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When the War comes home.
Author: Raine    Date: 01/14/2008 13:27:45

We have been told that we must fight them there so we won't have to fight them here. We have been told that Al Quaeda must be prevented from entering America. We have been told to fear the enemy. Support the Troops™, love America(LLC).

But what happens when our troops can't stop fighting the war when they come home? What happens then?
The war echos, and still goes on, it seems.

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.

Three-quarters of these veterans were still in the military at the time of the killing. More than half the killings involved guns, and the rest were stabbings, beatings, strangulations and bathtub drownings. Twenty-five offenders faced murder, manslaughter or homicide charges for fatal car crashes resulting from drunken, reckless or suicidal driving.

About a third of the victims were spouses, girlfriends, children or other relatives, among them 2-year-old Krisiauna Calaira Lewis, whose 20-year-old father slammed her against a wall when he was recuperating in Texas from a bombing near Falluja that blew off his foot and shook up his brain.

A quarter of the victims were fellow service members, including Specialist Richard Davis of the Army, who was stabbed repeatedly and then set ablaze, his body hidden in the woods by fellow soldiers a day after they all returned from Iraq.

And the rest were acquaintances or strangers, among them Noah P. Gamez, 21, who was breaking into a car at a Tucson motel when an Iraq combat veteran, also 21, caught him, shot him dead and then killed himself outside San Diego with one of several guns found in his car.

Our soldiers are coming home and still fighting this war. The receive only minimum treatment for rentry to being back home...

Many of our combat vets are not making the adjustment. And so I ask, is this what it means to fight them over there so we do not have to fight them here?

I am concerned at this article, and the other studies I have been reading over the past year. As our troops come home, we are finding a significant number are homeless, suffer from PTSD, turning to alcohol and drugs and general suffering from a decent way of life. Is this just another side effect of war? Whose responsibility is this?

What must our Vietnam Vet's be thinking when they see the same thing happening again to another generation of people who are not just giving thier lives, but their souls to our country? Is it good enough to accept that they are just more collateral damage in this war?

It may not be happy or hopeful of me to say this, but I only see this problem growing, especially when the pentagon denies the stats, ignores the health issue. Instead, the crimes themselves fall on local and state juristictions, with a good portion of the health issues still going ignored.

The war HAS come over here. That is the sad reality. It isn't the enemy the pResident and the warhawks wanted it be. The war is home, and no one seemed to plan for it.



 

167 comments (Latest Comment: 01/15/2008 04:19:12 by livingonli)
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Comment by velveeta jones on 01/14/2008 13:59:08
I'll entertain the *masses* whilst you whittle away.............







Comment by TriSec on 01/14/2008 14:01:09
ATTENTION PEOPLE OF THE WORLD:



Anyone who drives a "penis compensator" in the snow like a FUCKING IDIOT deserves to land upside down in a ditch in flames and die and GO TO HELL!!!





Comment by BobR on 01/14/2008 14:07:02
Quote by TriSec: ATTENTION PEOPLE OF THE WORLD:



Anyone who drives a "penis compensator" in the snow like a FUCKING IDIOT deserves to land upside down in a ditch in flames and die and GO TO HELL!!!





Hey - the commercials show you can climb mountains and blow through snowbanks with aplomb. A little snow on the road is nothing, right?.... right?....

Comment by Will in Chicago on 01/14/2008 14:07:36
Quote by TriSec: ATTENTION PEOPLE OF THE WORLD:



Anyone who drives a "penis compensator" in the snow like a FUCKING IDIOT deserves to land upside down in a ditch in flames and die and GO TO HELL!!!







As a student of history, I can think of more inventive punishments - such as force feeding. (Start with their toes.)



"Penis Compensator" sounds like the next release from Detroit.



Comment by BobR on 01/14/2008 14:08:04
Quote by velveeta jones: I'll entertain the *masses* whilst you whittle away.............









Comment by Will in Chicago on 01/14/2008 14:09:21
Here is a good blog entry that Kitties Against Bush put up at UNN: The Deafening Silence from the Closet.



Comment by Raine on 01/14/2008 14:10:03
Bloggie is updated.



I must return to getting my computer back up and running proberly... she is hobbling along at basic VERY basic funtionality.

Comment by TriSec on 01/14/2008 14:13:50
Quote by BobR:
Quote by TriSec: ATTENTION PEOPLE OF THE WORLD:



Anyone who drives a "penis compensator" in the snow like a FUCKING IDIOT deserves to land upside down in a ditch in flames and die and GO TO HELL!!!





Hey - the commercials show you can climb mountains and blow through snowbanks with aplomb. A little snow on the road is nothing, right?.... right?....






Well, gee...the commercials don't show them tailgating in a whiteout and passing cars on MAIN STREET over the double yellow now, do they?



<-- still steamed

Comment by TriSec on 01/14/2008 14:14:22
Oh, and of course the ASSHOLE didn't bother to clear off his truck enough so I could see the plate, either.





Comment by TriSec on 01/14/2008 14:23:02
Hey Will...just re-registered over at UNN. You'll see me around today!

