Fallujah assault still exacting heavy toll on mental health of US marines

[NNN0LHI]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20041218/ts_alt_afp/iraqusmilitaryhealth&cid=1506&ncid=1473

NEAR FALLUJAH, Iraq (AFP) - Nearly six weeks after US marines stormed the rebel enclave of Fallujah, military psychologists are still seeing a steady stream of service personnel traumatised by the long days and nights of ferocious street fighting.

In the macho culture of the US Marine Corps, it is sometimes hard for its personnel, male or female, to admit they have a problem and some try to ride out the symptoms, only seeking help after weeks of suffering in silence.


The warning signs can range from irritability to extreme apathy, says Lieutenant Erryn Simmons, a trained psychologist who runs a combat stress management unit in this US base just outside the western Iraqi city.


Her colleague Lieutenant Thomas Fearing nods in agreement. "They are coming to us predominantly for sleep-related problems, such as insomnia or nightmares, bad dreams," he says.


"After the offensive began, we had a lot of patients, then there was this lull, and it has picked up again recently with people trying to sit on their symptoms."

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[momzno1]

1. Sadly, the long term prognosis for these guys is poor

I am a clinical social worker who does crisis intervention, and I have recently seen vets from previous conflicts whose PTSD is acting up due to the news coverage of this war. These guys are never the same as before war...

[DELUSIONAL]

7. Some cultures call their sickness -- Soul sickness

some of these guys have a dead soul -- some started out with a dead soul -- so they won't be bothered.

The Iraqi will never recover -- every time they see their ruined homes and notice that their neighbors are gone.. . . . The Iraqis are going to be far more than soul sick -- they will hate America for the rest of their lives.

[NNN0LHI]

Their children's, children will hate America for what we have done n/t

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

2. Yeah slaughtering people who want you out of their home is depressing

[NMDemDist2]

3. rate it up n/t

[BrotherBuzz]

4. Has anyone taken a measurement of the mental health....

of the citizens of Fallujah?

[TahitiNut]

9. Nawwww... "they hate us for our freedoms."

Has anyone ever said anything so imbecilic in history? :eyes:

[BrotherBuzz]

13. Pat Paulsen did....

but then, there was a method to his madness.


http://www.paulsen.com/

(Check out the editorial section for some real nuggets)

Congressional Ethics
January 12, 1968

Everywhere you go lately you hear this Senator or
that Congressman accused of padding expense
accounts...milking campaign funds...or engaging in
some form of financial hanky panky. We deplore
this loose, unpatriotic talk. It can only lead to
investigations...and convictions...and before long,
no one would be left to run our government....of
course, there are abuses...but usually there are
reasons.

These lawmakers don't like to take graft and big
bribes...but how else can they get the money to buy
votes...They can't all make great records like Everett
Dirksen...And, all the fuss about that Senator who
rented a yacht at government expense and threw a
series of wild orgies...Picky...picky...picky...What
do they expect him to do, spend six years staring at
those crummy cherry trees?...

A lot of these criticisms don't even make sense. I
read one article that spent two pages proving how
corrupt our Congressmen are...and another two
pages complaining that they never show up for roll
calls. If they're so crooked who wants 'em around?
This is not to say that we condone loose conduct.
We feel that when a man is elected, he immediately
forecloses regress advocating all rights and moral
dissections...without fear or favor taking upon
himself dreps, chrone, maze, and obligations
beyond gluts...or in the immortal words of Adam
Clayton Powell... "A public office is a public trust."

Some of us forget that these are human beings trying
to do a job. Take my own Congressman...please...
After twenty years in office, he was accused of
chiseling millions on various contracts. Everyone
turned against him. Imagine a decent man like that
suddenly ostracised after twenty years... I felt so
sorry for him that I looked him up...and it wasn't
easy because he is now living in Argentina...under
an assumed name...

In conclusion, let's all remember that we have a
government "of the people...for the people...and by
the people..." and there are very few people in our
government that you can't buy...

Thank you,

Patrick L. Paulsen, V.P.

......

Sorry, I digress

[bahrbearian]

16. Thanks , that took me back, I remember those speechs he gave

On the Smother's Brothers show,, I guess things really don't change, I wonder when the people will have the power, it seem's to be ever out of our reach. Jimmy Carter almost had it for us, but we know what happened then.

