Soldier Decries AWOL Arrest at Hospital

Folks, this is why you call your local high school Guidance Department to find out when recruiters will be at the school and lying to get the kids to enlist in any branch of service, like the National Guard. You be there to point out what happens to those who don't follow blindly and just do what they're told, or if they have a problem, know they have a problem and try to seek help, they get hammered. claudius--it was also in the form of bayonets by active duty personnel. Bet it's gonna be fun when Bush declares himself "Dictator of Amerika" and then turns Blackwater loose on the populace to enforce Martial Law. If you are a gun owner, you better hide the ones you have, get more, and hide them as well.

Sounds like he was happy to take the taxpayers' dollars until he had to earn it.
Heck, I don't even know if I mean that.
I'm tired of thinking about negative stuff, I really am.

Ya think Ron will have turkey tomorrow?

Have a great holiday everyone and a great full year finish too. We'll make it__ in spite of Cheney/Bush.

General MacArthur led the charge against them.

Of course he believed in following orders of his superiors, until his superior was an ex WW 1 captan, named President Harry S Truman.

Sadly, there is a previous event that transpired, where those who extended their tours of duty in World War I had the opposite happen where they did not receive their extra pay or "bonus checks" promised them by the government. And when they confronted the government, they received pay in the form of tear gas.

To St. John and all the others with PTSD - Talk therapy is a long road to relief from it. There is a newer discovery of a simpler way to treat PTSD's changes to the brain, causing the flashbacks to those who have been emotionally traumatized by war or many other causes. Ode Magazine has a short article about it in this month's edition, which I am posting here:

www.odemagazine.com
Lillian Kennett | November 2007 issue
Does EMDR spell healing?

In 1974, Sam (not his real name) joined the Royal Ulster Constabulary, now known as the Police Service of Northern Ireland. The death toll exacted by The Troubles was being ratcheted up daily, topping 1,000 in April of that year. It would double and then triple over the course of Sam’s service, as the country was convulsed by sectarian violence. Corpses, bombings and assault became part of Sam’s routine. “It was like a normal event,” he says, “explosions, killings, being attacked, seeing my friends attacked and even killed.”

He suffered from severe anxiety, flashbacks, nausea and sleeplessness as his mind replayed his most traumatic experiences with shocking immediacy. He never sought help for his problems because in Sam’s world at the time, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a condition in which victims of a psychological trauma experience severe and ongoing emotional reactions, simply didn’t exist. “You were told to just get on with it.”

Five years ago, when Sam was told he and his family were being targeted in their home by Republican terrorists, something snapped. “It was horrendous. I felt anxious, vulnerable and constantly unsure who to trust. Whenever I was at home, I was terrified for my own life. Whenever I wasn’t at home, I was terrified for my family.”

Even when his wife and four children were safely relocated, Sam couldn’t escape this state of near-panic. He became a total insomniac, relying on sleeping pills for rest, obsessively vigilant against threats and increasingly quick to anger. Living this way was intolerable. “I had been carrying so much pain for so long,” he says, “I finally felt I had to do something about it.”

Sam’s doctor referred him to a Belfast psychologist whose treatment made all the difference. After 13 sessions, he was able to put to rest 30 years of ongoing psychological pain. “Now it just seems like a memory,” he says.

Since his treatment, Sam has never discussed his trauma or the therapy that helped to heal him with anyone but his doctor. Speaking now, he seems amazed at how well he truly is. “I’m not breaking into a cold sweat talking about it. I’m not sick. It happened. It’s a memory. I can move on.”

The therapy that helped Sam was eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR), a treatment that involves the patient following the therapist’s fingers moving from left to right before his eyes. As the patient attends to the eye movement, or to other bilateral stimuli such as knee-tapping or audio tones, the therapist acts as a guide back through the memory of the trauma, helping him reorder and reprocess damaging thoughts and emotions.

Not that EMDR is a quick fix. “So much attention has gone to the eye movement,” says its founder, California psychologist Francine Shapiro, “some people think it is a matter of ‘follow my finger.’” It’s not. EMDR is an eight-stage treatment in which the therapist is highly involved. Some patients who have been treated with EMDR recall intense reactions to the therapy—nausea, sweating, even vomiting and, like Sam, physical pain. Almost all emphasize the need for a trusting relationship with a therapist, who helps prepare patients to participate, actively assists them in reprocessing thoughts and feelings that surface during a session and is on hand to help with closure and aftercare.

Ever-increasing numbers of therapists, psychologists and other practitioners are stepping forward to fill that role. Worldwide, more than 80,000 are now trained in the treatment, according to the EMDR Institute in Watsonville, California. EMDR is increasingly used to treat a range of anxiety-related disorders, from acute PTSD to phobias and addictions.

The treatment seems to have a startlingly high success rate. One study published in the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology reported that 84 percent of patients suffering from a single-incident trauma—such as an assault, natural disaster or accident—no longer suffered from PTSD after only three treatments. In 2004, The American Psychiatric Association gave EMDR the highest level of recommendation for use in the treatment of trauma. The following year, Britain’s National Institute for Clinical Excellence endorsed the therapy as an empirically supported treatment for PTSD.

Shapiro began the development of EMDR in 1987. The oft-repeated story of her eureka moment has become almost a legend, an integral—if somewhat apocryphal—part of the therapy’s history. Coming up with EMDR was, if the stories are to be believed, quite literally a walk in the park, or the forest, or along the lakeside. For the record, Shapiro says, it was a park.

“As I walked, I started to notice that some troubling thoughts I had been having were disappearing,” she explains, “and when I started paying attention to what was happening I noticed that whenever negative thoughts came up, my eyes spontaneously moved from side to side.” At that point, Shapiro started to move her eyes back and forth deliberately and found that as she did so, the negative thoughts she had been suffering from became less pressing, “less charged” than they had been.

