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MASKING SAVES LIVES

Thursday, October 19, 2006

Laurie King: USA's Troubles Won't End When Troops Come Home

"Iraq has plunged into a civil war that can easily explode into a regional conflagration. The number of Iraqis killed in just three and a half years has passed half a million according to a scientifically sound study published this month in the British medical journal, The Lancet. Lawlessness, despair, poverty, fear and danger are the constant companions of Iraqis from all social classes.

"American soldiers are not faring much better lately: over 70 have been killed in the first two weeks of this month. Some US troops are on their third and even fourth tours of duty. Thousands of those who have come home to stay are afflicted with grave physical and emotional disabilities, which the Veterans' Administration is poorly equipped to treat in a sustained and effective manner. According to recent army studies of mental health of returning vets, 19.1% of soldiers and Marines who returned from Iraq met risk criteria for a mental health concern, compared with 11.3% for those deployed to Afghanistan and 8.5% for those sent to other locations.

Telling end of article:

"That howling chaos will reverberate throughout America for years, whether US troops stay in Iraq or not. This reality is here and now, in the USA; it is not a bad dream that can be left behind in the crowded, stinking morgues of Baghdad. Despite the stress it will incur, Americans must face the nightmarish reality that their government has created, and acknowledge that it was forged with their tacit complicity and silent assent. It is time to howl back."

From Electronic Iraq

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