57 / How do they cope?

One of the essays in my (as yet unpublished - are you a publisher? I'd like to hear from you!) book deals with the mental health of soldiers, and especially war veterans. An article in the news paper this weekend sheds more light on the issue - many do not cope well at all.

The incident referred to is the mass murder of 13 soldiers by an army psychiatrist.

Combat tours take mental toll
Ann Scott Tyson - SMH - 2009 November 7 (from The Washington Post)

Washington: Soldiers at Fort Hood, the scene of Thursday's mass shooting, have recorded the highest number of suicides among US army bases since the invasion of Iraq in 2003.

After many years of lengthy war-zone rotations in Iraq and Afghanistan, soldiers are experiencing record rates of suicide, post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and other mental problems, as well as worsening alcohol and drug abuse. The psychological toll on the all-volunteer US armed forces is unprecedented, say officials, who admit they do not know how much the army can sustain before it breaks. This makes the health of the force an important consideration as the President, Barack Obama, ponders sending more troops to Afghanistan.

Soldiers facing the mental strain of repeated combat tours are increasingly taking lives, often their own. This year, 117 active-duty soldiers reportedly committed suicide; 81 are confirmed. For the same period last year, the figure was 103. Since 2003, more than 75 Fort Hood personnel have committed suicide, 10 of them this year. It is the army's largest base, with more than 53,000 soldiers. An estimated 30 per cent of those returning from combat suffer depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress, which grow worse with repeated tours, the constant exposure to danger and the sights, smells and emotions of seeing others killed or wounded, army mental health surveys have found.

Those who treat the mentally wounded, including doctors such as Major Nidal Malik Hasan, are not immune. Therapists who treat patients for post-traumatic stress often experience symptoms vicariously after hearing of battle horrors. One of the worst shootings involving soldiers was at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, in 1995. A soldier killed an army officer and wounded 18 paratroopers.

Fort Hood is one of the largest US military installations in the world, the biggest single
employer in Texas and home to more than 40,000 troops.

Here's another interesting number: it is estimated that the health costs for veterans of the Iraq war in years to come for America alone will exceed $2t … that's two million million dollars, or $2,000,000,000,000.

It is quite clear than many soldiers, not only Australians but also Americans and others in the 'Coalition of the Willing', are disillusioned with fighting a war that is not their war; where the Afghan war is more and more considered an internal conflict - and, furthermore, an unwinnable one; where Americans, British, Australians et al are considered invaders that must be - and will be - repelled. With their fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq, Western forces have created a downward spiral of resentment and hatred among Muslims that will result in yet more violence and terrorism.

It is largely acknowledged now that to win the (ill-named) War on Terror, the West must win the 'hearts and minds' of Muslim communities in all parts of the world. Fighting the War on Terror with military means will not achieve this - in fact it is counterproductive and feeds the problem of hate. The causes of terrorism are ignored, the perceived solution that is pursued confounds the problem. And on top of the problem of terrorism we now learn we have an equally large one at home, where veterans of the wars are not coping. This issue - in conjunction with the associated 'collateral damage' among civilians and the resultant ill will among Muslims - is bigger than the initial problem of terrorism ever has been.