WASHINGTON — In 2008, a young sergeant named Coleman S. Bean took his life. After completing his first tour of duty in Iraq, he had come home and been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Nevertheless, he was deployed to Iraq a second time. Bean had sought treatment for PTSD but as a member of the Individual Ready Reserve (IRR), he found fewer resources available to him than to veterans and active-duty members.
In April, Rep. Rush Holt (D-N.J.) introduced legislation named after the late soldier meant to provide more resources for suicide prevention to Reserve members. The House in May incorporated it into the National Defense Authorization Act for 2011, but it was stripped from the final version, and Holt is pointing the finger at the lead Republican negotiator on the Senate legislation, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.)
Coleman Bean is by no means alone. Suicides among troops and vets is at an all time high, while the Pentagon is still reluctant to admit that PTSD (Post traumatic Stress Disorder) is a problem. In their eyes if your man enough to be a soldier you're man enough to keep it together mentally,
The asymmetric nature of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan where soldiers have been fighting an enemy that wears no uniform and can strike at anytime adds a whole new level of stress to the military. Couple that with the thousands of brain injuries from IED devices and you have a major problem. Because there is no blood shed when a soldier receives a traumatic brain injury the military has been reluctant to acknowledge and deal with these issues.
So McCain, the so-called 'maverick' strips the bill out of the National Defense Authorization Act. No debate, no justification, no anything. Never mind the scary thought that Sarah Palin could have been Vice President. This seemingly embittered, nasty fuck could have been President.
No comments:
Post a Comment