There is a great deal of disagreement about the precise role that the eye movements and other bilateral stimuli play in EMDR. When Shapiro made her discovery, she found that her eyes moved spontaneously as she processed some disturbing thoughts. Today practitioners of EMDR initiate this physical state in others in the expectation that this will, somehow, evoke a similar mental state conducive to psychological healing.

To date, studies have indicated that the eye movements may decrease the vividness of mental imagery, which might help a trauma victim facing painful experiences like Sam, and that they can also facilitate increased access to memories. Other studies have concluded that the eye movements contribute nothing to the therapy.

Yet we still know little about exactly why EMDR proves so effective. Shapiro explains that the theory behind the therapy is based on an “information-processing model.” When something happens to us in ordinary life, our brains link the event to a memory network of past events. It also processes our experience. What is useful is brought into the network and assimilated. The rest is let go, forgotten.

When a trauma occurs, however, this process is interrupted. Rather than being digested into a memory network, the experience lingers in our minds in its unprocessed form. So a rape victim may continue to feel her assault as a present experience long after the event is over. Every hand that touches her can bring back the grip of her assailant with terrifying immediacy in much the same way that an amputee will continue to experience live sensation in a missing limb.

Robert Stickgold, associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, has theorized that the eye movement employed in EMDR is somehow related to rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, which takes place for roughly 20 percent of an average adult’s time asleep and is qualitatively distinct from the other dozing we do. The exact function of REM sleep is not precisely understood, but it is widely believed that during this time, our brains consolidate memories. EMDR might be helping trauma victims access this state directly rather than accidentally, as most of us do, and activate the mental healing process.

“When someone suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, one of the systems that is disturbed is REM sleep,” says Shapiro. “With EMDR, you may be able to take someone further into processing than they could go naturally. You help them to access those troubling thoughts and activate the information-processing system.”

Still, what is most important for Sam and thousands of other trauma victims is not how the therapy works, but that it does.

Shapiro has high hopes for EMDR’s global application. The therapy has already been used to assist victims of the Indian Ocean tsunami, September 11th and the 2002 Milan skyscraper crash. On any given day, a quick glance at the front page of the papers—chronicling crisis in Darfur, Afghanistan, Iraq—provides a daunting idea of how much healing is needed.

“Trauma begets violence,” says Shapiro, “and people are limited by the pain they are carrying with them no matter where they are. Alleviating that offers a chance, at least, for peace.”

###

Hope this helps you and others.

Blessings to all at Thanksgiving. Those of us who read CD can give thanks that we have access to sources of real information and the brains to use it to counter this illegal and criminal Bush administration.

There was a Marine who lost a leg and had other serious injuries when hit by a RPG in Baghdad. After many long months in Walter Reed hospital, he was given a medical discharge. After the discharge paper work was completed, the finance section charged him for the equipment he was responsble for and had never turned into supply before being airlifted out of Iraq.

He owed over $3,000 and so was not paid. He left John Hopkins with a few bucks and was standng there out on the street almost pennyless. Now that is "suporting our troops" if I ever heard it.

This deal of the men havng to pay back their bonus money is unbelievable, well, almost unbelieivable. Of course with the value of the falling dollar now, they may be ahead of the game. Uhhh, I failed math and speling in high school and college, maybe they are behind there.

st john; Beautifully said, my friend. Thank you very much.

Good morning, my friends of CD,
I am writing to send Thanksgiving Greetings to all who post here. What I have learned in my 63 years is that the most powerful "weapon" I have is that of love and forgiveness. Daily, it is my quest, not always successful, to be grateful for EVERYTHING that becomes visible in my life. My mission and vision is to extend love to all and accept love from all, in whatever form it takes. Each of us has a unique gift and purpose with which we entered this life; our job is to discover and extend that gift and purpose into our world. We operate on a Timeline that is unknown to most of us, so we may only learn to trust in the process of unfolding possibilities. I don't know where this came from, but I feel moved to send this out to all, here. We seem to live in difficult times, but all that we experience is for our growth and enlightenment.

With Gratitude and Thanksgiving, I offer this Blessing to all.
May Peace Prevail on Earth. And so it is,

peace,
st john

KEM PATRICK; Well said! Remember folks, it is the 'working-class'...blue-collar, white-collar, no-collar that gets the job done in society, making things happen. Shut the system down and the 'ruling-class' will put up a fight and then will concede. We The People of these United States must stick together. It's imperative!

'Voting" for the lesser of two evils doesn't work anymore...if it ever did. Taking action as I said or like KEM said is the solution to the problem.

This sounds in the same category as the issue Keith Olbermann discussed last night. The Army is asking servicemen who were severely wounded in Iraq and aren't able to serve their full term some of the money back that they were given for enlisting. One guy got a bill for $3000 because he couldn't serve out the time (he was 3 months away) he enlisted for. This has happened to several thousand who enlisted and were to wounded to go back. With all the waste and fraud going on over there. It takes guts to ask these guys for anything!

evelyna, it is not over yet. Upwards there is something written by Olivia Chow concerning what follows that last appeal. Not all legal venues are closed yet.

I read this entire thread. I have been thinking a great deal about my social life lately. I don't have one. The reason being is that there are so many that go along with all this garbage. Even though I know it is out of ignorance, I can't handle it. It definitely has a derogatory effect on my health and well being. Just this morning I was thinking it would be best for me to find people I have something in common with.

I do have to thank this web site and the people that post here. It is because of you all I have faith that it does exist. I think it would be a great idea for all of us to meet. But until it is safe......it is good that we have our home here at CD.

Oh....Kem, you did forget something, public education and conventional medicine. Those two issues are a terrible mess.