[rooboy]

10. Are any of them still alive? n/t

[puddycat]

18. are there any left?

I mean, the old people died long ago. Anyone who required medical maintenance (like insulin, oxygen, etc) died long ago. Anyone disabled died long ago. Some people fled elsewhere, and the rest were slaughtered by US troops who are now reaping the psychic harvest of the bloodbath.

I support our troops when they will stand down, and REFUSE to participate in the wholesale destruction of an innocent people.

[gratuitous]

5. Ya think this will make the recruiting commercials?

And what are we doing for the Iraqi people that Mr. Bush is so concerned about? At least when the Marines are through blasting their way through Fallujah, they're out of physical harm's way. The folks who still live there not only have to live with the horror, but the memories of their deceased relatives and friends, the rubble left behind, and the very real possibility of continued factional fighting between their fellow citizens.

Merry Christmas, Iraq. There really ARE some practicing Christians in the United States, even though it doesn't much look like it from where you're standing.

[DELUSIONAL]

6. I feel sorrow for both sides

and who is helping the Iraqis who saw their family members blown away by trigger happy Marines? (oops sorry -- ye support the troops no matter what sort of hell they bring to the occupied countries).

Just what sort of help is being given to families who have lost nearly all their males -- cause the males happened to be of "military age".

bush is responsible for all the blood shed -- and the new shell shocked people on both sides. bush is protected by thousands of guards -- (as he should be -- we don't want Cheney to be Prez for real).

This is bush's fault -- he was planning on this war BEFORE 2000.

The dead of Falluja don't have "bad dreams" -- and for the Marines that were so gung ho to kill and who supported bush -- good I hope you all suffer for the rest of your lives -- I have no sympathy for any bush supporters -- NONE. What was done to Falluja is a war crime. Everyone involved should be tried for war crimes.

[puddycat]

19. Well said. They are reaping what they have sown.They should have refused.

What kind of people are we creating in the military? People who would take part in the slaughter of innocent people for the benefit of a fascist leader and his rich industrial friends?

This is a sick sick society.

[Name removed]

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[Malva Zebrina]

8. Before it began we heard reports of drugging of soldiers

especially, but not limited to those who would drop the bombs.

I just wonder how many of these soldiers are popping these super duper pills in order to carry out their orders.

It could have an influence on their reported mental breakdowns.

I agree with the poster who said that the total emotional distress of the Iraqi people who have seen their loved ones, their children,their babies, their pregnant women, their old men and women, get blown to smithereens by the thousands, by the great American military machine, street fighting, brave special ops soldiers, who are now, seemingly have become blathering, nightmare haunted idiots in the face of following orders from their "AWOL CIC, the big Texas chimp, take no prisoners, mission accomplished, bring em on, asshole.

[bobthedrummer]

34. There's protocols for "go pills" but not the human beings wearing the

US uniforms.:argh:

[Darranar]

11. Not to mention the slightly heavier toll...

on those slaughtered in the attack and their families.

[mhr]

12. Fallujah In Pictures

http://fallujahinpictures.com/

May Bush's Soul Rot In Hell For All Eternity!

[LibertyorDeath]

14. Amen

n\t

[groucho260]

37. Those people in your post are Canadians...

[Hand]

43. I'm Canadian and you're a troll...

...but not for long.

[LibertyorDeath]

47. Thanx hand Fuck the Trolls

[daleo]

48. He seems to be gone now

Technically they are Canadians, but the interesting blend of tolerance and rebellion that the Trailer Park Boys represent transcend nationality.

[ecoalex]

15. bus* has no soul

It is to be devoid of soul to kill all those he has killed maimed for treasure and control. He is a little big man , and is offensive in his disregard for the consequences, especially to living things. He is godless and needs an intervention.

[Swamp Rat]

17. Thanks for the link

The hate mail shows a lot of cognitive dissonance.

[Disturbed]

20. Dogs eating people.

That is an image that still haunts me.

Fallouja is Amerika's Warsaw Ghetto.

[saigon68]

22. DOGS EAT CORPSES (graphic)

A Dog Munching on the Head of a Corpse

JUST HOW THE FUCK CAN YOU HAVE "FREE" ELECTIONS IN A COUNTRY--

WHEN YOU CAN'T EVEN POLICE UP THE DEAD CORPSES SO THE DOGS WOON'T EAT THEM.





