Monday, November 09, 2009
Outside The Wire
Three women service members return from Iraq and Afghanistan to find they face a new battle—a battle to treat their wartime injuries.
American Women Veterans
American Women Veterans is the nation's preeminent Women Veterans organization dedicated to being the voice of Women Service Members and Veterans. They welcome veterans and supporters from all branches and eras. They foster a continued desire to serve our country and our comrades by raising awareness of women veterans' issues in military, civilian and veterans' affairs. They strive to enlighten, engage and empower women veterans from all services and eras!
The link directly above, American Women Veterans, goes to their Face Book page, the one at the 'In Their Boots' site takes you to a site page that says the site is being built.
Labels: Afghanistan, American Women Veterans, In Their Boots, Iraq, Occupation, OEF/OIF, Outside the Wire, Veterans, War, Women Soldiers, Women Veterans
Fall of Berlin Wall
Secret Documents Show Opposition to German Unification
The fall of the Berlin Wall 20 years ago generated major anxiety in capitals from Warsaw to Washington, to the point of outright opposition to the possibility of German unification, according to documents from Soviet, American and European secret files posted on the Web today by the National Security Archive...>>>
Prague Communists Called for Wall to Open on November 8, 1989
East German Refugee Crisis in Embassies in Prague Turned Hardliners into Advocates for Change 20 Years Ago
New Documents from Prague, Berlin, and Bonn detail the pressure on the "System" from East Germans voting with their feet
Just before the fall of the Berlin Wall 20 years ago, even the hardline Czechoslovak Communist leaders called for the opening of the German border, according to documents from high-level archives in Berlin, Bonn and Prague published for the first time in English and posted on the Web today by the National Security Archive at George Washington University...>>>
Labels: Anniversary, Berlin Wall, Communism, East Germany, Fall of the Berlin Wall, National Security Archive, West Germany
Sunday, November 08, 2009
The Forever War of the Mind {An Added Link}
I have been trying to follow any facts, and not the rantings from the extremist within, but facts, of this tragic event. And the more I find the more it looks like one huge failed Military Cluster F**k again, joining the many we already know about, of these present times, and those of our time as we served and returned from Vietnam and the years after. Like why he was even transfered to Hood, why was he promoted, why the Army seemed not to be listening to him as he had to get a lawyer in trying to get discharged, why was he getting enhanced weapons training at Hood in preparation to leave for Afghanistan, why he even had orders to deploy, why there seems to be reports prior to just listed that should have started the lights going off in the Command Structure. I hope to try and put something together if I can wrap my mind fully around all these seemingly Military failures and this Major's Extreme Criminal Act. But let me say this, expanded abit from what a brother 'Nam Vet stated earlier today: "Everyday a Ft Hood happens in Iraq and Afghanistan, and now in Pakistan, they've already suffered through Many 9/11's in these nine years!!"
The following really touches on the reality of these times as to the soldiers serving multiple tours in these occupation theaters and were printed in media outlets today:
Shortage of military therapists creates strain
Amputations. Combat stress. Divorce. Suicide. For troubled service members, military therapists are at their sides.
But with the U.S. fighting two wars, an acute shortage of trained personnel has left these therapists emotional drained and overworked, with limited time to prepare for their own war deployments.
An Army psychiatrist is suspected in the shootings at Fort Hood, Texas, and the rampage is raising questions about whether there's enough help for the helpers, even though it's unclear whether that stress or fear of his pending service in Afghanistan might be to blame.
An uncle of Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan said Saturday that Hasan was deeply affected by his work treating soldiers returning from war zones. "I think I saw him with tears in his eyes when he was talking about some of patients, when they came overseas from the battlefield," Rafik Hamad told The Associated Press from his home near the West Bank town of Ramallah.
Rep. Tim Murphy, R-Pa., a psychologist in the Navy Reserves, said the toll is sometimes described as "compassion fatigue" or "vicarious trauma."...>>>Rest Found Here
My subject title comes from this Op-Ed By Max Cleland in the New York Times
“EVERY day I was in Vietnam, I thought about home. And, every day I’ve been home, I’ve thought about Vietnam.” So said one of the millions of soldiers who fought there as I did. Change the name of the battlefield and it could have been said by one of the American servicemen coming home from Iraq or Afghanistan today. Wars are not over when the shooting stops. They live on in the lives of those who fight them. That is the curse of the soldier. He never forgets.
Snip
War is haunting. Death. Pain. Blood. Dismemberment. A buddy dying in your arms. Imagine trying to get over the memory of a bomb splitting a Humvee apart beneath your feet and taking your leg with it. The first time I saw the stilled bodies of American soldiers dead on the battlefield is as stark and brutal a memory as the one of the grenade that ripped off my right arm and both legs.
No, the soldier never forgets. But neither should the rest of us.
Veterans returning today represent the first real influx of combat-wounded soldiers in a generation. They are returning to a nation unprepared for what war does to the soul. Those new veterans will need all of our help. After America’s wars, the used-up fighters are too often left to fend for themselves. Many of the hoboes in the Depression were veterans of World War I. When they came home, they were labeled shell-shocked and discharged from the Army too broken to make it during the economic cataclysm...>>>Rest Found Here
Max has just came out with a book of his life, I put up a post about this as he was making the rounds discussing it, this is a cut from one post:
Former Sen. Max Cleland (D., Ga.) lost his legs and one arm in the Vietnam War. More than 30 years later, he returned to Walter Reed to be treated for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). His new book, "Heart of a Patriot:" begins with an open letter to America’s soldiers, urging them to seek help when they need it.