If we have a nation wide strike, it should be for however long it takes for Conyers to put the HR-333 bill up for a vote. A week, two weeks, a month, two months if necessary, no giving up.

Just like the Teamsters do it, stand tough for as long as it takes. We should all stop work, except those who are in jobs related to safety and supply of essentials, food, water, heating oil and gas, electricity, medical personnel police and fire etc. We should have a nation wide walkout as of December Ist and refuse to go to work until Conyers acts and other pertinent measures are initiated by Congress.

We The People. ___ No marches or demonstrations, no violence necessary, just everyone stay home with the flu and don't turn on any television sets, shop for anything other than necesities. Then get on our telephones and load the lines to DC 24/7.

Bet it wouldn't take ten days.

st john; Thanks for the quick reply. I just typed a few paragraphs answering you and i 'thought' I sent it, but I don't know what happened. Rather than typing over again, my response is , "yep, it can really get more bizarre" as it does each passing day.

Peace to You

st john; Thanks for the reply. It is getting more bizarre by the day! Have you noticed how little is said about the crimes commited by 'Blackwater employees', by our so-called representatives?

Money isn't everything, as you know, st john. Wouldn't it be preferable for our GI's to walk away while still in one piece rather than press their luck with 'multiple' tours until something tragic happens? This administration and the political prostitutes of BOTH parties could care less about the 'troops' and have invaded two countries and plan to occupy them indefinately, killing and maiming the citizens.

When millions of dollars has been unaccounted for in Iraq, ( who stole what? ), and corporate war profiteers are making a huge fortune in 'contracts', why should our fellow citizens be 'henchmen' for these disgusting creatures? They have swallowed the propaganda bait when they joined, and are seeing 'firsthand' how the war-mongering imperialists in DC really feel about them.

When the hell are we gonna take to the streets in a general strike and shut the country down until everything the smirk has signed and passed is rescinded and voided, and we return to 1999, only this time with a better understanding of how the 'checks and balances' within government works, and how We The People must take responsibility for our actions or inaction in letting tyrants take charge.

Still, st john, many still want a steady paycheck and I won't fault them for that. It's rough out there.

I just read this in the Salon.com site: Pentagon demands injured Iraq vets repay signing bonuses.
Tim Grieve [2007-11-20]"...the Department of Defense is demanding that Iraq war veterans pay back signing bonuses they received on the ground that they didn't stay in the service for as long their signing contracts required"(sic)

So, to peaceman, even your comments about "three hots and a cot" don't seem to apply: "Now, having said that, I’d like to see a 90% awol/desertion rate among the troops. Nobody should be serving this corrupt regime in DC. But, the old saying, “three hots and a cot” with benefits and financial income is why most folks are in the armed forces. Not everybody, but a large majority. ( The old Sarge knows )".
This may just encourage those on the fringe of awol/desertion to take that action. It doesn't appear they can even count on enlistment/extension bonuses to hold up if they are wounded or leave the service "early". Can it really get any more bizarre than that? Yet, Blackwater "employees" cannot even be prosecuted for their criminal acts because of "agreements" made with the State Dept. exempting them from accountability for their actions.

peace,
st john

Call this a 'KEM PATRICK' moment! One thing about liberal/progressive people is that they have the moral courage and integrity to apologize to someone when they acknowledge the 'error' in their judgement and pronouncement. For 'new' readers of CD, Kem is one of 'us', and if you don't know who 'we' are, keep reading the articles and the 'comments section' and you'll catch on.

Now, having said that, I'd like to see a 90% awol/desertion rate among the troops. Nobody should be serving this corrupt regime in DC. But, the old saying, "three hots and a cot" with benefits and financial income is why most folks are in the armed forces. Not everybody, but a large majority. ( The old Sarge knows )

Look what the government did to this young man. How pathetic!

Hope Keith Olberman is there.

Hi Kem, you said "Hi ST.JOHN. Thank you for the kind remarks, I find that I’ve come to love almost everyone who blogs here at CD. I do wish we could all get together someday, ___ when it is safe to do so."

Perhaps many of us will, if we happen to wind up in the same camp. :)

Hi KEM,
I was inquiring about the author of the DU article on the town in NY. I was able to locate it.
Thanks!
peace,
st john

I have asked WWII vets about this and they say of course guys came back screwed up. It helped that they were treated as heros etc but still war is hell and it changes people forever. We are more aware and educated now and should be able to help our fellow humans with the "side effects" of these terrible wars. Why wouldn't we help out someone who is having a hard time with what happens in a war? Of course, bottom line is... WAR IS NOT THE ANSWER.

Where were the Hospital Administraters or those representing them during that night shift that allowed this man to be taken out of the Hospital?

ST JOHN You had asked the persons name who attempted to get my phone number, That was the person on that site, (at the date and time I gave in a reply to you). In her comment there, she again asked me to send her my E-mail address and on the phone, also asked for my telephone number. She never posted again using that name to my knowledge after I spoke with her on the phone.

"OTTAWA – American war resisters have lost their final appeal today."
And everyday because Canada and mexico are going to merge with the usa.
How long should people be expected to keep going back? Until they are dead.
A lot of times these bombings may be military retailation. When people are forced to do things they do not want some kind of retailation always will occurr.

Maybe the reason that a clear incidence of sarcasm is taken seriously is because Bush and his cronies have us all looking over our shoulders if we even appear to be dissenting......Its hard to have a sense of humor when the bastards rattle sabers and our "cages" 24/7 . Keep it up Kem....SOME of us understand.

Joined National Guard before or after their use in this Travesty? Civilian life wasn't working for him....prison guard? 20,000 for enlisting in army, did he get that up front?

Yes, PTSD is real and has been known over the many generations of war in this country by different names.

Drug him and send him back...did I read this right? The drugs didn't seem to be working for him? How many are on drugs and being sent back or are over there already?