Comment by velveeta jones on 01/14/2008 14:26:05
Great blog Raine, I want to add that (need to find article) the troops are, in some cases, being given psycho-tropic drugs that keeps them from feeling emotions! They can hear the screams of a women being raped and feel NOTHING.



The thinking is that under torture and hearing their comrade getting tortured -they won't talk.



But what happens when they come home?

Comment by Will in Chicago on 01/14/2008 14:30:23
Quote by TriSec:
Quote by BobR:
Quote by TriSec: ATTENTION PEOPLE OF THE WORLD:



Anyone who drives a "penis compensator" in the snow like a FUCKING IDIOT deserves to land upside down in a ditch in flames and die and GO TO HELL!!!





Hey - the commercials show you can climb mountains and blow through snowbanks with aplomb. A little snow on the road is nothing, right?.... right?....








Well, gee...the commercials don't show them tailgating in a whiteout and passing cars on MAIN STREET over the double yellow now, do they?



<-- still steamed




Everytime I see one of those things, I think of the dinosaurs - they move like dinosaurs and are running off of prehistoric animal and plant life.



Here is some disturbing news on global warming, courtesy of the Washington Post:



Escalating Ice Loss Found in Antarctica



Comment by velveeta jones on 01/14/2008 14:31:39
Well, the article I was trying to find is from the Pacific Free Press and it will not load on my computer or my wifes computer! Spook cleansing in process? Anyway it was called: Warrior on Drugs. Posted just two days ago.

Comment by livingonli on 01/14/2008 14:33:08
Quote by TriSec: Oh, and of course the ASSHOLE didn't bother to clear off his truck enough so I could see the plate, either.





Sounds like some of the assholes who drive on Long Island who are the same way. I also love how they take up two spaces because they don't know how to park (then there's the ultimate penis compensator the Hummer which has to take two parking spaces). Maybe drivers should get a separate license to operate one and they should not to be an asshole on the road.

Comment by livingonli on 01/14/2008 14:33:45
Oh, BTW, Good morning everyone.

Comment by livingonli on 01/14/2008 14:35:24
Don't forget, Bill Kristol was hired by the "Liberal" New York Times.

Comment by livingonli on 01/14/2008 14:42:20
Here are the nuggets of Bill Kristol's wisdom;



http://images.villagevoice.com/issues/0802/tmw-big.jpg


Comment by Raine on 01/14/2008 14:45:07
Quote by velveeta jones: Well, the article I was trying to find is from the Pacific Free Press and it will not load on my computer or my wifes computer! Spook cleansing in process? Anyway it was called: Warrior on Drugs. Posted just two days ago.


:foil:



I despise when that happens.

Comment by livingonli on 01/14/2008 14:45:29
There have also been many who viewed his rush to execute Ricky Ray Rector to prove his pro-death penalty views and his denouncemnt of Sister Souljah in 1992 as acts of racism.

Comment by TriSec on 01/14/2008 14:48:26
Something Dr. Maddow said about our returning vets some months ago has stuck with me all this time...



"The war won't be over until the last tortured vet dies in his sleep 75 years from now..."





Comment by Raine on 01/14/2008 14:49:58
Heya, I found the article, but it is taking a billion years to load...

Comment by Raine on 01/14/2008 14:52:36
Quote by TriSec: Something Dr. Maddow said about our returning vets some months ago has stuck with me all this time...



"The war won't be over until the last tortured vet dies in his sleep 75 years from now..."



"Only the dead have seen the End of War" ---Plato.



Comment by livingonli on 01/14/2008 14:53:13
Maybe the Republicans want Hillary both because they feel she's the one they can beat and if she wins she will end up supporting their agenda anyway.

Comment by Raine on 01/14/2008 14:54:26
Quote by Raine: Heya, I found the article, but it is taking a billion years to load...


Found it! Loaded it! Thanks for this.



And, as a side note, I am not real happy about what is going on with this race thing and the clinton camp. I just don't like it ALL around.

Comment by Raine on 01/14/2008 14:58:36
I have to agree with :clown:.



Since when Can't white people talk about MLK? Am I missing something here? Seriously, I think I am.

Comment by Raine on 01/14/2008 15:04:21
OH!!!



In case y'all missed it!!!





:banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana:

:banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana:




The giants beat the Cowboys!!!!

Comment by livingonli on 01/14/2008 15:05:42
Quote by Raine: OH!!!



In case y'all missed it!!!





:banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana:

:banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana:




The giants beat the Cowboys!!!!


Now I wish I was home so I could have seen it instead of just listening to it on the radio.

Comment by Raine on 01/14/2008 15:10:01
Thank you !!! I think tis was rather misinterpreted.

Comment by wickedpam on 01/14/2008 15:12:26
Morning! :hug:

Comment by TriSec on 01/14/2008 15:13:24
Oh yes...TriSec was rather happy with the out of town scoreboard yesterday, too! :party:





Comment by Raine on 01/14/2008 15:17:18
Quote by TriSec: Oh yes...TriSec was rather happy with the out of town scoreboard yesterday, too! :party:



The logical side of me sees it being a Pat packer bowl, but, you know... EVERYONE though that the colts and Dallas would be taking all yesterday... I would LOVE a Pat Giants Bowl!



