New York Times Special Report: 121 Veterans Of Iraq And Afghanistan Charged With Killing Upon Returning Home

New York Times:

Late one night in the summer of 2005, Matthew Sepi, a 20-year-old Iraq combat veteran, headed out to a 7-Eleven in the seedy Las Vegas neighborhood where he had settled after leaving the Army.

This particular 7-Eleven sits in the shadow of the Stratosphere casino-hotel in a section of town called the Naked City. By day, the area, littered with malt liquor cans, looks depressed but not menacing. By night, it becomes, in the words of a local homicide detective, "like Falluja."

Mr. Sepi did not like to venture outside too late. But, plagued by nightmares about an Iraqi civilian killed by his unit, he often needed alcohol to fall asleep. And so it was that night, when, seized by a gut feeling of lurking danger, he slid a trench coat over his slight frame -- and tucked an assault rifle inside it.

Read the whole story: New York Times

Comments

[chendri887]

Conservatism is an awesomely destructive force that brings little but brutality into the world. Our current leadership has adopted the tenets of this philosophy that have remained consistent for centuries: A patriarchal, authoritarian, "macho" vision of masculinity; a fear/shame-based view of the world in which the only "valid" view of the state is as an instrument of military power; a merging of state and state-sanctioned "right" religious belief; a Social Darwinist view of reality in which citizens are completely abandoned by the state and the only option for help is religion, charity and prayer; a blindness and lack of empathy for any experience/feeling/worldview that does not correspond to that of the Social Darwinist religious fundamentalist patriarchy. It is depressing that a majority in our government still adopt this as the most logical paradigm for interacting with the world and our citizens. It certainly not hard to see how a belief in premillennial dispensationalism can lead to endless war. Is there anyone in Congress who can balance a worldview with both empathy and strength so as not to lead us into endless war? Is there anyone running for president who can chart a legislative and budgetary view for this country that actually does something to help its citizens beyond providing them with endless propaganda slogans and religious radio television programing? I don't see anyone on the horizon. Very sad.

[VivaZapata]

The area of post war treatment that is most neglected is psychological counseling. There are so many ways we have to pay for failed overseas adventures. This is one of the often ignored ones. Thanks for posting it.

[egadberry]

This is the very tip of the iceberg. Expect this trend to blow the f..k up as the boys and girls come home. And expect the Pentagon to do jack. Beware wives...

[epistrophy]

stop killing people...really...stop.

[epistrophy]

stop killing people

[ResidentChimp]

It would be nice if there was a little context to the story. How does the 121 incidents compare to others of this age group that never went to Iraq? There's been hundreds of thousand of military in Iraq and 121 incidents can't all be the same. But the real story is how the MSM wants to manipulate the narrative of the Iraqi War and how the Huffers lap it up.

[kfdan]

While the majority of veterans return home and adjust, you are going to have those who can't. The government has not really concerned itself with the mental state of those veterans who need help ... ever!
It is one of the bean counter dilemmas so prevalent in government policy.

[realitytrumpsbull]

The sad part of all of this is that it pretty much all happened so that Uncle Dick could drill an oil well. Hate to harp on the oil point, but it's a recurring issue.

On death: One thing to keep in mind when reading all of this is that some 40k people get killed every year on the public road, in the USA, I don't know how many worldwide, but it's probably quite a bit more. You see them ranting about who can have guns and all that, but EVERYBODY's got a license...and traumatic stress isn't isolated to the military, either.

One thing the war is good for is making a case against war, right along the lines of what Smedley Butler was talking about.
To hell with war! Spend money on schools and infrastructure and REAL defense instead of war profiteering misadventures that get people killed for no good reason.

[Blitzping]

Considering the fact that hundreds of thousands of soldiers have deployed to Iraq (many more than once), I find 121 murders statistically insignificant. To me this seems to be the same "crazy vet" phobia that occurred after Vietnam. The fact is that most soldiers return to their normal lives. Are they changed by war? Absolutely. In fact, post Vietnam studies found that most veterans were less violence prone. So before you get scared of the us returning vets (or maybe guilty), try to but it into some statistical perspective. If you would like to read more on violence and mental problems caused by war, their are two very good history books available. Ben Shepard's War of Nerves and Joanna Bourne (maybe Bourke)'s an Intimate History of Killing.

(P.S. one of those soldiers was in my company, and believe me his experiences in Iraq were not the reason he killed someone/he just had major issues)

[Mr.Fitz]

Yeah well, if the police had their way, none of us civilians would own firearms and be able to defend ourselves. If some scumbag assaults my wife, I'm just supposed to let it happen and then report to the local authorities for "justice" afterward, where the same scumbag either gets away with it or gets free room and board with his buddies in prison.

[Weathermaker]

These troublesome numbers have to be put in prospective, people.

US population: 300 million
Killings average, per year: 17,000
Rate: 17/300,000 people.
Iraq war duration: 4 years and 10 months

So 300,000 ordinary US citizens commit around 80 murders in a period equal to the duration of the Iraq war.

With 200,000 US forces in Iraq at any time and say 100,000 at home, for a total of 300,000, we have 121 CHARGED. Note all 121 will be convicted (surely some acted in self defense). When you also consider (and adjust accordingly) that the average age of the military is lower than that of the total population and that most crimes are committed by young people, this New York Times statistic is absolutely normal. sad and troublesome, of course, but unfortunately also normal. It just proves that our soldiers are just like the rest of us.

[Rog49Thomas]

War is a very nasty business. People who participate in it come back profoundly changed.

This story brings home two points:

First, before we send our kids off to fight, we should be absolutely sure that the war is necessary for our national security. There are many sorts of casualties - deaths, physical injuries and mental injuries. Before we spend one precious American life, we had better be certain, the cost is worth it.

Second, really supporting the troops is not mindlessly agreeing with this or that President but making sure troops operaate with a well defined strategy, with the right equipment and with the right support and care when they return home to help them re-integrate. To do less than this is treason - irrespective if one's lapel is full of American flag pins, yellow ribbons and one's mouth is full of "patriotic" slogans. The proof is actions.

On both scores, President Pan and his dead enders have let down our troops.

[letsgetsmart]

The same thing or worse happened after Nam. At least this time the majority of us want to do something for them. Nobody wanted to see or hear from the Nam veterans. At least this time there is outrage. How long was it before the memorial was put up? We don't seem to learn. Just look at the number of people in this country who are dedicated to voting for the republican war candidates. I see no problem with stopping the return of the troops Bush says. They can be there for a hundred years Mccain says. I would be harder on the prisoners Romney says. Well someone who lives next door to you will be the one asked to do this to the prisoners. What a country has been taking on a whole new meaning for me.

[steve12]

This is a HUGE number, consider the number of soldiers that have served in Iraq. Congress should set up committees to investigate this further. We have asked so much of so few to fight this war of Bush's making. These soldiers deserve whatever support our country can provide.

[mamacat]

I think that even as much as we talk about the war on Huffpo, in some parts of American society there is not enough awareness of the effects of the war on soldiers, their families, and also on the indigenous peoples overseas.
Because the soldiers are volunteers, it is easier not to thing too much about them. Because the news isn't brought to us like it was with the Vietnamese civil war, we don't see as many images of injury and death among the locals as we did then.
Besides the dead and injured, and the victims who live overseas, there is the lingering wonder of when Johnny or Jane (no disrespect intended) will snap, and kill themselves or someone else, after returning home.
War is hell, unjust wars also are hell. Is there any way to compare one hell to another? I guess, as has been said many times before, be careful before you go to war....someone might have to pay the price for it.