The New York Times and our Veterans

The other evening I was coming home and was listening to O’Reilly when he started talking about how irresponsible the NY Times was by attempting to bring attention to the many killings our service members were responsible for upon returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.

The point was simple, “The New York Times found 121 cases in which veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan committed a killing in this country, or were charged with one, after their return from war. In many of those cases, combat trauma and the stress of deployment — along with alcohol abuse, family discord and other attendant problems — appear to have set the stage for a tragedy that was part destruction, part self-destruction (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/13/us/13vets.html?_r=1&sq=echoes%20of%20war&oref=slogin&scp=1&pagewanted=print. 21 January 2008.).” The bottom line is that if you just look at the article and belief the basic premise, when our troops go to combat and come back, most of them become the equivalent of psychotic killers.

O’Reilly, and then Glenn Beck brought up some interesting facts. The bottom line, again, without attempting this blog to be an answer to the twisted logic in the article, is that the numbers and the statistics used are totally ridiculous. The Times said, “Twenty-five offenders faced murder, manslaughter or homicide charges for fatal car crashes resulting from drunken, reckless or suicidal driving.” Yes, people died and most likely, military people were behind the wheel of the offending vehicle. But not only military people drive drunk, look at the celebrities that have being on the news lately, and done time, even if it is a few hours in jail.

Timeswatch.org (http://www.timeswatch.org/articles/2008/20080114134026.aspx) does a great job explaining the percentages of military killers over the past six years versus the alarming numbers that the Times uses. I’m not inclined to confirm the numbers that timeswatch.org uses, but their logic seems right to me.

The Times article was well written and reads like a novel. Three tours in Iraq give me a special perspective on the subject; and the fact that the Times quotes “Achilles in Vietnam: Combat Trauma and the Undoing of Character” by Dr. Jonathan Shay made IT easy for me to read. I did read Dr. Shay’s book before I returned from Iraq the last time and find it insightful and accurate. But what I belief the Times should have focus on, is not so much crimes committed by our veterans that fall below society’s norm, but on the inadequate treatment that we receive upon returning. The low quality of Veterans Affairs clinics, and the defamatory way in which the media and some of our politicians refer to us.

Senator Murtha calling our troops killers, Senator Kerry accusing his Vietnam brethren of war crimes, Senator Harry Reid, and Charles Schumer rendering moral support to our enemies by publicly stating that the war is lost, are just butt simple examples of what our politicians think of my brothers and sisters in arms that risk their lives without expecting fame or fortune. Just because is the right thing to do, and because someone needs to defend our Nation and our Constitution. These previous facts about our politicians are easily verified by Goggle.
To my brothers and sisters in arms, I SALUTE YOU.