Írak og PTSD

Írak virðist vera aðalfréttin í bandarískum dagblöðum í morgun. Bæði LA Times og Washington Post birta langar úttektir á áhrifum Íraksstríðsins á bandarískum hermönnum og óbreyttum starfsmönnum verktakafyrirtækja í Írak. Grein Washington Post fjallar um ílla meðferð á hermönnum og starfsmsem hafa lokið herskyldu, sérstaklega skort á sálfræðiaðstoð og baráttu þeirra fyrir að fá herinn til að samþykkja örorkubætur.

LA Times fjallar hins vegar um áhrif stríðsins á óbreytta starfsmenn verktakafyrirtækja í Írak - og þetta fólk allt hefur tekið þátt í og horft upp á sama hryllinginn og hermenn, jafnvel þó þeir hafi kannski ekki verið þátttakendur í "combat operations". En það að keyra vörubíl fyrir Bandaríkjaher um götur Baghdad er víst ekki eins og hver önnur vinna:

In Iraq and Afghanistan, however, ordinary civilians share the battlefield with professional soldiers. Truck drivers are routinely struck by roadside bombs. Private security contractors engage in firefights with insurgents.

As a result, contractors deployed to these war zones often experience the same kind of trauma that produces psychological problems in soldiers. Military surveys estimate that 15% to 20% of soldiers in Iraq show signs of post-traumatic stress disorder, a debilitating condition often attributed to witnessing or participating in violence.

Meðan hermennirnir þurfa að berjast við Veterans Administration þurfa þessir menn að fást við einkarekin tryggingarfyrirtæki, sem eru víst enn verri en ríkisrekna heilbrigðiskerfið sem virðist hafa brugðist hermönnum, ef marka má rannsókn Washington Post. Aðalatriðið virðist vera hvort Post Traumatic Stress Disorder sé alvöru ástand og hvort hermenn sem þjást af martröðum og geta ekki lengur unnið venjulega vinnu eða tekið þátt í hversdagslegu lífi, og enda margir á að fremja sjálfsmorð, geti kennt stríðinu um. LA Times rekur þjáningar Steve Thompson sem vann sem vörubílstjóri í Írak:

A long-haul trucker, Steve Thompson went to work for KBR in Kuwait in May 2004, but soon ended up driving in Iraq. He repeatedly encountered small-arms fire, several times with rounds penetrating his truck. On one occasion, a roadside bomb cracked his windshield.

Thompson was never physically hurt, but he began to dread the missions and the constant risk of death. "It was like a lottery that you didn't want to win," Thompson said.

The final straw came in November 2004, when Thompson was sent to help clean up the remains of an ambush. He smelled burned flesh the moment he climbed from his truck.

Two psychologists diagnosed him with post-traumatic stress disorder. As a veteran, Thompson was able to see doctors at the local VA hospital, who also diagnosed him as suffering from PTSD.

But a doctor hired by AIG found otherwise. At a hearing in February, the doctor, John Griffith, said one diagnostic exam showed that Thompson was exaggerating his symptoms. He said Thompson did not suffer from PTSD.

Griffith said he had treated more than 100 PTSD patients but acknowledged in testimony that he had spent much of his career in pharmacological research. He also told the hearing that "a lot" of psychology was "baloney."

Washnigton Post fjallar um Jeans Cruz sem var einn hermannanna sem handsamaði Saddam Hussein, og varð einhverskonar stríðshetja þegar hann kom heim til the Bronx.

In public, the former Army scout stood tall for the cameras and marched in the parades. In private, he slashed his forearms to provoke the pain and adrenaline of combat. He heard voices and smelled stale blood. Soon the offers of help evaporated and he found himself estranged and alone, struggling with financial collapse and a darkening depression.

At a low point, he went to the local Department of Veterans Affairs medical center for help. One VA psychologist diagnosed Cruz with post-traumatic stress disorder. His condition was labeled "severe and chronic." In a letter supporting his request for PTSD-related disability pay, the psychologist wrote that Cruz was "in need of major help" and that he had provided "more than enough evidence" to back up his PTSD claim. His combat experiences, the letter said, "have been well documented."

None of that seemed to matter when his case reached VA disability evaluators. They turned him down flat, ruling that he deserved no compensation because his psychological problems existed before he joined the Army. They also said that Cruz had not proved he was ever in combat. "The available evidence is insufficient to confirm that you actually engaged in combat," his rejection letter stated.

Yet abundant evidence of his year in combat with the 4th Infantry Division covers his family's living-room wall. The Army Commendation Medal With Valor for "meritorious actions . . . during strategic combat operations" to capture Hussein hangs not far from the combat spurs awarded for his work with the 10th Cavalry "Eye Deep" scouts, attached to an elite unit that caught the Iraqi leader on Dec. 13, 2003, at Ad Dawr.

Eins og Washington Post bendir á er þetta þó aðeins toppurinn á ísjakanum, og fyrirséð að ástandið eigi aðeins eftir að versna, því fjórði hver hermaður er talinn hafa orðið fyrir sálrænum skaða í Írak. Það gefur auga leið að herinn og skattgreiðendur gætu því þurft að borga enn meira fyrir stríðið. Það er hins vegar ekkert sem bendir til þess að herinn sé að leysa þetta vandamál. Hundruð þúsunda bandaríkjamanna hafa tekið þátt í tilgangslausum stríðsrekstri Bush í Írak - og stór hluti þeirra eru ónýtt fólk, annað hvort líkamlega eða andlega. Herinn og ríkið hefur ekki sinnt þessu fólki. Hvort "The Iraq war veteran" á eftir að verða jafn áberandi í bandarískri þjóðmálaumræðu og dægurmenningu og "The Vietnam war veteran" hefur verið er óvíst, en það er alveg öruggt að þetta vandamál á ekki eftir að hverfa úr umræðunni næstu árin - og það er líka alveg sama hvernig stríðið í Írak endar, framkoma stjórnarinnar gagnvart hermönnum sem hafa fórnað limum sínum og geðheilsu í Írak mun fylgja "arfleið" forsetans um aldur og ævi.

M