No no I need to worry about sarcasm must get my priorities straight.

Has Debra Cagan stepped down from office yet?

If she was Canadian, that would be political career over.

Françoise Ducros resigned after calling Bush a moron and Carolyn Parrish did not run again after saying: "Damn Americans ... I hate those bastards."

Carolyn Parrish even clarified her statement and said that she didn't mean all Americans - just the ones in the Bush administration.

KEM, Not sure which post you are referring to. I read some on the I Hate All Iranians article. Seems the discussion was along the lines of, whom do you dislike/hate and why. Your post, of course, raised the issue of our equality and common heritage as one human family. When in doubt about who and what we are, I always refer back to John Lennon's Imagine. All that separates us is the illusion that we are not of the same Source. It doesn't matter what we call It/Him/Her/Them: there is a Power that is the Source of all, othewise, what is there to Trust? Science is not out to prove who or what we are, but to discover how it all works and thus how we may use what is already here. There is a Scientific Prayer process developed by Ernest Holmes, a 20th Century Philosopher/Mystic: The core of the Science of Mind teaching he introduced is that there is a Power greater than I am and I can use it, to the degree that I recognize it and understand how it works. I trust that this hasen't wandered off topic too much. It all comes back to our Oneness, as a species and as an all-inclusive community of Life.

peace,
st john

The Draft sounds like a the most likely way to end this war quickly and without a whimper from any of the neoleft.

If the impeachment resolution stays in committee more than a week, I vote for a Draft for all 18-24 year olds so we can save our National Guard for what they are trained to do and bring them home for treatment of PTSD before they come back, beat up their wives and children, then we find them on the street homeless or looking for someone of Middle East descent to rough up or kill.

A Draft would kill this war in a month. The current occupant knows this if he knows nothing else. That's why it was NEVER CONSIDERED.

WRITE Pelosi or Kucinich and get them on the wagon. Better yet, call toll free at one of these numbers: 1-800-828-0498 1-888-818-6641 1-866-340-9281 1-800-928-8626

ST JOHN, did you read her post, if so what is your opinion on it?

I guess it would be better to let him commit suicide like the 6200 plus American veterans who kill themselves every YEAR because they fight in savage, immoral wars in a country with a cowardly press and no political opposition.

What do you know of Shake Hands with the Devi?

http://www.shakehandswiththedevilthemovie.com/english.html

Nope Grandma, it's gone on my screen, has been for over an hour. Could you or anyone please check it now and tell me if you still have it on your screen. It ain't on mine anymore.

That is the same article that was on Common Dreams and was deleted St Johm.

I see you already found it.
peace,
st john

Mind Battle
November 12, 2007 (Runs 16:24)
Susan Ormiston investigates the challenge and response in the Canadian Forces to a growing number of cases of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

http://www.cbc.ca/national/blog/video/militaryafghanistan/mind_battle.ht...

KEM PATRICK says: We could have a three or more party system if we wanted it. Well, shit, we all know that won’t happen.

It would be easier to have more than two parties if the consolation prize for running for President is to be a Congress person and ask questions of the President five days a week. Easier still with proportional representation.

The Ghost of Ralph Nader has been used to keep the Liberals from fading into oblivion and the NDP from getting too many seats.

Sorry again for responding before the edit, was feeling dizzy this morning too.

Kem Patrick and others - the article about the contaminated town is still up, last picture on the left of the CD page. Called "'Safe' uranium that left a town contaminated." Bad stuff. Will probably go into the archives tomorrow.

Even worse - I know some people who live there and they know nothing about this. (But trust me, now they do).

I found it, it was her post at 12:54am Oct 3, on the thread __ I Hate All Iranians, U.S. Aide tells British MPs. She used her other name on that one.

We do need a top notch military. We will need them as long as other nations wish to attempt what we are currently doing in the Mid-East. Right now, we are the guilty ones, that will change___ hopefullly. We should support and respect our troops, one good method would be to keep fightng as much as we are able and bring them home from that disaster called the War In Iraq. We could aslo spend one tenth of what we have wasted in Iraq every year and put it into education and clean energy, fix our infacstructures and change our methods of voting and financing federal candidates. We could have a three or more party system if we wanted it. Well, shit, we all know that won't happen. Sorry for sounding off.

ST JOHN, the name I recall was MOOKIE, go to the archives and then type MOOKIE in the search block and you'll get that thread I was talking about. I'm certain she is lkely here, using other names by now.

Quote from Don the Engineer
"...Please, PLEASE teach your children to respect education and get as much as they possibly can while they are with you. That way, you won’t need to go into a service to get a vocation, and then possibly have to go shoot somebody because some chicken-hawk..."

Imagine if a goodly percentage of our "defense" budget were diverted to ensure that ANYONE who wanted a college or vocational degree got it. FREE!
No logical person would think twice about joining the military. No one would have to.

Excuse me for being rude and changing the subject for a moment. I had posted this link about DU dangers just before the DU article was buried, out of sight, out of mind. So for any who wish to read a very brief article on DU dangers, here it is again. Hope that don't get this article trashed too. There is another link inside on the first page of the artile also.

http://www.gulfwarvets.com/du_howkilling.htm

Actually, this is on the subject, as it helps to explanin why this soldier MAY be going crazy.

Kem - Thanks for the irony. Sometimes a good laugh is the only way to get through things - and what with one thing and another, especially this poor PTSD soldier or this latest report on climate change, perhaps it's necessary to laugh at the non-existent gods. Even if it is only gallows humor.

The other day someone posted Yates' great poem on one of these threads - (for which thanks, whoever you are) - with the famous lines

"..Things fall apart, the centre cannot hold,
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world .."

Well, we're there again, only this time we may not have time to find a way out of it.

