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If Nobody Else Is Going To Talk About It, I Am
by James Glaser March 17, 2010 It is almost like we are not at war any more. The headlines talk about health care, Israel, of course Tiger Woods, and then there are those elections in Iraq, but not much about our troops, nor their families. There was a time in this war (The War on Terrorism) that every Soldier or Marine killed got his name put right out there for everyone to see in the print media and on television, too. That was years ago, in fact over eight years ago now. That's right, we have been fighting and killing and dying for over eight years now. That would be in Afghanistan, then a couple of years later we expanded the war into Iraq, and now there are the troops getting killed in Pakistan. Yes, we are at war in Pakistan now, too. The truth is we don't know all the places we are at war. Like not counting the civilian deaths in any of these wars, the Pentagon isn't counting the countries we are fighting in either. At least they are not telling the American people that tally. So, to be honest with you, I don't know what is going on in the wars we are fighting. But there is one part of this war I know about, and that is the increase of young people at the VA hospitals and clinics. I can remember when I first got back from Vietnam, the VA was the last place I wanted to go. I was young and had way too much catching up to do to. Spending time at a hospital filled with WW II and Korean vets didn't float my boat. Well, it is the same today for the veterans from George Bush's and Barack Obama's wars. They don't want to go to the VA either. Today though, the economy is forcing many returning veterans to get their health care at the "Vets." There is another reason we see a higher population of young vets at the VA than I would have seen when I was discharged. When I got out, there was no such thing as Post Traumatic Stress. Don't get me wrong, there were plenty of stressed out vets, but the VA pretended that it had nothing to do with their time in combat. It took years, and thousands of Vietnam veterans killing themselves, to make the Government and the VA admit that there was a problem. Today, we know there are hundreds of thousands. Let me say that again. There are hundreds of thousands of War on Terror veterans who suffer from Post Traumatic Stress. On top of that, there are tens of thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands more who suffer with traumatic brain injuries. Many suffer with both. It is hard to get these numbers, because, like not counting the innocent civilians we kill, the Pentagon and the VA system don't like to talk about our real losses in these wars. Also, nobody in Washington wants to even think about the life-long bill we are going to have taking care of these veterans. Will our returning veterans get screwed by the VA like the those from the First Gulf War and Vietnam? You can count on it. So here is what I know for a fact. There are more young men and women going to the VA hospitals and clinics for medical and mental health care. Some have lost an arm or a leg. Some have lost an arm and a leg. Some have just horrible burns, and some are blind or deaf or any combination of those injuries. There is another group you will see there, and they look to be physically fine, but like so many returning veterans from past wars, they just sit there and stare, waiting for their chance to figure out what is wrong with them. Barack Obama's wars continue on, and in Afghanistan things are escalating. That means more Soldiers and Marines heading for treatment at the Vets after they are discharged. That is what I know about our current wars. Long term fiscal cost? Nobody knows, and nobody is talking about that, but you have to figure that many of these veterans will be getting help from the Veterans Administration for at least the next 60 years. Think about that, and think about this. There are still hundreds of thousands of WWII veterans getting VA help still today. Nobody brings that up when the war drums are beating in Washington. |
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