Suicide in the U.S. Armed Forces
In the last couple of months, we’ve all learned to our horror that 22 U.S. military veterans take their lives every day. In this post I wish to do two things:
• Express my deep sadness for these people and their loved ones, while validating the heart and soul of the enormous number of people who are doing 22 push-ups each day in solidarity with the victims’ suffering.
• Raise a question: Why are 22 honorable people blowing their brains out every day as a result of being involved in the U.S. military? Maybe it’s a function of the fact that we’re putting them in situations that aren’t commensurate with mental health. Maybe waging endless war isn’t something that we ought to be doing.
With each passing day I find it more absurd that the object of the compassion expressed in the form of all these push-ups is drawing attention to the tragedy, as opposed to eliminating its cause. If you really want to support our troops, bring them home.
Craig,
As a former veteran of three armed conflicts, I find mental health issues in the armed forces very sad, both for the veteran and the families.
The causes of mental health issues in the armed forces are complex and not always combat related.
Issues regarding combat service for a volunteer armed forces in the modern world are continuously changing, therein lies the challenge for training and how service personnel perceive their role and the challenged of changing warfare.
I’m certain many service personnel wouldn’t thank you for bringing them home. For some this is the job they love. The military life, including the prospect of danger and combat, is why they joined.
Service abroad means adventure, purpose, sacrifice and fulfillment. It can bring advancement, promotion and responsibilty. It can mean the opportunity to liberate the downtrodden and oppressed, while serving your country and making life long comrades.
That attitude may not appeal to aging ‘peaceniks’, ( not everyone’s Alan Alda) with the end of conscription, this is the life career service personal choose.
Fortunately, for many nations the guarantee of American readiness is very reassuring.
I recently read an article about the rise of suicides in NYC. The political response was that we had to “do more for mental health issues.” This common, somewhat dismissive response was a bit infuriating.
It assumes that everyone who commits suicide is somehow suffering from a weak mental structure. At the same time is ignores the effect of stress from the environment.
In the case of the civilians it then takes any responsibility away from the politicians who are creating a world with more economic hardship, more stress, more chemical pollution. In the case, of the military it takes away any implication that our military actions have a very real impact upon the people who are our soldiers.
A recent conversation brought to light a shift in military vernacular. We are no longer talking about “casualties,” but “targets,” and “objectives.” And slowly we are no longer speaking about “troops” but “boots” as in “boots on the ground.” It all seems relatively harmless, but it is dehumanizing. It begs us to let go of any sense of compassion in favor of an analytical “assessment.”
Some may always find their situation untenable and lacking viable alternatives choose to personally end their life. But when statistics rise we should be looking for causes, not in the mental health of some but in the environment and specifically in decisions made by “leadership.” I fear we are slowly devolving into an anarchy where no one takes any responsibility for their actions.
It is shameful that we are not doing more for our veterans. The Vietnam war veterans were treated especially shamefully when they returned, mainly because of public attitudes towards the war. Most of the veterans had been drafted yet they were blamed for the war.
No doubt many people have a better understanding of the specific reasons for the suicides than we have. Regardless of that, I am convinced that with proper commitment to our veterans, the number of suicides could be greatly reduced.
The Sorrows of Empire are Real and the veneer of so called sanitized warfare is clear for All to see.,
If they care More should be done to support Veterans andmore debate and real discussion and evaluation of Foreign Policy and Military Approaches to conflicts need to be seriously recalculated. There are Limits to Power and we have seem to hit the Wall perhaps a different approach.
In any case we owe our Veterans better support and care. Politicians and many Americans should be shamed of their ineptness and foolish rah rah approach to military affairs.
Silent,
Sometimes we just don’t know what to do. People of good will may strongly disagree with each other. Then too, getting adequate and accurate information is difficult partly because the media are more interested in entertaining than informing.
I think we can say for certain that the second invasion of Iraq was a serious mistake. It destabilized Iraq. Of course Saddam Hussein was a thug, but eliminating him left a power vacuum which made the people of Iraq even worse off. Also, the invasion and its aftermath resulted in withdrawing many of our troops from Afghanistan resulting in a resurgence of the Talliban. At this point, it is unclear what we should do.
If the world had not become so dependent on Arabian oil, the ruthless dictators would not have received oil money to oppress the people.
Hi Frank , yes you seensitivity to the situation is good and you remain engaged.
I think the manner the last 20 years or so of war have been conducted it has created a non involvement or detachment from the real Horrors and destruction.
Many people have seen it almost like a video war game and we even get commercials selling war games now during ad breaks from news and sports events. We are bombarded it seems conditioned to the visual excitement of the war machine!