Sorry - things are coming at us too thick and fast. Like bullets. Sometimes irony is the only weapon left.

Kem,
Do you remember the name of the writer of that article on DU? I was very impressed by the information. Who is the owner of this site? I believe it is a major media company, which may explain the disappearance of this and similar articles that touch too close to home.

Keep posting,
peace,
st john

Hey guys, it was my fault in the first place for not using the ""'s. Anyone who calls themselves BIG BAD is probably not real bright anyway. Pity the dumb and the ignorant, for they may inherit a job as CEOs of Exxon, Halliburton or some other rotton company.

Big Bad Bob,

Do you need help removing your foot from your mouth?

There was a very good and informative article here, about the town in New York which was contaminated with DU, it came on Sunday afternoon. There were over 60 comments posted and a lot of very good info to read from bloggers. A few minutes ago it disappeared, isn't even available in the archives. And now it is not possible to go to the Common Dreams STATS page in the archives. I do not understnad why that so often happens here with most important subject matter. We have some hum-drum articles here that few ever post on and they'll be here for a week or more. Maybe I'm stupid.

To control the corporate fascism behind it all--Incorporate We the People before they completely control us.

Big Bad Bob:
At least, if you are going to trash someone, please get the name correct. It is KEM PATRICK. And, you may want to read all of his posts before passing judgement. It appears that you are responding to his first post, which was dripping with sarcasm.

peace,
st john

Oops, BIG BAD BOB figured me out, Dang! I hate it when that happens.

With that moniker, I'd better get back to my cave.

Put them in jail if they won't fight for a fascist regime. AmeriKKKa the future of democracy!!!!

Hi Claudius, I believe we'll have to wait and see if there is an election in 2008 and who gets elected. I'd love to meet you.

I have had one person attempt to get my telephone number, by asking for it here on CD. She was a new poster and said she just had to talk to me, it was very important. She left a phone number. I called her New York number from a pay phone while on vacation, 2,500 miles from our home. A lady answered, sounded like a business. I asked for XXXX, and she said, "Oh, the Common Dreams rep".

That person had used two differnt names here and asked me not to mention that to anyone. Have never seen one of her posts BY THOSE NAMES since. She really didn't want to talk about anything, she just wanted my home phone number. ___ She didn't get it. I find it very strange and am sure you will also.

I apologize in advance for the seeming harshness of this post, but dog gone it, people, wise up. I realize that it is probably too late to tell that to folks like Faulkner, so if you are a parent, please, Please, PLEASE teach your children to respect education and get as much as they possibly can while they are with you. That way, you won't need to go into a service to get a vocation, and then possibly have to go shoot somebody because some chicken-hawk (I'd have chosen a different 4 letter word for most of those fitting that bill, but I'll save that to say to their face if I ever get the chance) told you to.

Mr. Faulkner isn't very smart. First to sign up with the service, albeit as a reservist, to learn a trade, but then to sign onto active duty? I'd say he deserves a section 8 for that act alone!

And how do I know that Mr. Faulkner is un(der)educated?
Easy.
First, he joined the service after it was bastardized.

Second, his statement: “To me, we’re fighting Bush’s war that his dad couldn’t finish,” clinched it.

Mr. Faulkner: His dad (H.W. Bush) was far and away much smarter than his son. All of his (HW's) advisors told him the reality of what going into Iraq would mean, and why there was no easy way out. Sonny boy was told the same thing, but didn't get it, and still doesn't, and now we're stuck there for a long while. Or we can just leave now and pay for it in about 20 years with interest (just like we got delivered to us on 9/11 from Afghanistan).

But to only seek treatment for PTSD once he knew he was being sent back?!! That seems a little short sighted. Hope they don't try to pull a private Slovak (sp?) on you brother, but with the numbers being upside down for this all volunteer army during this debacle, don't be surprised if Bush the chicken-S#*& wants to make an example of you.

Hey Kem,

I too have thought about the idea of the posters here at CD congregating somewhere. I do not know how we would work out the logistics. But it would be nice to put faces with noms de plumes who post here at CD. I think it also would be nice to invite contributing authors. Any ideas??

Yesterday, the report on the level of AWOL and desertion was being discussed by some Pentagon representative. What she was saying was that the Pentagon was trying to come up with some solutions to this problem. This is a case of absolute blindness to the cause and nature of the problem. War is the cause and abuse of the soldiers, their families and the whole of the U.S. citizenry, is the nature of the problem. The system is flawed and in need of a total rehabilitation. We are at the cusp of a paradigm shift in consciousness. The exposition of the lies of this administration and the resulting atrocities we are committing all over the world is the symptom. It is us to each of us to change how we view the world and our fellows inhabiting it, be they animal, plant or mineral. WE ARE ONE! We are family and it is up to the adults among us to teach the children, BY EXAMPLE, how to live in peace and harmony. Telling does not work. "You must Be the Change you wish to see in the world." M. Gandhi Forgive yourself each time you slip, and make an agreement with yourself to extend love to all you meet, no matter what. It is not easy, but it is better than the alternative.

peace,
st john

Editing this post as I read your post, KEM, and wanted to acknowledge you for your compassion and understanding. It is you and many others who post here that give me hope that there are people "out there" who are doing the work of reconciliation...Being the Change they wish for all of us. I choose to believe, in my rational moments, that Bush/Cheney/Rove/Pelosi et al, are messengers from the Source to remind us of what we are here to do: heal each other and learn to Love, unconditionally.

peace, my brothers and sisters,
st john

Hey everyone,

Kem Patrick is a good guy. If you have been following Kem's posts for many months as I have, he interjects sarcasm with a purpose: he, like the rest of us, sees through all of the bullshit. Not only that, he also served in the military during Vietnam, and I am sure is aware of the symptoms of PTSD.

