John Whitehead's Commentary
War Is Hell: American Suicides in Iraq
Recent news reports that American soldiers are killing themselves at a high rate in Iraq are alarming. Indeed, suicide has become such a pressing issue that the military has sent assessment teams to Iraq to find out if anything can be done to prevent our troops from intentionally taking their lives.
However, the high suicide rate does not account for the large number of psychologically damaged soldiers returning from Iraq who are seeking help here at home. In fact, the "evidence suggests," writes T. Trent Gegax in Newsweek, "that a wave of combat-fatigued soldiers--as many as 20 percent of the 130,000 troops in the field--not seen since the aftermath of the Vietnam War is about to come crashing onto American shores." All this underscores the fact that war is not only physically devastating but psychologically devastating as well.
Unfortunately, war is not real for many of us. One reason is that the battles are fought so far away from home. Another is that war is often portrayed as an attractive venture. It is peddled by the mythmakers--historians, television journalists, war correspondents, filmmakers, novelists and the government--all of whom endow it with qualities it undoubtedly possesses at times: excitement, exoticism, power and a chance to rise above small situations in life. Thus, for many, war becomes an esoteric game. And while glorifying the organized killing that is known as war, the reality of its impact on human beings is often overlooked.
The myth of war rarely endures for those who experience combat. Indeed, soldiers who engage in actual skirmishes soon get a glimpse of what killing is like. "War is messy, confusing, sullied by raw brutality," writes war correspondent Chris Hedges in his book War Is A Force That Gives Us Meaning (2002), "and an elephantine fear that grabs us like a massive bouncer who comes up from behind. Soldiers in the moments before real battles weep, vomit, and write last letters home, although these are done more as a precaution than from belief. All are nearly paralyzed with fright. There is a morbid silence that grips a battlefield in the final moments before the shooting starts, one that sets the back of my own head pounding in pain, wipes away all appetite, and makes my fingers tremble as I ready myself to go forward against logic." And: "You do not think of home or family, for to do so is to be overcome by a wave of nostalgia and emotion that can impair your ability to survive. One thinks, so far as it is possible, of cleaning weapons, of readying for the business of killing. No one ever charges into battle for God and country."
All wars have a negative impact--some more than others. The First World War, for example, laid European humanity to waste. It eventually created the Axis powers and the devastation of the Second World War.
"The greatest generation" and WWII have repeatedly been glorified, and seldom have the detrimental effects of that war on the real fighting men been publicized. The fact is that the term "war is hell" is epitomized by the trauma this war inflicted on American soldiers.
Michael Zezima in his book Saving Private Power: The Hidden History of "The Good War" (2003) hardly paints WWII as a glorified event. Fear and anxiety often overcame our soldiers. In fact, at least 50 percent of U.S. combat soldiers soiled themselves during battle.
Psychologically, the costs of WWII were much starker. The psychological breakdown rate of men consistently in action for 28 days ran as high as 90 percent. As of 1994, roughly 25 percent of the World War II veterans still in the hospital were psychiatric cases. About 25 to 30 percent of wartime casualties were psychological cases (under severe stress conditions, that number could reach 70 to 80 percent). And during the battle of Okinawa, 7,613 Americans died and 31,807 sustained physical wounds, while an astounding 26,221 were mental casualties. In others, there were over 26,000 soldiers at Okinawa who could not fight due to mental breakdowns in combat.
The situation we face in Iraq may be even more acute than previous wars. As we hear of the daily killing of American soldiers, we must realize that in Iraq we are fighting a never-ending war against a phantom. The fact is that the Iraq occupation is an extended guerilla war, without a front or rear, in which countless civilians continue to be killed and maimed. "There's a larger sense of horror from the use of overwhelming force and seeing civilians suffer," Dr. Brett Litz, an expert on post-traumatic stress syndrome, has been quoted as saying, "that can leave an enduring mark on men and women." Moreover, one can only wonder what goes through the minds of American service personnel, never knowing when or if they will be picked off or blown to bits by a suicide bomber wearing explosives.
As the U.S. government continues to spread troops around the globe, the combat dilemma faced by American military personnel will grow more acute. But something even bigger is at play here. As Chris Hedges writes, "Modern industrial warfare may well be leading us, with each technological advance, a step closer to our own annihilation. We too are strapping explosives around our waists. Do we also have a suicide pact?"
