter "dwell times" at home with families are taking a significant toll on soldiers and marines (who are in charge of security in the volatile Anbar province and were included in the survey for the first time).

That's in large part because of the clear link that the study found between mental health and unethical behavior. In other words, soldiers who screened positive for a mental health problem–such as anxiety, depression, or acute stress–were twice as likely to engage in unethical behavior compared with soldiers who did not screen positive. Military officials note that soldiers and marines are far more likely to have unethical thoughts than act on them. However, the study found, "the relationship between mental health and unethical behavior holds even when controlling for anger."

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U.S. Fatality Figures Don't Tell Entire Story

by Anna Mulrine
Posted 5/2/07

This week marks the fourth anniversary of President Bush's declaration of "Mission Accomplished" in Iraq, and American casualty figures for April are in: At 104 fatalities, it was the deadliest month of the year for U.S. troops.

In the past year, the monthly toll has fluctuated between a low of 61 last June to 112 in December, but experts say a further factor makes it difficult to draw conclusions: The fatality figures are only part of the picture. The number of killed often doesn't coincide with the pattern of total killed and wounded–"which makes it an even worse indicator of combat damage," says Anthony Cordesman, an expert on military affairs at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

What is clear, though, is that the April spike in deaths among soldiers has not come as a surprise to U.S. military officials. Since the "surge" of troops into Baghdad was announced, the Pentagon has been working hard to brace the American public for the higher death tolls it expected to accompany a new mission for soldiers and marines in Iraq–namely, an emphasis on Americans providing security for Iraqi citizens in embattled neighborhoods.
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http://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/070502/2casualties.htm

[Monkeyman]

1. I want everyone to think about this

When they come home all hell will break loose. Families will be destoyed. These kids will take their own lifes. Jails will fill up. And the worse part these kids can go off and kill people here. They Need to come home now so treatment can start.

[G_j]

2. family, friends are all effected

over thirty years after Vietnam people still suffer.
The Iraq war will cause suffering for generations.