Update 19FEB08:
After I wrote this I thought more about the idea that many veterans feel there is a stigma associated with seeking help in their post-war lives. This idea is further enforced by an article that pointed out many returning war vets are having a hard time finding jobs. The article said that "Strained by war, recently discharged veterans are having a harder time finding civilian jobs and are more likely to earn lower wages for years due partly to employer concerns about their mental health and overall skills, a government study says".

The idea that a war veteran is "too broken" is an insult to those who have been sent to fight in our name. It seems odd that a country that is divided on the war but seems to be so united on the statement "I Support the Troops" would have such a dismal record in actually supporting them.
Such examples speak more to our hypocrisy as a nation, on both sides of the political divide, than the myth that war veterans are broken.

In fact, as service members and veterans, we have the power to end the US occupation.

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Recently the New York Times (NYT) debuted their series, “War Torn” documenting murders and homicides committed by recently returned vets from Afghanistan and Iraq. Reading some of the blogs and articles coming from people who say they support the war, and by proxy the troops, one might come to believe that the NYT wants nothing more than to paint all returning vets as murderers, homicidal maniacs and psycho killers. I have actually seen those exact words in those blogs and articles as tongue in cheek references used in order to paint this issue as farcical and doing more harm and no good. It seems to me that some people are so aligned with war making they are willing to sacrifice the well being of those who do the fighting. If the NYT and anti-war groups are the only ones who want to make sure troops get the care they deserve than the troops are in deeper crap then they realized.

One recurring argument is that articles such as the NYT’s gives a bad name to veterans and will make it harder for the average law abiding veteran to get a job or be trusted in their community. To me this argument is astounding and if anything, does a disservice to the troops.
First off the average person don’t give a damn if you have served in the military. There is this myth around military service that it gets you some kind of special respect. You will get parades once a year, some welcome homes and some handshakes but overall the only people who will really understand are other veterans. If military service was this great badge of pride to the general public they would be yearning for it, Paris Hilton would make it the new “Hot” and college Republicans would be jumping college ship to join instead of dreaming up every excuse not to. Hell if it were something the general public respected we might have a leader or two who actually served instead of a rat’s nest of pro-war draft dodgers. Maybe 50 years ago it was something people understood but today it has become a college scholarship and jobs program with a faulty track record. People on the right don’t join if they have “other priorities”, people on the left don’t join if they have other options and in the middle are those of us who either think it is a priority to serve this country, want to earn money for college, make a better life for themselves or most likely a combination of all three.
Now if serving in the military then makes it harder to get a job, those who are doing the “making it harder” need to be addressed and blamed. It’s too easy to blame a NYT article or the anti-war movement. It is also false. In March Iraq veterans Against the War (IVAW) will be conducting the Winter Soldier testimony for just this type of reason, to show that service in the military can lead to things you may not agree with but it is imperative that we understand the service members who do them are influenced by the military itself and are most often not “bad apples”. It is high time we start looking at our military policy instead of blaming those on the ground who are just doing their job. Left, right, conservative, liberal and everything else if you care about the troops you want to make sure they are able to work in the most just situation possible. Winter Soldier aims to show just how unjust the rules have been made.

Any person who actually cares about the troops will want to see the issues that the NYT article brings up addressed and resolved. Recently one family of a woman murdered by a combat Marine stated that they don’t want to see the man who murdered their daughter, the father of their two grand children, to use his military experience as an excuse for his actions. It’s unfortunate that ones military experience is being used in the justice system to put a family through more pain as a senseless murder turns into a blameless one as well. This is where I have the biggest problem with those who downplay the NYT article as “smearing” the troops. I believe there are two aspects to these crimes, the lead-up and the punishment. I think it is disgusting and utterly reprehensible for anyone to say that it is a smear campaign to research the pain that veterans are going through in order to attempt to find ways to stop the taking of life once they are off of the battlefield. Everyone who commits a crime has factors in their life that leads them to it. If a combat hardened veteran breaks down in tears while on a rifle range that is a sign that help is needed. If a veteran gets addicted to drugs while in theater is it any wonder they continue when they get home. If they become alcoholics while on duty why do we not do more to make sure they don’t get behind the wheel drunk when they get home. The lead up to these crimes, to the murders they commit, needs to have more focus on it, not less. Tell the family of a murder victim that you think it is more important that the good vets get jobs than their daughter not be dead. We can’t continue to cover up the problems veterans face.

On the other hand there is the punishment. Some crimes will happen even in the face of the best intentions to help a person. That does not give us the excuse to ignore problems such as those brought up by the NYT. That also however does not give us the right to ignore crimes when committed by service members. Anyone who thinks that punishment should be less had better be doing every damn thing possible to stop those crimes from happening, other wise we are opening up a legal loophole for murder. The first crime is the US as a country not taking care of the minds of veterans. The second crime is that of the veteran when they murder. Lets try to stop the first crime from happening in order to stop the second.

It doesn’t make you anti-war if you are willing admit you need help. Too many veterans have the ideology in their head that weakness is asking for help. That asking for help or questioning the war means you are a traitor. Our society, and especially in the military, vales a masculinity that is strong at all times, even to a fault. Men and women in the military are prone to holding themselves to a level of strength that we are now seeing crack under its own weight. The only people who benefit from that ideology are those in the Pentagon, VA and government; those who can show smaller number of vets who come home with a war torn psyche, spend less money on them once they come home and act like they doing the right thing for those who they send so easily off to war.
It is not weakness to need help. It is not treason to question the policy that forgets you so easily. Weakness is allowing someone else to tell you that you are fine even when you know you are not. The real weakness is sending people to war and not being willing to take care of them. The real strength is demanding that your willingness to serve the country be met with the willingness to keep you on your feet when you get home.