Kem,

Please keep up the sarcasm, it is good for the spirit, especially during these Dark years in American History.

Hi ST.JOHN. Thank you for the kind remarks, I find that I've come to love almost everyone who blogs here at CD. I do wish we could all get together someday, ___ when it is safe to do so.

I served in Vietnam also, two SE Asia tours and two years in Japan and two in Taiwan. I loved the people, we are all the same, different religions, different cultures, different colors and customs, but we are ALL the same. Those imaginary lines drawn on maps do not really exist.

As for unexplained anger St John? At the present time in history, we Americans are up-tight over many things. The economy, a possible depression, the shit for brains people in our government, who have allowed themselves to be controlled by lobbyists and a handful of the most wealthy, our sorry-ass Congress, outsourcing of jobs to China etc, the global warming, the polluted enviroment, the fear of DU being used daily, everplace on the planet, the crime rate, our unprotected borders, our lousy media and press, Blakwater, Halliburton crooks and Cheney, the uncertanty of another war with Iran. ___ Did I forget anythng?

When we believe we need help, councelling, all we have to do, is take a long hike and think, or sit out at night in a very dark place and gaze at the stars and think of what we wish, who we really are and why are we here. We all have that anger problem at times and it is human nature. It don't mean you or I are nut cases. Heal thyself and love thyself buddy, __ it works. Don't love ourselves to an extreme,__ but share that self love with all. ___ BTW, I believe it's Okay to be angry with Bush/Cheney/Pelosi and Conyers. Pissed angry, they are destroying our nation.

Highly doubt the guy was awol to begin with. They knew where the guy was because he told his sergent where he was going, of that I have no doubt. The army's just out to punish those they see as wimps. It's not cowardice when one can no longer stand the shellfire, it is cowardice for someone to advocate war, and yet personally avoid the shellfire to begin with.

The soldier was a bit nuts to trust the army to honor whatever deal they offered him to re-up into the reg force tho...

I do not blame any who are not familiar with some of my posts to misunderstand. I should put "" around them. Anyway, the VA and our military hospital doctors deny PTSD and radiation poisoning from inhaling DU. The huge numbers of our ground troops who have fought in the Gulf Wars and now are permanently disabled, is mind boggling.

Of course it is not difficult to boggle my mind. Every time I see a pretty woman, and they all are for me, I boggle. ___ No"" necessary.

This story, on top of the one about DU posted yesterday, is bringing me to some realizations of my own. I was in VietNam in 1968, and returned physically unscathed. I thought I was fortunate that I had no lasting affects from my time there. I think I am wrong. Almost 40 years later, I am feeling great anger and rage not just from these stories, but unaccountable rage for seemingly small matters. I am going for help, and I suggest all who have been subjected to war or similar situations, even domestically, do the same. I don't believe anyone exposed to the horrors of war, and the horrors of the military, can leave unscathed. The killing of others, for any reason save extreme cases of self-defense, is unnatural for human beings. Even self-defense will leave scars on the psyche. We are a human family and soiling our nest, as another stated, is not good for any of us.

I don't know the answers for the rest of you, as I am just looking for my own, but if there is anything I can do to ease the suffering of others, that is what I want to do.

KEM PATRICK is one of my favorite posters on CommonDreams because he is intelligent and compassionate. And, I love the sarcasm. It brings a smile to my face. It is a good exercise for all of us to read carefully what is posted, and discern the meaning implied, and the meaning taken by the reader. If it strikes a nerve, even when the writer's meaning is misconstued, this is information about the reader's perceptions and perspective. I offer this as an observation for self-evaluation and self-examination.

peace,
st john

I'm sorry , watergirl. I don't agree with this point ...the smart ones at top have every right to manipulate and control our lives....

I will never accept because someone is smarter or on top that they have the right to subjugate others to do their bidding... whoever they be.

But I do get your point about self-sufficiency and the inhumane actions carried out for consolidation of power. I do get your larger point.

Surf is up, waves breaking to the right... harness the power and ride it out so to speak.

later,
Robb

It is already too late for rhetoric! This war is unjust and the raping and killing of another country just so we can get more oil because we are America, is already outrageous cowboy mentallity! Who the hell gives us the right to go and kill in the name of power?

Wake up people, we don't need the oil, we have the technology to run machines with water! and the fact that we are still after the oil, is a ploy by the Corporations that run this country so that they can conquer and rule anybody as they please with their own agenda of terror and intimidation.

As long as people in this country keep sitting on their couches and watching T.V. numbimg their sense of reason, then the smart ones at the top have every right to manipulate us and control our lives. Not only are we loosing our Constitutional rights as we speak, these monsters want to start another war and kill hundreds of thousands of people with what excuse? Oil!

People in the military are deserting because they know what's going on and just don't want to take part in a war that doesn't defend America and Americans, there is no honor in this! This is a war that is being fought to satisfy the monstrous appetite of some men! and to fight it under that premise is to loose the human dignity that we all should have, specially at this time.

Sorry to see the guy needed money so bad, he took the bait and re-uped. And I challenge he intention was to go AWOL. He said he needed help and wasn't getting it. Let's look at this quote:

"humiliating, degrading", Faulkner, 22, of Stanton, said in an interview Monday with The Associated Press minutes before his release from the Fayette County Detention Center. "made me lose respect for the military. To come and arrest me at the VA, it wasn't like I was trying to hide, trying to run. I was getting help. I am being punished for getting help."

