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Those Bad Soldiers in Iraq
By Bull Nav
I saw this in the NYT this morning and it just set me off. The article starts
In May 2004, Specialist Justin J. Lillis got drunk on what he called “hajji juice,” a clear Iraqi moonshine smuggled onto an Army base in Balad, Iraq, by civilian contractors, and began taking potshots with his M-16 service rifle.
and then continues with two more examples of all the bad stuff our guys are supposedly doing over there.
Of course there is the obligatory Viet Nam reference for stress relief
“The treatment that they take for it is the same treatment that they took after Vietnam,” Dr. Kosten said. “They turn to alcohol and drugs.”
Also, not to be missed, is the blatant sensationalism
There is a high incidence of post-traumatic stress disorder among Iraq veterans, [Charles P. O’Brien] said, adding that “there’s been a lot of suicide in the active-duty servicemen.”
How many people are drinking in their off-time? How many suicides? No hard numbers are given and this is what I do not like. Certainly PTSD is a real problem as well as suicide, and they both need to be dealt with. Both cause an indescribable amount of pain for the families involved.
There is some data, however it is for criminal prosecutions. When you look at the chart, you find that over a 5 year period (2002-2006) there were a total of 665 criminal prosecutions, which works out to 133 per year. Now if we assume that 133 was the actual average for the last couple of years, and that we have had around 140,000 armed forces personnel in country per year, you find that only 0.095% of our total personnel there were prosecuted for crimes. I am not trying to diminish the fact that we have people who do illegal things, but we catch them and prosecute them. The other approximately 139, 877 folks who are doing the heavy lifting, who are doing great things getting Iraq back on its feet get smeared again. Those are the folks we need to hear about. Those are the folks who deserve the recognition and attention.
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Comments
It's a simple answer, really. Down deep, they know they don't measure up. So they lash out at those who do.
That is why I don't read that sorry excuse for a paper. The paper is pretty useful for housebreaking dogs though. It sops up the crap pretty nicely.
Um...wow. The New York Times publishes a steady stream of articles and photo essays about the "other 139,877" troops. How is pointing out the high numbers of PTSD sensationalism? That's pretty much common knowledge these days.
And you're kidding yourselves if you think there's not a huge alcohol problem in the military, especially the Marine Corps. MSM pointing that out is not harassment of the military.
Akinoluna - thanks for your comments. I did not mean to minimize the problems of PTSD or alcohol.
PTSD is a very real problem that has effected veterans of every war we have fought. It is something that folks need to know about, something that folks need to be educated on how to deal with.
Alcoholism is something I know we have been battling and as long as it is socially acceptable, it will always be a problem. That's not to say that we should roll over and accept it, but it is going to be a long fight, too.
My concern was that the article focused on criminals. I realize that in some cases, alcohol or PTSD was a factor, but it was not in the majority of the prosecuted cases shown in the chart. I hope someone will do a detailed study of PTSD and how our soldiers/sailors/airmen/Marines are handling back here (or perhaps not handling it). PTSD and alcoholism are two of those subjects that no one seems to want to discuss openly or seriously...but we need to.
Akinola: "Huge" problem?
I work in a bar and I see far more problems with alcohol than in my 21+ years in the Army.
The MSM is VERY negative about the Military. They print the single digit % events as head lines and overlook the overwhelming mount of the good things the military does in Iraq and around the world.
Face it, you don't like the military.
I think your interpretation of the statistics is entirely toooo generous.
Likely, multiple offenses linked to the same person would even further diminish the actual percentage bad apples in the ranks of our dedicated military.
Wonder how the rate of prosecution among our military in Iraq and Afghanistan compares to the rate of prosecution among our Democrat lawmakers here at home during the same period..
Has the NYT's ever been to a party? Bonus have they ever been to a Country party?
I hate to be the one to break the news to the NYT's but when you are in your late teens early 20's getting drunk has nothing to do with PTSD and for the bonus part, country bon fire parties often have some taking pot shots at tree, can, bottle, frig, splat car. Hell usually even a fight or two.
People are people the sad part is the Mil brass will likely trip out on some pretty innocent behavior over this. If this was on duty or those pot shots were at Iraqi civilians then it would be abnormal or a problem.
The number might be even lower and some of the conclusions different if they would just do away with General Order #1-a stupid order if I do say so myself- and let folks have a beer ration each day.
Of course people are smuggling booze in. Its probably not a great big problem though.
Skippy - yes, I have wondered about that. I mean, didn't I read about liquor stores in Baghdad opening up recently?
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More attempts to portray the military as misfits. The MSM are obsessed with the military, and with deriding and insulting it.
Why? This is approaching the levels of harassment of the military as an institution and of it's people. This kind of coverage would never be tolerated by other ethnic or professional groups.
These reporters can't stop taking one pot shot after another at the military, at a time when it's members are fighting and dying. It's obscene.
I'd like to see an expose of backgrounds and illegal activities in the journalistic field, and see how flawless those that pass judgement of others are.