Support Our Troops At Home

Save The Troops.

by georgia10    Daily Kos   

 Fri May 04, 2007

What no war-cheerleading Republican dare address:

WASHINGTON - The military is putting already-strained troops at greater risk of mental health problems because of repeated deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, a Pentagon panel said Thursday in warning of an overburdened health system.

Issuing an urgent warning, the Defense Department's Task Force on Mental Health chaired by Navy Surgeon General Donald Arthur said more than one-third of troops and veterans currently suffer from problems such as traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder.

With an escalating Iraq war, those numbers are expected to worsen, and current staffing and money for military health care won't be able to meet the need, the group said in a preliminary report released Thursday. [...]

The task force found 38 percent of Soldiers and 31 percent of Marines report psychological concerns such as traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder after returning from deployment.

Among members of the National Guard, the figure is much higher - 49 percent - with numbers expected to grow because of repeated deployments.

You cannot support this war and "support the troops," whatever that hollowed-out, abused phrase means anymore.

Congress has an obligation to save the troops from a president blinded by ego. It must bring them home.  It must begin the long process of fighting that other aftermath of this war which is  silently being fought by these brave men and women right here, on American soil.

It must bring them home. And help them heal.

Tags: Iraq troops health care mental health