However, a report released today by the Army shows the psychological price paid by our troops for this dramatic increase in combat. Morale has "plummeted," and they are seeing the highest rates of mental health problems in 5 years.
"There are few stresses on the human psyche as extreme as the exposure to combat and seeing what war can do," according to the Army surgeon general, Lt. Gen. Eric B. Schoomaker, speaking at a Pentagon news conference.And the level of war-horror stories is astounding:
Some 70 percent to 80 percent of troops surveyed for the report said they had seen a buddy killed, roughly half of soldiers and 56 percent of Marines said they'd killed an enemy fighter, and about two-thirds of troops said that a roadside bomb – the No. 1 weapon of insurgents – had gone off within 55 yards of them.Is it worth it? Is it any longer necessary, if it ever was?
I still like my idea from 2001 -- don't drop bombs on Afghanistan; drop food, medical supplies, build them schools and bridges and roads. That would win the Afghan people; instead we alienated them by invading their country and killing innocent civilians. It would have cost less, maybe done more to win out over the Taliban, and a lot more of our young men and women would be alive and un-maimed.
Ralph
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