BBC-TV report on US troops coming home with post-traumatic stress syndrome
broadcast: Wednesday 18 May 2005
BBC Television News
US troops struggle with post-war trauma
One in five American soldiers returning from Iraq suffers some form of trauma or depression according to the latest surveys.
1. Go to BBC home page.
2. Search Engine at top, enter: Post Traumatic Stress
3. Click on this story on right side of results page for video report.
This is the first news agency I've seen to take a serious, in-depth whack at this unhappy story. The long interview is with a US Army lieutenant back from combat in Iraq. He is asked if he would prefer to have lost a leg or an arm in combat than to have come home with his psychiatric difficulties. Though Vietnam is never mentioned, the interview takes place against the backdrop of the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington DC.
Incidentally, one facility on the Pentagon's list of recommended closings last week is Walter Reed Army Hospital in Washington DC, Army medicine's premier and prestigious "jewel in the crown." If it closes, it will close just at peak demand for Iraq/Afghanistan Army casualties. It is clear the Bush administration started these wars with defective intelligence and tremendously flawed strategic planning. Now it is clear they have no plan at all -- an anti-plan -- for the military casualties of these wars.
posted by Vleeptron Dude | 23:15
2 Comments:
I can't access it i get this message:
We're sorry. The content you requested is available for UK users only.
PS Did you also move to the UK like Paltrow and Madonna and have been keeping it a secret?? hehehe
Ah. Okay. Sorry. Here in USA, the Public TV station shows one nightly broadcast of BBC TV News, and I saw this troubling (unhappy, tragic) story on that broadcast. I know BBC on the Internet puts these stories on in Internet form, and I've had good luck with some before. But this time, for Portugal, no luck. I will try to see what magic I can do.
By the way: The lieutenant answered: I would gladly trade the loss of one of my legs for the emotional troubles I have had since I came home from Iraq.
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