Looks like getting psychiatric treatment is considered going AWOL. He made a poor tactical choice in getting help. (Reminds me how I "jumped ship" because the Capt. kept putting off my multiple requests for dental assistance -broken crown went abscess- even popping 800mg of advil abscessed tooth can drive a man "crazy"...) ...And it looks like some on in the psych ward at the VA hospital informed the soldiers chain of command they had a soldier seeking psychiatric care. Notice that it was the civil police who picked up the kid and not military police. Tell tale sign of the operational procedures/jurisdiction. Is it standard practice for the VA hospitals to reveal the information of their psychiatric patients? So much for establishing the patient’s trust.

ps. I got Kem Pat's joke. And I enjoyed the irony behind it too. Perhaps the irony I saw behind it. That is, people can AWOL and refuse to load on to the next transporter-- and they won't be shot! Our country doesn't execute dissenting soldiers., anymore-- maybe on the battlefield, but not at home. The absolute worst case scenario for the soldier or marine or sailor or airman/woman today is being socially disrespected, losing all the benefits, jail time, and fines, and taxes. Contrary to popular beliefs, and apart from the fact that we all pay taxes to the bitter end, I have never heard of someone actually being taxed to death.

I believe the social guilt is what weighs the heaviest. This is reflected in the openness the antiwar community has for any MIL personal who refuses to fight ( I had to personally learn this level of acceptance). Perhaps it is a futile gesture, but it does show to those who refuse to go, they are not social outcasts, or cowards, or traitors, or losers. They are not a negative but a positive example of our country’s democracy. Our country is so free, we are free to choose to not fight and kill for political gain. You are free to join a professional military and free to walk out. There are consequences with every action we take. One thing is certain today, dissenters aren’t dragged out into the public square and shot. Go fight for empire, roll the dice.

o

Hey, new here - most of what the Republicans say sound like sarcasm - only they are serious. Ken Patrick, I commented on an incomplete thought. My bad.

Can't edit post. Too late.

Mr. Bill Siksay: As Representative Barbara Lee in the United States said when she voted against the American involvement in the war in Iraq, “Let's not become the evil that we so clearly deplore”.

Hon. Stéphane Dion (Leader of the Opposition, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, on April 30, when I asked the Prime Minister about serious allegations of torture in Afghanistan, he answered from his seat, “there is no evidence to support these allegations”. Seven months later, we know that what the Prime Minister said was not true. The government did have evidence.

Since the Prime Minister was able to mislead the House on something as serious as torture, can he tell us why Canadians should believe anything he says?

Right Hon. Stephen Harper (Prime Minister, CPC): Mr. Speaker, first I would like to take this opportunity to offer my sincere condolences to the loved ones of Corporal Beauchamp and Private Lévesque, who were killed by the Taliban last Friday. Our thoughts and prayers are with their colleagues, their friends and their families at this difficult time. Their actions brought hope to the Afghan people and made the Canadian public proud.

http://www2.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?Language=E&Mod...

The military leadership is broken
VETS

He looked for enemies on the streets of Baghdad, searching into every nook and cranny hoping to last a time .

Now he searches for friends in every nook and cranny as he walks the streets and alleys of city, USA .

In a jungle, a rice paddy and mountainous terrain he left a buddy, a mind, a part physical and hoped for understanding and only what was deserved . Is that a crime ?

It was a budgetary consideration said politics as you are only 11% of the population and not enough of you vote to get what you should and at the least try to make you ok .

These are the faces of today, still, from a time of 40 plus or minus years ago to a desert campaign of months and an occupation of 5 years to today where depleted uranium will rule the day for years to come .

Of course all Vets count but this is for all the ones left without a home, a family, a Doctor or even the barest amenities not even a crumb .

A heart hurts that any soul should be among these yet even Jesus averred that some of these would always be with us.

Yet those who go to war for a people, whether warrior or citizen soldier should have all that a representative government can do for them, all without a fuss .

All of this is for the ladies and the guys .
With love to all, A Vet, Tony 11/11/07

Kem Patrick

maybe put in parenthesis that you are being sarcastic..something like this (This post is sarcasm)..just to alert the reader.

I and maybe others enjoy reading sarcasm and I know what your posts are like so I recognized it as sarcasm and enjoyed reading it.

Wow, I do wish I had not attempted to be sarcastic with that flip blog. I do believe in PTSD and believe it is likely caused by inhaling DU nano-particles, among many other things our troops are subject to. I also know we are waging an illegal war and occupation of Iraq for nothing other than control of their oil. Sorry if I offended anyone, I did not intend to do so and will attempt to knock back from such, and my at times sick humor posts on serious subject matter.

He is being arrested but those that did this. http://www.mydeo.com/videorequest.asp?XID=4153&CID=143914 free as a bird! Funny you don't hear about those billions of dollars stolen either!

Sorry Ken Patrick, commented before your edit and clarification. You only had the first sentence when I commented. Apology accepted?

aquietman, it is hard to dot all the i's when one is having trouble coping.

One soldier blames undiagnosed PTSD for his role in Abu Ghraib. He just saw his buddy shot up - er - real bad (I mean the deceased was in pieces) and they told him that if he didn't get this prisoner to confess that the rest of his friends would end up that way:

http://www.cbc.ca/fifth/badapples/index.html

That said, there are just so many tours that a person can handle. And not just the person but their relationships.

This was Faulkner's mistake:

"Faulkner was in the National Guard during his first tour of duty but voluntarily signed up for active duty..."

and once he joined the National Guard he lost control over his life.

Now tell me how thinking like I have..which is common in America now..that thinking joining the National Guard is a foolish thing to do. Tell me how that has strengthened America.

The Bush administration has set up policies that will weaken America. Many people will not join the National Guard now. They don't want their lives used for a war that is for profit.

In fact the mostly working class volunteers, many but not all, are in effect mercenaries (underpaid ones) of America's corrupt economic elite. If we still had a draft I'm almost sure that by now the sleeping masses here would be up in arms and in the streets demanding an end to the war and probably a lot more like medical insurance for all. America's corrupt monied elites are terrified of another 60's type peoples' movement, so they've reduced us proles into a docile consuming lot. Divide and conquer and keep them dumb by all means. That is the motto they share when they meet in their exclusive clubs.

