Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
Dick Cheney said of Congress: “When members speak not of victory, but of time limits, deadlines or other arbitrary measures, they're telling the enemy simply to watch the clock and wait us out.”
CNN’s Wolf Blitzer asked former Senator Max Cleland, who lost both legs and an arm in Vietnam, if he could sit down with Cheney, what would he say to him? Cleland replied; “Where the hell were you in the Vietnam War? If you had have gone to Vietnam like the rest of us, maybe you would have learned something about war. You can't keep troops on the ground forever.... As a matter of fact, the real enemy is al Qaeda. It's al Qaeda, stupid! It's not in Iraq.”
Next Blitzer asked: “And what would you say to the president?” Cleland answered: “You screwed up royally when you said, four years ago, major combat over, mission accomplished, bring 'em on. That means you should have gone to Vietnam and learned that you don't challenge guerrillas that way, people who want to blow themselves up just to take you out.... We're just bogged down in Baghdad with no hope of getting out under this administration.”
When asked: “And your Democratic colleagues here in Washington, they seem to be divided over what to do next, some are really pushing hard to cutoff of funding, others saying you can't do that. What advice do you have for them?” Cleland responded: “Keep on pushing, because the right thing to do is to withdraw the ground forces from Iraq and settle this thing about the stability of Iraq and the future of Iraq by diplomatic means.”
Cleland, who had headed the Veterans Administration, points out that you can't repeatedly send young Americans to a place like Iraq over a period of four years and expect them to come home and just fit right in. Over 300,000 Iraq and Afghan veterans have come home suffering emotional trauma.
They experience Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, which often stays with them, the rest of their lives. Walter Reed Hospital and the Veterans Administration are set up to deal with it, but they're overwhelmed.
It’s important to intervene quickly with PTSD counseling, because they’re suffering emotionally as well as dealing with their physical wounds.
As triple amputee, Cleland insists the deepest wounds and scars of war are psychological, mental and emotional, which you carry to your grave. Major depression should be anticipate and if we don't intervene with the emotional aftermath of war early, it can turn into alcoholism, drug addiction, depression and suicide.
CNN’s Wolf Blitzer asked former Senator Max Cleland, who lost both legs and an arm in Vietnam, if he could sit down with Cheney, what would he say to him? Cleland replied; “Where the hell were you in the Vietnam War? If you had have gone to Vietnam like the rest of us, maybe you would have learned something about war. You can't keep troops on the ground forever.... As a matter of fact, the real enemy is al Qaeda. It's al Qaeda, stupid! It's not in Iraq.”
Next Blitzer asked: “And what would you say to the president?” Cleland answered: “You screwed up royally when you said, four years ago, major combat over, mission accomplished, bring 'em on. That means you should have gone to Vietnam and learned that you don't challenge guerrillas that way, people who want to blow themselves up just to take you out.... We're just bogged down in Baghdad with no hope of getting out under this administration.”
When asked: “And your Democratic colleagues here in Washington, they seem to be divided over what to do next, some are really pushing hard to cutoff of funding, others saying you can't do that. What advice do you have for them?” Cleland responded: “Keep on pushing, because the right thing to do is to withdraw the ground forces from Iraq and settle this thing about the stability of Iraq and the future of Iraq by diplomatic means.”
Cleland, who had headed the Veterans Administration, points out that you can't repeatedly send young Americans to a place like Iraq over a period of four years and expect them to come home and just fit right in. Over 300,000 Iraq and Afghan veterans have come home suffering emotional trauma.
They experience Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, which often stays with them, the rest of their lives. Walter Reed Hospital and the Veterans Administration are set up to deal with it, but they're overwhelmed.
It’s important to intervene quickly with PTSD counseling, because they’re suffering emotionally as well as dealing with their physical wounds.
As triple amputee, Cleland insists the deepest wounds and scars of war are psychological, mental and emotional, which you carry to your grave. Major depression should be anticipate and if we don't intervene with the emotional aftermath of war early, it can turn into alcoholism, drug addiction, depression and suicide.
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