The damage is multi level as it casue detachment thus it is easy to see how many americans are detached from the many wounded and mentally n challenged service people who did hte hard part for us.
I am against most of this but I feel responsible to the servicemen and women.
We have really broken the china in many kitchens around the world. we dont need the damn oil anymore we have other options. They cost more in short run but that is the real issue we live in a short term net present value world !
We become prisoners to short term economics which causes us issues and keeps us on a Pathway that is not Sustainable for future generations.
Hope this finds you doing well Frank peace.
We shall see. But there are many Hordes of Black Swans circling in many places I see it
Silent,
Although I strongly feel that our veterans do not receive adequate support, especially the ones who have been mentally or physically damaged by warfare, they are still treated better than the Vietnam refugees. So at least there has been some improvement.
It may be that other countries have a greater need for Arabian oil than we have. The need for oil is also destabilizing some African countries and, although I know less about it, it may be a factor in the instability of some South and Central American countries too.
Hi Frank,
Wars and conflicts existed long before oil, indeed conflicts still occur between nations and communities where oil is simply not a factor.
Economic and strategic concerns are often cited as justifications for armed conflict, but they are seldom the fundamental reasons.
Basically, most nations and politicians stumble into war as seemingly the simplest and inevitable solution to complex issues where public pressure and posturing leaves no political alternative.
Since the second world war, the concept of “peace keeping” or “police actions” has been used to describe small “arms length” wars between the great powers. The rise of TV and mass media has created the almost instant involvement of a mass civilian audience making the task of western military actions almost impossible.
Soldiers are not trained to be Police. The enemies Western the Western military confronts are not ethically, psychologically or logistically expecting to engage “police”, but quite rightly believe that the are confronting a military force, operating in war time conditions.
The imposition of unrealistic terms for the conduct of Western military forces to accord with a TV audience, accompanied by vague and impractical mission objectives, must inevitably lead to a lack of understanding of the duties of military personnel among the general population and severe psychological issues among traumatized military personnel.
The armed forces should be able to depend upon receiving the support and respect from the civilian population whose uniform they wear. They deserve that respect of the great sacrifices they make to preserve and protect the interest of their fellow citizens.
The military should also be able to rely upon the civilian population to separate the duty of military from the political policies of the civilian government whom they serve without and any right to dissent.(except in extreme instances where such policies are in breach of the Constitution or military law).
It’s a sad. but inevitable fact that soldiers must learn to hate and despise enemy combatants. This is the inevitable consequence of being required to kill the enemy as effectively as possible. Soldiers are not police. Soldiers are not in combat to die for their country, or beliefs, they are in combat to make as meany of the enemy as possible to die for theirs !
This is not a pleasant or easy moral or philosophic concept for civilians to contemplate when watching TV. In all wars the innocents non combatants suffer greatly. This is especially true of during civil wars where all kinds of localized considerations occur, and civilians often become active participants in the conflict. (the role of ‘partisan’ or “freedom fighter ” has been very romanticized .)
In the world of “lasers in the Jungle” and social media making everyone an “expert” instantly, it may be impossible to resolve conflicts between people with not only extremely different mindsets and cultural values, but ‘living’ in different centuries !.
Australia once the most accepting of migrant nations, discovered itself becoming overwhelmed by a chaotic influx of illegal migrants. By invoking is natural advantage of an island is was for many years able to reestablish control over its immigration policy, until a less experienced government reversed the policy leading to a chaotic and disastrous situation, which the incoming government now has to solve the problems caused by the ineptitude of their predecessors lack of responsibility.
In the UK, we have seen the result of years of policies that failed to educate young urban Britons to understand the fundamental differences of how the UK’s laws, traditions, values, institutions a,d governance evolved from the rest of Europe.
The UK voted for Brexit, because people grew alarmed a the erosion of core British values. They appreciated belonging to an economic organization like the EU, but stopped short of becoming subservient to a newly emerging EU with the status of a nation state where the interests and values of the Britain would be subsumed by a vast European bureaucracy.
All over the world, people are clamouring for clear and concise leadership. People have grown weary of elites of self-proclaimed “experts” indulging in endless talk-fests.
With so many radical changes taking place, older institutions such as the military are finding it difficult to adapt to the expectations of the societies they represent and defend.
Is it any wonder military personnel find themselves conflicted, confused and traumatized ?
Marcopolo,
You wrote, ” In all wars the innocents non combatants suffer greatly.”