Comment by Will in Chicago on 01/14/2008 15:17:30
Paris Hilton seems to be the best argument for keeping the inheritance tax - even though her grandfather did cut her and the other grandkids out of the will by leaving most of it to charity.





Comment by Raine on 01/14/2008 15:21:21
The Globe Story...







First Lady Laura's Bloody Fight With Boozing Bush




GEORGE BUSH and wife Laura are headed for divorce - again - after she left claw marks on his face during a furious fight over his boozing, White House sources reveal. The president was left with a bloody three-inch gash along with a smaller cut. Our world exclusive reveals the shocking details of their explosive showdown - and what their future holds.





http://www.globemagazine.com/media/g0308george-and-laura.jpg






Comment by velveeta jones on 01/14/2008 15:23:57
Raine, glad you found the article. My wife did end up finding it on Alternet.



Anywho. I just got off the phone with my non-insurance insurance company BCBS. Wish I had recoreded it. Got them to admit that they are just trying to STEAL money from me. Seriously!!! The BCBS rep, was very quiet when I asked her to give me an honest answer and she finally said............."yes".



Oh...........why did I not record this!!

Comment by TriSec on 01/14/2008 15:25:07
BCBSNC? Anything I can do to help?





Comment by velveeta jones on 01/14/2008 15:27:49
Quote by TriSec: BCBSNC? Anything I can do to help?





Thanks Tri, I'll let you know. I just called my friend who is a broker. Waiting for her to call me back.

Comment by Raine on 01/14/2008 15:50:27
Quote by velveeta jones: Raine, glad you found the article. My wife did end up finding it on Alternet.



Anywho. I just got off the phone with my non-insurance insurance company BCBS. Wish I had recoreded it. Got them to admit that they are just trying to STEAL money from me. Seriously!!! The BCBS rep, was very quiet when I asked her to give me an honest answer and she finally said............."yes".



Oh...........why did I not record this!!
We could call the NSA...







Comment by livingonli on 01/14/2008 16:03:04
Can we get the weather people to stop the hype? Here in New York a few days ago we would get a foot of snow last night. But then they downgraded it to 5-8 inches then 4-7 inches. While it changed from rain to sleet on my way home. I woke up this morning to find the only snow we got was a coating on the ground while paved surfaces were clear.

Comment by livingonli on 01/14/2008 16:07:11
One of the local stations here is running a Thermo-Span infomercial and the EPG data says "The History of Hot Tubs".

Comment by livingonli on 01/14/2008 16:07:47
Where's this morning?

Comment by BobR on 01/14/2008 16:11:15
Quote by livingonli: Can we get the weather people to stop the hype? Here in New York a few days ago we would get a foot of snow last night. But then they downgraded it to 5-8 inches then 4-7 inches. While it changed from rain to sleet on my way home. I woke up this morning to find the only snow we got was a coating on the ground while paved surfaces were clear.


It's STORM WATCH 2008!!!

Comment by TriSec on 01/14/2008 16:14:43
Heh. We have the Blizzard of '78 to thank for that.



Forecasters were calling for a minor storm, and instead we got 48 hours of blizzard conditions...hundreds were trapped on Route 128, the city was shut down for a week, and people did indeed run out of bread and milk.



So, ever since, we've been spoon-fed "Bread, Milk, PANIC!!!" and of course no one could find a loaf of bread or a quart of milk in the six-state area this weekend.





Comment by livingonli on 01/14/2008 16:39:42
Did everyone else fall into the salt mine?

Comment by livingonli on 01/14/2008 16:49:17
The search for the gayest bumper music.

Comment by livingonli on 01/14/2008 17:07:58
And now it's almost 40 degrees.

Comment by shelaghc on 01/14/2008 17:12:07
Anyone still here?

Comment by wickedpam on 01/14/2008 17:15:09


Comment by Raine on 01/14/2008 17:16:43
Quote by TriSec: Heh. We have the Blizzard of '78 to thank for that.



Forecasters were calling for a minor storm, and instead we got 48 hours of blizzard conditions...hundreds were trapped on Route 128, the city was shut down for a week, and people did indeed run out of bread and milk.



So, ever since, we've been spoon-fed "Bread, Milk, PANIC!!!" and of course no one could find a loaf of bread or a quart of milk in the six-state area this weekend.



I remember that blizzard... we were in the middle of moving upstate!



Comment by shelaghc on 01/14/2008 17:17:59
Is anyone on the blog really good at resume writing?



I've got a fantastic networking opportunity that I need to take advantage of in the next few days but I hate my old chronological resume.



Comment by TriSec on 01/14/2008 17:26:36
Shelagh, I used to have 2 resumes, an old-school "chronological" and a newfangled "skills-based" resume.



Turns out I hated the skills one and have stuck with the old "TriSec's Timeline" for a good long while now. It's still out at Monster, I even get an ocassional nibble, but nothing that I *really* want...