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Supporting Those in Uniform
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Polly Mann, W A M M
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Because I have never known any “peace person” to assign to people in uniform responsibility for taking part in war, I have tended to discount stories of troops returning from war being greeted with hatred. But a recent conversation with a Vietnam veteran, who told me how he was verbally abused on his return to this country, reminded me that indeed it has happened.
But certainly I have never heard WAMM members express resentment or hatred toward soldiers. I have heard expressions of sympathy for those who have felt that they were serving their country and justice in general. They are not to blame for a system and ongoing U.S. administrations that have sought no alternative to war for resolving conflicts.
I think it especially important today, in light of what is happening in Iraq and Afghanistan, to remember that the troops are pawns in U.S. policy. Their well-being is, too often, of little consideration. Take, for example:
Depleted Uranium Exposure
Four soldiers recently returned from Iraq are ill from radiation caused by depleted uranium. They had to struggle to get official testing to prove their cases. However, the government finally agreed to test all soldiers returning from the battle areas in Iraq. In one situation, a Dutch cadre of soldiers tested the area where U.S. soldiers were encamped and found the radiation count unacceptable. The Dutch commander refused to let his forces camp in this area and moved the troops miles away into the desert.
Severe Casualties
The military does not release details about soldiers wounded in battle. Journalist Amy Goodman recently interviewed a medical doctor who had been treating soldiers. The doctor reported that he had never seen casualties of such severity: amputations, skull wounds, loss of eyesight, etc. He also said that, at the facility where he was stationed, there were hundreds of troops who appeared to him to be suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and that nothing was being done about this.
Scapegoating
The recent prison exposé, with its attention upon the enlisted personnel who actually humiliated and tortured prisoners, could be compared with the massacre at My Lai during the Vietnam War. Too often the military personnel who perpetrate heinous crimes in battle are not the individuals who bear the ultimate responsibility.
The troops guarding the Iraqi prisoners have no particular training in Iraqi culture or prisoner interrogation, yet the techniques they used to “soften up” the prisoners for interrogation by military intelligence demonstrated knowledge of both. On their own, these National Guard soldiers could not have been familiar with what would work with Iraqis.
Furthermore, the photographs we have seen of Iraqis in outrageous conditions, with grinning U.S. military personnel nearby, are evidence that the U.S. soldiers involved were not concerned about being discovered. This suggests a pattern of behavior. Probably the least guilty culprits were those who actually enacted the torture. Their superiors and their superiors’ superiors must bear the ultimate responsibility and shame. There must be a thorough investigation—all the way to the White House. Former President Harry Truman kept a sign on his desk that read, “The buck stops here.” The investigation of prisoner abuse should leave in its wake shattered military careers and impeachments.
The privatization of the U.S. military serves as a protection to those civilian contractors who are not subject to military law. Many are former U.S. military who should be familiar with the military code of conduct. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has privatized great portions of military work. The role and actions of civilian contractors should be part of any investigation.
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
The military’s wanton cruelty and obvious lack of concern for the lives of Iraqis is clear indication that military personnel have not been adequately prepared for war. As the U.S. experience in Vietnam has presaged, returning soldiers will also lack preparation for the return home. They will have the same difficulties in adjusting to civilian life as Vietnam veterans have experienced. The number of suicides among Vietnam veterans has exceeded the number of battle deaths. Post-traumatic stress disorder is real and devastating. Research has shown that the propinquity of a victim to the perpetrator is a factor in the degree of post-traumatic stress disorder that perpetrator will suffer. The closer the perpetrator is to the victim, the greater the stress. How will veterans of this war cope?
It is not only the Iraqi families that will be paying the price for U.S. policy. So will U.S. families. It is not too early to be thinking about support groups for returning veterans and their families. |
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Military Rights Resources
The GI Rights Hotline
800-394-9544 (hotline)
630 Twentieth Street #302
Oakland, CA 94612
215-563-4620 (phone)
510-465-2459 (fax)
girights@objector.org
girights.objector.org
Military Law Task Force
National Lawyers Guild
318 Ortega Street
San Francisco, CA 94122
415-566-3732 (phone)
619-233-1701 (phone)
www.nlg.org/mltf
National Military Family Association
2500 North Van Dorn St.,
Suite 102
Alexandria, VA 22302-1601
800-260-0218 (toll free)
703-931-NMFA (6632) (phone)
703-931-4600 (fax)
families@nmfa.org
www.nmfa.org
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© 2004 Women Against Military Madness. All rights reserved.
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Complete June 2004 Index - click here
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