Pint0 Xtreme wrote:I'm sorry but that article was a little skewed there. They're saying wounded Iraq veterans would receive absolutely no sympathy, understanding or respect? Hello! I see vehicles on the freeway all the time with "Support our Troops" stickers and Bush has the whole nation riled up in "supporting our troops".
I
might be a little more reassured if the bumper stickers said "Support Our Wounded Veterans" or even and over-the-top "I Kissed a Marine Who Had His Face Shot Off in Iraq"
In past wars we didn't have such a high proportion of wounded among casualties - in Iraq, 90% of the casualties survive, which is utterly unprecedented in warfare and a miracle of modern medicine. While some of those wounds are minor, all too many are absolutely devastating. These are horrific injuries that even trauma surgeons can have a hard time coping with on an emotional level. I've seen some of the pictures coming back from the front lines and... well, I don't think I have the words to do them justice. It's one thing to talk about a young, 20 year man's legs reduced to ground meat and bone chips, half eviserated and the surgeons needing to sew a plastic sheet to his abdomen to hold his remaining guts in because there's not enough skin left to close the gaping hole, and oh, yes, as an aside, he's lost three fingers on one hand and suffered nerve damage in that arm and lost an eye and most of his teeth but those are
minor compared to the hash his lower body has been converted into.... another thing entirely to see it documented in a photo spread. Personally, I'm quite happy I don't have to deal with it in person with the accompanying sounds (the man was concious when brought into the field hospital) and smells (blood, intestinal contents, chemicals from the "improvised explosive device", fuel and charred plastics from the humvee he had been riding in, charred clothing and burned meat....)
In any other war this man would have died. Now he has survived. He's in a military hospital in the US
right now. Him and others like him. He could live 60 or more years in his shattered body. What kind of life will he have? Granted, there was that senator from Georgia (I'm pretty sure it was Georgia" who was a triple amputee and had a loving wife and family and did quite well -- who lost the last election after being branded "unpatriotic" by the right-wing neocons who sat out the very war this gentleman gave two legs and an arm for. But for every success story such as his you have
hundreds who drink themselves into an early grave in the slums of the US, or kill themselves more directly.
These men are far less likely to marry. Many will be unable to work. Particuarly in the case of severe facial wounds, they will be isolated from society - either rejected by others or self-rejected and self-secluding. There are a lot of cases of brain injuries coming back from Iraq, and in some ways brain injuries can be more devastating than the loss of a limb because they can screw up a person's ability to
adapt, which is a vital part of rehab.
And, as bad as the maimed have it in the US, the maimed of Iraq have it worse - fewer medical resources, fewer chances of overcoming the odds. For every American maimed in this war, there are multiple Iraqi civilians facing the same sorts of injuries with fewer resources.
It makes me want to vomit.
The right wing