However, the high suicide rate does not account for the large number of psychologically damaged soldiers returning from Iraq who are seeking help here at home. In fact, the "evidence suggests," writes T. Trent Gegax in Newsweek, "that a wave of combat-fatigued soldiers--as many as 20 percent of the 130,000 troops in the field--not seen since the aftermath of the Vietnam War is about to come crashing onto American shores." All this underscores the fact that war is not only physically devastating but psychologically devastating as well.
Unfortunately, war is not real for many of us. One reason is that the battles are fought so far away from home. Another is that war is often portrayed as an attractive venture. It is peddled by the mythmakers--historians, television journalists, war correspondents, filmmakers, novelists and the government--all of whom endow it with qualities it undoubtedly possesses at times: excitement, exoticism, power and a chance to rise above small situations in life. Thus, for many, war becomes an esoteric game. And while glorifying the organized killing that is known as war, the reality of its impact on human beings is often overlooked.
The myth of war rarely endures for those who experience combat. Indeed, soldiers who engage in actual skirmishes soon get a glimpse of what killing is like. "War is messy, confusing, sullied by raw brutality," writes war correspondent Chris Hedges in his book War Is A Force That Gives Us Meaning (2002), "and an elephantine fear that grabs us like a massive bouncer who comes up from behind. Soldiers in the moments before real battles weep, vomit, and write last letters home, although these are done more as a precaution than from belief. All are nearly paralyzed with fright. There is a morbid silence that grips a battlefield in the final moments before the shooting starts, one that sets the back of my own head pounding in pain, wipes away all appetite, and makes my fingers tremble as I ready myself to go forward against logic." And: "You do not think of home or family, for to do so is to be overcome by a wave of nostalgia and emotion that can impair your ability to survive. One thinks, so far as it is possible, of cleaning weapons, of readying for the business of killing. No one ever charges into battle for God and country."
All wars have a negative impact--some more than others. The First World War, for example, laid European humanity to waste. It eventually created the Axis powers and the devastation of the Second World War.
"The greatest generation" and WWII have repeatedly been glorified, and seldom have the detrimental effects of that war on the real fighting men been publicized. The fact is that the term "war is hell" is epitomized by the trauma this war inflicted on American soldiers.
Michael Zezima in his book Saving Private Power: The Hidden History of "The Good War" (2003) hardly paints WWII as a glorified event. Fear and anxiety often overcame our soldiers. In fact, at least 50 percent of U.S. combat soldiers soiled themselves during battle.
Psychologically, the costs of WWII were much starker. The psychological breakdown rate of men consistently in action for 28 days ran as high as 90 percent. As of 1994, roughly 25 percent of the World War II veterans still in the hospital were psychiatric cases. About 25 to 30 percent of wartime casualties were psychological cases (under severe stress conditions, that number could reach 70 to 80 percent). And during the battle of Okinawa, 7,613 Americans died and 31,807 sustained physical wounds, while an astounding 26,221 were mental casualties. In others, there were over 26,000 soldiers at Okinawa who could not fight due to mental breakdowns in combat.
The situation we face in Iraq may be even more acute than previous wars. As we hear of the daily killing of American soldiers, we must realize that in Iraq we are fighting a never-ending war against a phantom. The fact is that the Iraq occupation is an extended guerilla war, without a front or rear, in which countless civilians continue to be killed and maimed. "There's a larger sense of horror from the use of overwhelming force and seeing civilians suffer," Dr. Brett Litz, an expert on post-traumatic stress syndrome, has been quoted as saying, "that can leave an enduring mark on men and women." Moreover, one can only wonder what goes through the minds of American service personnel, never knowing when or if they will be picked off or blown to bits by a suicide bomber wearing explosives.
As the U.S. government continues to spread troops around the globe, the combat dilemma faced by American military personnel will grow more acute. But something even bigger is at play here. As Chris Hedges writes, "Modern industrial warfare may well be leading us, with each technological advance, a step closer to our own annihilation. We too are strapping explosives around our waists. Do we also have a suicide pact?"
ABOUT JOHN W. WHITEHEAD
Constitutional attorney and author John W. Whitehead is founder and president of The Rutherford Institute. His most recent books are the best-selling Battlefield America: The War on the American People, the award-winning A Government of Wolves: The Emerging American Police State, and a debut dystopian fiction novel, The Erik Blair Diaries. Whitehead can be contacted at staff@rutherford.org. Nisha Whitehead is the Executive Director of The Rutherford Institute. Information about The Rutherford Institute is available at www.rutherford.org.
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