Quite true, but exactly how should “non combatants” be defined? Are parents who see their children as weapons and raise them as such really non combatants? It seems to be that they are just as guilty as the solders they raised to be weapons. The unpleasant fact is that the distinction between combatants and non combatants is at best fuzzy. Obviously while some parents are raising their children to be weapons, there will be neighbors who attempt to raise their children to be peaceful.
A few years ago I became aware of the above problem when Palestinians were interviewed on TV. One of the fathers interviewed had 12 children. He made it clear that he was having as many sons as possible to increase the number of soldiers to fight against Israel. It would be unreasonable to assume that he is the only such father or that such fathers exist only in Palestine. Moreover, some mothers teach their children hatred. Such mothers cannot be considered innocent either.
In any war, there will be innocent people who will be hurt; that is inevitable and is one of the reasons to eschew war to the extent possible.
It is very rare for truly democratic countries to engage in warfare with other democratic countries. But for a country to remain truly democratic, it is necessary for schools to have good civics classes with teach the history of various types of governments, including democratic governments. Students must also be taught the duties of good citizenship. I don’t know about other countries, but such teaching has become less common here in the U.S. which probably partly is the cause of some of our current problems.
Here is a link to an article I wrote in about 2000; some errors have crept into it, but it is basically what I wrote:
http://www.fijihosting.com/pcgov/docs_o/eggers_democracy.htm
The article was published in the “Fiji Times”.
P.S.
The main reason that I included the Biblical references in the article was that many people in Fiji are very religious and often take the Bible quite literally. The Biblical references I’m sure greatly added to the effectiveness of the article.
That said, the practice of Christianity among many people, including people in Fiji, is a bit thin even when they appear to be quite committed. That is the only way to explain the fact that following the coup, indigenous Fijians, who are considered to be deeply religious, marched through Suva (the capital), burning and looting while singing Christian hymns. Following the principals of Christianity can be quite selective.
Hi Frank,
Thank you for your very interesting paper on governance.I enjoyed how you tailored your dissertation for your audience.
In the main you are correct. Representative (or Democratic) government is the only long term guarantee of stability and prosperity as the system provides great economic flexibility and ability to withstand and recover from economic disruptions.
Autocratic nations often turn to war as a distraction for internal problems, or further the ambitions of fanatics.
Sadly, you are also correct in identifying those claiming civilian status to use other civilians, even children, as willing or unwitting combatants to further partisan aims.
The eagerness of Western media to overlook these activities in preference for atrocity stories about Western military has encouraged this sort of activity as an effective weapon for propaganda purposes. As was evident from Vietnam the media’s role severely demoralized and traumatized young Western service personnel, to the benefit of the enemy.
Should such methods be allowed to prevail ? One of the justifications of such methods is incumbent government forces are often portrayed as as repressive, while insurgent rebels force are permitted to cloak themselves in the mantle of “democracy” or “freedom”. Sometimes this has an element of truth, but in most instances it’s just a propaganda tool used by equally murderous fanatics seeking to further their own ethnic, sectarian or ideological agendas.
It often seems that a nation must exhaust itself in blood and cruelty before democracy can take hold. Outside interference, no matter how well-intentioned often just prolongs the agony.
Marcopolo,
You post pretty well reflected my viewpoints. However, I would say that a democratic government is not a guarantee that everything will be done with fairness and justice; it just greatly increases the likelihood that it will.
During the Vietnam war, the Viet Cong, as a terrorizing tactic, actually cut off the fingers of children; they also committed other horrifying atrocities. At the time, I had a roommate who was thoroughly opposed to the war; that was fine. However, he excused the terrorizing tactics of the Viet Cong while condemning the ghastly tactics of the U.S. and allied armies. He seemed to see the Viet Cong as candidates for sainthood. Discussing anything with him was just about impossible. He had been graduated ΦΒΚ from Oberlin, a highly respected liberal arts college, but had never learned to think rationally, objectively, and clearly. He was totally devoid of any scientific knowledge and didn’t even understand what the stock market was for. I learned that there are many people just like him who haven’t a clue about how to arrive at objective and rational decisions.
Regarding my article, the link for which I provided, after it was published in the “Fiji Times”, people who liked the article warned me that I could be in serious trouble because of the article; a coup had overthrown the duly elected democratic government. Fortunately, I was not in trouble. A student from Tonga requested my permission to publish it in Tonga.
I did receive a few suggestions for the article before I finalized it. An employee of the University of the South Pacific, who writes humorous articles for the “Fiji Times”, suggested the lead in for which I thanked her. An economics professor at USP suggested some minor changes, a couple of which I made. When writing, it helps to have the audience in mind. That article probably would not be appropriate for a U.S. audience with the exception of religious fundamentalists. Although I am not a fundamentalist, I understand how they think.