Faulkner is acting responsibly in regards to his problems. But he acted irresponsibly in going AWOL. You just can't do that without opening a big can of problems for yourself.

And frankly, the military can't have people just up and not showing up. It's not fair to the other troops who also took an oath when joining up.

If he wasn't getting the results he needed, it would have been better for his parents or spouse to contact their Senator or Congressperson. When I was in the military, people contacted their representative or Senator for a variety of reasons, and it got results. One woman was upset that they banned smoking on our base in Spain between the working hours of 9 and 5. She called her Congressional representative's office, and they had that rule ended within 2 days..

She was not a popular woman with the local leadership (and it may have affected her future promotions), but she got help.

Everyone in the military knows they can contact their Congressional representative or Senator's office if they are having a problem they can't get resolved (unfortunately, that doesn't seem to include the war itself)...

Being in the military is the closest we have in the US to indentured servitude. Once enlisted it now becomes the prerogative of the government when and where the individual will be used.

Some "volunteer" army. You give away your rights when you enlist.

But its true many people when faced with the reality of war will not want to return. Those are the sane people. It takes a belief that the war is moral in some sense and will result in some good for a person to freely go into a war.

If the people who are in the military are being forced to wage war, doesn't that indicate the lack of belief that this war is helping America?

If a government wants war and the soldiers are not behind that war, then you will create problems within the military. You can not force people into a war, especially a war viewed as being a war of choice for profit.

The Bush administration continues to weaken America from within.

So, Kem Patrick, I guess you're one of those people who don't believe that people can come back from a combat zone with post traumatic stress syndrome. I know many in the military refuse to recognize that as a real condition. They say something like "Shape up, buddy. Just get back into your unit, and your buds will get your morale back up. Don't let your imagination get carried away." But, post traumatic stress is a very real thing, and if it isn't recognized and treated it can lead to terrible, long-term consequences. Your posting was full of misplaced anger. You ought to direct your anger at Bush, Cheney, Wolfowitz, and the rest of the neocons who lied us into this unnecessary and immoral war.

Quote from article--“To me, we’re fighting Bush’s war that his dad couldn’t finish,”

HELLO!?! It's the OIL!!! The mutha Farking OIL!!! WAKE UP!!!

How many tours of Iraq can one man stand before he goes crazy? If America was really at war then the country would be sharing the burden of carrying out the war. To force someone to return after they have finished a tour shows clearly that the country doesn't support the war. If we were all in this together then someone else would be taking Justin's place. In WW2 people rationed certain goods, they bought war bonds, and the worked in the shipyards. Americans are not being asked to do anything to support the war. And that's because this is a political war which would never be supported by the people. Bush thought that he could get in and out without bothering the sleep of the average American. And just like with the Vietnam War he will see that we can't win political wars. Get used to stories like this. Political wars produce political vets.
Hoa binh

Heartless, soulless, disgusting, evil – I could go on and on with every negative word in the dictionary to describe what has become of our nation. After reading all the posts regarding DU, other posts on articles about sustainability, and other threads on the presidential candidates or the MSM have informed me quite a bit but it is all so bleak.

Outside I can hear children running and laughing: what will they be doing in fifteen years, I wonder? What have we done to our nest? As someone posted somewhere today, we “have fouled our own nest” or words to that effect. We certainly have, and it’s on a level of explosive bouts of diarrhea.

The Earth could care less. It will continue on its own way after we have past away. But maybe it’s even too late for a future for any form of life, if what we have started is enough to have thrown the Earth so out of balance that it will eventually become another Venus.

It’s time to turn off the computer for a while and continue rereading “Breakfast in America.” I love Vonnegut’s sense of humor and writing style. At least I can end the day with some good laughs.

I was being sarcastic, not serous. Sorry you took it that way.

Ken Patrick, you are being a bit of a jerk. Justin Faulkner realised that what he experienced affected him and that he needs help dealing with it - that takes courage. It is untreated PTSD which leads soldiers to act inappropriately.

Do you really want him to go back there, make his symptoms worse and then go postal? I don't and neither does he. Faulkner is acting responsibly and trying to take care of a problem before it gets any worse.

NDP TABLING MOTION TO LET WAR RESISTERS STAY IN CANADA

OTTAWA – American war resisters have lost their final appeal today as the Supreme Court refused to hear their case. Having exhausted every avenue of appeal, at least two Americans are expected to be deported unless Minister of Immigration Diane Finley takes immediate action.

“To deport courageous war resisters who oppose the illegal invasion of Iraq is saying Yes to George W. Bush’s war and No to supporting and protecting people seeking peace,” said NDP Citizenship and Immigration Critic Olivia Chow (Trinity-Spadina). "The minister must intervene and allow the war resisters to stay in Canada."

Chow announced that she will be submitting a motion calling on the Citizenship and Immigration committee to hold hearings on this issue immediately. She will also call on the minister to intervene today.

Chow noted that a recent poll shows that almost two thirds of Ontarians, or 64.4 per cent, believe that Canada should allow war resisters to stay in Canada.

Motion Submitted to House of Commons Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration

That, pursuant to Standing Order 108(2), the committee recommends that the government immediately implement an in-Canada program to allow conscientious objectors and their immediate family members, in particular those from the United States of America, who have refused or left military service related to the war in Iraq, to apply to remain and work in Canada and be eligible for permanent resident status; and that the government should immediately cease any removal or deportation actions that may have already commenced against such individuals.

http://www.oliviachow.ca/page/275

Hang the traitor; or is a firing squad the method used? ___ Either way will work. We gotta show these troops they can't become insane because they kill people. We need that oil guys, gird up your lions and kill.