Burnt bodies eaten by dogs.

[Algorem]

28. Bushworld not pretty

[saigon68]

36. No its Pretty Ugly

Corpses devoured by Canines.

[Name removed]

38. Deleted message

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[Name removed]

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[daleo]

49. Bush will make sure no mass graves damn him in the eyes of history

He will let dogs take care of the corpses.

I don't think this is an accident. Bush, Rummy and all the rest know how much of an indignity this is to anyone, but especially to a Muslim culture. I think he is taunting Iraqis with this. It is calculated, like the sexual humiliations of Abu Grhaib.

[davhill]

32. Some day there will be a monument where Faluja was

But it will not be to the Marines who died there.

[groucho260]

40. Deep.......

[JNelson6563]

35. more from link you posted

http://fallujahinpictures.com/

[rocktivity]

21. The guy who shot Dimebag was in the Marines until last year

before getting a "special medical discharge" for paranoid schizophrenia. I wonder if he saw any action in the Mideast?

:headbang:
rocknation

[Tinoire]

23. Horrid. Is this 5 square mile piece of land worth it?

Is any of this worth it? We know the answer, when will our government do what's right and bring them home?

Map of Fallujah. A town so small you can walk across it in 30 minutes.

[Just Me]

25. I seriously doubt they will recover for that mass murder.

Who would?

Who could possibly recover,..under THESE circumstances?

They are damaged,...to death.

[Nordic]

24. shooting people in their beds is bad for one's mental health

unless you're a serial killer.

I feel sorry for our troops, they are some of the biggest victims of Bushco's crimes.

Photo link:

http://dahrjamailiraq.com/gallery/view_album.php?set_albumName=album28

[tuckessee]

26. Aw, those po' wittle ol' Mawines...((((sniff))))

It's such hard work slaughtering the locals.

They say some marines are so stressed out they can't even get wood anymore when sexually abusing Iraqi detainees.

[Algorem]

27. Jesus is with them,what's the prob?

[Pachamama]

29. Randi Rhodes was talking on her show about how we all need to be prepared

for the 10's, maybe 100's of thousands of our soldiers coming back from the war on Iraq not just without limbs etc, but seriously fucked up mentally and doing some real bad scary shit....

We have to be there for our kids and be prepared for what's to come...

[NickB79]

30. I'm sure one day they'll wake up, and everything will be fine again

It will all become so clear to them, as they climb the bell tower and put the crosshairs on people walking down the street......

[leftchick]

31. Marines Dying Daily in Fallujah! Photo...*warning graphic*

U.S. Marine platoon Gunnery Sergeant, Ryan P. Shane, from the 1st Battalion of the 8th Marine Regiment, pulls a fatally wounded comrade to safety while under fire during a military operation in the Iraqi western city of Falluja, in this handout photograph released on December 17, 2004. Seconds later Sgt. Shane was also injured by nearby enemy fire, U.S. Marine officer said. REUTERS/HO/USMC/Cpl. Joel A. Chaverri



Combination handout pictures released on December 17, 2004, showing (Upper L) U.S. Marine Platoon Gunnery Sergeant, Ryan P. Shane, from the 1st. Battalion of the 8th. Marine Regiment as he pulls a fatally wounded comrade to safety while under fire during a military operation in the Iraqi western city of Falluja. (Upper R) Shane and another member of 1/8 pulled their fatally wounded comrade under fire. (Lower L) Shane is hit by insurgents fire and (Lower R) was wounded. REUTERS/USMC/Cpl. Joel A. Chaverri-Handout EDITORIAL USE ONLY


...I am actually quite shocked yahoo allowed these photos up. Perhaps they finally feel the need to show the truth, that war is no fucking video game.

:(

[saigon68]

33. Marine Autopsy Photo from Randi Rhodes Site (graphic)

This is the shit they don't want Amerika to see.

They show this to the troops to get them angry-- so they will kill Rag Heads without mercy, OR THOUGHT -- THE OLD LETS KILL THE MFS CAUSE THEY KILLED TOM, DICK AND HARRY.

REMEMBER 9-11 ETC.

[Name removed]

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[Cooley Hurd]

41. .

:eyes:

[NNN0LHI]

42. Is that you Rush? Hows the Oxycontin been treating you? n/t

[Name removed]

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