Stressed US troops in Iraq 'turning to drugs'

[cynatnite]

Two years into the occupation of Iraq the menace of drug abuse appears to be afflicting American troops.

Aware of the debilitating effect drugs had on the morale and effectiveness of GIs in the Vietnam War, the authorities are attempting to stifle a repeat in Iraq.

Aside from random urine tests and barrack room searches, commanders have asked their troops to inform on colleagues.

snip:
In another case, Pte Emily Hamilton told a court martial that she used a hashish pipe belonging to a colleague because "it helped me go right to sleep". She was given a year's confinement and a bad conduct discharge.

"Some of these young soldiers just can't handle the stress," said Capt Christopher Krafchek, a military defence lawyer.

The majority of drug-users are in their teens or early 20s, and sometimes get their drugs from local Iraqis while on patrol in Baghdad.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/07/23/wirq23.xml&sSheet=/portal/2005/07/23/ixportal.html

[More Than A Feeling]

1. Bad timing.

http://wikisource.org/wiki/US_Army_Directive_removing_authority_for_discharges_from_battalion_commander_level

This document linked above is an order removing the authority to discipline a soldier for, among other things, drug use, from the battalion commander to a special court martial.

Naturally, this makes it harder to discipline and or remove such soldiers.

I can only conclude that the effectiveness of what soldiers we do have will break down from drug use, and the influence of the users on others.

[Trillo]

2. More drug war hyperbole and hypocrisy.

If a lowly citizen does drugs, the authorities can and sometimes do take everything away from them and lock them up.

[eleny]

3. And yet, the kid from Colorado who fooled the recruiter....

....said that he smoked pot. And the recruiter was going to help him pass the drug test so the kid could get into the army. Pfui.

[MadisonProgressive]

4. The stress of the chimp turned me to drugs.

Why should our troops be any different?

[ThomWV]

5. Let Me Guess .... Afghanastan?

Which we also control, as the source?

Shit, why on earth would anyone be suprised?

[Greeby]

6. Well

That explains how OxyRush can go over there and not get fragged

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

7. Troops have been resorting to drugs since troops were invented.

When I was putting in my time, the "drugs" were beer, rum, vodka, whiskey, home made plum brandy (turpentine being one of the ingredients), gin, cough syrup, and there was even a couple of guys in my outfit who resorted to gasoline and milk (not recommended).

I was in the air wing of the marines as a plane-captain (glorified mechanic who strapped the pilots in and showed them how to drive). We were regularly asked by drunk/hungover pilots to "down" their planes. We would, for a price usually payable in booze. Unless they were real gung-ho tightasses. Then they had to take their chances. Nothing like a cockpit full of puke to make for a pleasant flight.

[Warren DeMontague]

8. Smoke a hash pipe, go to jail- oversee widespread abuse at a prison

get promoted!

[daa]

9. Viet Nam redux

everyday makes this quagmire just like Nam, stupidity of the administration and all. The Vietnamese won and Iraq will win just like they did to Britain in the 20s.

[Bucky]

10. "and sometimes get their drugs from local Iraqis while on patrol"

Well, that's one way to win over the hearts and minds of the locals. If you shoot up with them, you probably won't be shot up by them. Not a bad survival strategy. Maybe we could start up a "bongs for bombs" program to disarm the insurgency. Halliburton could subcontract out the procurement end of the contract to Tommy Chong, and then everybody's a winner.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

11. Prostitution, porno, and drugs now rampant in Baghdad

according to this MSNBC story, whereas before the war they were underground and hard to find.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3706289/

I wouldn't be surprised if our own CIA was not behind the sudden flood of drugs into Iraq. I recall hearing stories on Pacifica Radio about CIA operations to introduce drugs into other countries for the purpose of (1) hooking a part of the population on drugs and keeping them from concentrating on revolution and (2) financing their covert CIA operations. It wouldn't surprise me if there were think tank programs on the drawing board suggesting that by getting a large part of the Iraqi population intrested in porno, drugs, and prostitution, it would get the focus of young people off of the insurgency. I'm not saying that is what is actually taking place (as I don't know) but it wouldn't surprise me if the CIA, the Pentagon, and the Bush Administration did not consider flooding Iraq with drugs and porno to keep the people satisfied. Drugs, porno, and prostitution flourished almost overnight after the invasion. After all, this is what many have said occurred in African American communities right after the riots of the 1960s, with the introduction of drugs meant to create chaos and to keep the people from putting up a unified front for progress (in the days when the U.S. was afraid of revolt in the black community across America).