We were crazy to go into Iraq in the first place and now Iraq is driving close to one in three of our courageous soldiers' crazy.
Thirty percent of United States troops returning home face mental health problems three to four months after their return, according to Army surgeon general Lt. Gen. Kevin Kiley.
More frightening however is that “30 percent of the cases [of post traumatic stress disorder] don't manifest themselves until 10 years after the traumatic event, according to medical literature,” according to a UPI article, posted on Military.com. Clearly, this will then increases the overall number of 30 percent.
But let’s translate these percentages to real numbers that represent real individuals.
More than “1 million U.S. troops have fought in the wars since Sept. 11, 2001, according to Pentagon data. As of Jan. 31, 2005, the exact figure was 1,048,884, approximately one-third the number of troops ever stationed in or around Vietnam during 15 years of that conflict.”
Thirty percent of the number of current troops then is close to 316,000. This means that close to a third of a million of our troops will experience mental health problems because of the war.
Why is the number so high?
Lack of proper screening for mental health issues prior to deployment. An Army report reads: "Variability in predeployment screening guidelines for mental health issues may have resulted in some soldiers with mental health diagnoses being inappropriately deployed.”
Exposure to traumatic events more evenly distributed among soldiers. One doesn’t need to be part of a combat unit to feel the effects of terrorist tactics. This means lots of soldiers – no matter their role in Iraq – wonder whether they’ll be the “next victim of a car bomb or roadside bomb or (rocket-propelled grenade).
Soldiers don’t know who the enemy is. This means “You can never relax. Any car that drives by can be a bomb, You don't know who the enemy is, where they are."
Some soldiers are unsure about why they are there. An Army soldier in Iraq wrote: “if soldiers do lose moral, or begin to question the war, that is just a side effect of them opening their eyes to the ways in which they have been manipulated and betrayed by their own government.”
So what do we do?
Bring the troops home before more of them can’t get rid of images of death and destruction, of children being caught in the line of fire and of children carrying bombs.
Bring the troops home now so fewer of them will become victims of mental illness.
Bring the troops home. Now.
--Written in collaboration with Jennifer Hicks