What are the chief obstacles for a soldier seeking treatment for PTSD?..>>>>>The Rest Found Here
Max's Book: "Heart of a Patriot: How I Found the Courage to Survive Vietnam, Walter Reed and Karl Rove"
UpDated Added Link:
"This is such a betrayal"
A Chaplain Discusses the Long Recovery From Ft. Hood and the Lasting Legacy of PTSD
An ordained Baptist chaplain and army captain, Roger Benimoff spent two tours of duty in Iraq and months between deployments counseling soldiers in the U.S. During his career, he provided spiritual guidance to American soldiers through crises of faith, bereavement, and trauma until he himself broke down. While training and working as a chaplain at Walter Reed during the height of its crisis, Benimoff was diagnosed with chronic PTSD and spent months of treatment at some of the facilities where he trained as a caretaker.
Snip
Is "contact" or "secondary" PTSD a genuine problem?
Oh yes, definitely. I didn't have much time to counsel before I was deployed—I had only three weeks active duty before going over—but I would debrief my soldiers in Iraq all the time about events I was not present at.
Snip
Why did you leave the army?
I could not stay in the army any longer and do good. There was a part of me who hated all of humanity because I could not understand the atrocities that people would commit, the horrors that people are capable of. I hated humanity and I hated God and I hated myself...>>>Rest Found Here
Labels: Combat PTSD, Ft Hood, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, Max Cleland, PTSD, Secondary Trauma, Trauma of War
Saturday, November 07, 2009
Israel: Remote Control Occupation?
This week, the chief Palestinian negotiator, Saeb Erakat, announced that because Israeli settlements continue to grow (with de facto US support) and annex the land planned for a future Palestine, the Palestinians may have to abandon hopes for an independent state. He therefore urged Palestinians to fight for one democratic state where all citizens will be equal. With this announcement, many are wondering what the future of the Israeli occupation would look like. Meanwhile, Israel is continuing its technological evolution of the occupation, making it possible to institutionalize control over the occupation remotely. At the end of October, the joint Israeli-Palestinian Alternative Information Center held a conference in Bethlehem on economy of the occupation. The Real News' Lia Tarachansky attended and spoke to Dalit Baum of Who Profits and Shir Hever, of the Alternative Information Center about the changing face of the Israeli occupation.
Bio
Dr. Dalit Baum is the founder of Who Profits? a project investigating corporate ties to the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian Territories. She is an Israeli peace activist and a feminist educator, who taught science and women's studies at the University of California at Berkeley and at various Israeli universities.
Shir Hever is an economic researcher in the Alternative Information Center, a Palestinian-Israeli organization active in Jerusalem and Beit-Sahour. Researching the economic aspect of the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories, some of his research topics include international aid to the Palestinians and Israel, the effects of the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories on the Israeli economy, and the boycott, divestment and sanctions campaigns against Israel. He is a frequent speaker on the topic of the economy of the Israeli occupation.
Labels: Dr. Dalit Baum, Israel, Occupation, Palestine, real news, remote control weapons, Shir Hever, Terror, Terrorist, Weapons of Mass Destruction
Thursday, November 05, 2009
"THE GOOD SOLDIER"
November 6th PBS Bill Moyers Journal {visit the Journal Link as it has more backlinks for Veterans.}
As America prepares to observe Veterans Day and President Obama weighs sending more troops to fight in Afghanistan, BILL MOYERS JOURNAL broadcasts a powerful documentary about the impact on soldiers of learning to kill – or be killed. THE GOOD SOLDIER follows four veterans – one from World War II, two from Vietnam, and the fourth from Iraq – as they reveal how the experiences of battle changed their lives.
Find out more about the film and theatrical release locations and dates at The Good Soldier"THE GOOD SOLDIER" Trailer:
Labels: Afghanistan, Bill Moyers, Documentary, Iraq, Military, Occupying Others, OEF/OIF, PBS, PBS Bill Moyers Journal, Soldiers, The Good Soldier, Veterans, Vietnam, War, World War II
TROOPS ON TV:
FOX/MURDOCH/ISRAELI POLICY TO KEEP US IN AFGHANISTAN NOT VERY "PRO AMERICAN"
Fox News is using retired military officers surrounded by uniformed active duty troops in an attempt to derail debate on disengagement in Afghanistan. After 8 years, the US is heading the same way Russia did, the more troops we send, the more die. Absolutely nothing has been accomplished in 8 years in Afghanistan other than to start a major war in Pakistan too. I understand Fox News. They are controlled by the powerful Israeli spokeman, Rupert Murdoch. Israel wants this war to go on forever. Though Murdoch now is an American citizen, it doesn't seem to have "taken."
What is good for Israel isn't always good for the US. Active duty military who try to make their own foreign policy are not just total morons but are in violation of a number of laws. They are technically at war with the United States of America. If it is necessary for veterans to take up weapons to fight against members of our military who are part of an insurrection run by a foreign power, tell me where to sign up.
To the former officers, always quick to take a payoff from a defense contractor or the Bush Pentagon as a "pundit," reading from whatever script Karl Rove has written for the day, you dishonor yourselves, your oath and the United States. The oath I remember was:..>>>Rest Found Here
Labels: Afghanistan, FOX Noise, FOX Propaganda, Israel, Murdoch, Propaganda, Retired Military Officer Propagandist, Veterans Today
