Articles of Interest

(My brain is a little tired today, so I am going to completely defer to others for my posting. These are some interesting articles that I have read this morning.)

The Tragedy of Our 'Disappeared' Veterans
By Penny Coleman, AlterNet. Posted August 12, 2009.

How the justice system has been manipulated to put astonishing numbers of vets with PTSD and other psychiatric injuries behind bars.

The reality is that nobody knows the precise number of veterans who have ended up behind bars in the aftermath of America's wars.

There are more than a few reasons why military and government officials might want those numbers to remain hidden, but certainly among the most compelling is cost.

Large numbers of veterans in prison suggest a pattern, perhaps even a causal relationship between military service and behaviors that lead to incarceration, lending support to those who argue that such behaviors should be seen as possible symptoms of a service-connected injury deserving of treatment and support rather than punishment.

When the patterns are hidden -- the numbers unavailable -- it is easier for the military to pretend that the problem is with a given individual and not systemic.

(click link for complete story)
http://www.alternet.org/world/140828/the_tragedy_of_our_

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AMID RISING VET SUICIDES, HOPE FOR PTSD SUFFERERS

Clinical Studies of Non-Drug Treatment Show Promising Results
08.10.2009 – SANTA ROSA, CA.

The Army recently announced that the number of military suicides has risen to unprecedented levels — 41 in January and February alone, compared to 16 in the same period of 2008.

One of the few bright spots in this picture is emerging from new scientific research on PTSD. Two pilot studies have been done with veterans with PTSD, and have found statistically significant improvements. After treatment, the average veteran is PTSD-free, and remains so even when re-tested one year later.

They are being treated with EFT or Emotional Freedom Techniques, an innovative method which pairs the recall of traumatic memories with physical stimulation of specific points on the body to discharge stress.

(click link for complete story)
http://www.pitchengine.com/elitebooksenergypsychologypress/amid-rising-vet-suicides-hope-for-ptsd-sufferers/21255/

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Iraq Vets Stress Project
(the link below is related to the article above)
http://www.stressproject.org./multicitystudy.html

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Truthout Original

Another Soldier Refuses Afghanistan Deployment
Wednesday 12 August 2009 - by: Dahr Jamail, truthoutreport

Sgt. Travis Bishop, who served 14 months in Baghdad with the 3rd Signal Brigade, faces a court-martial this Friday for refusing to deploy to Afghanistan.

Bishop is the second soldier from Fort Hood in as may weeks to be tried by the military for his stand against an occupation he believes is "illegal." He insists that it would be unethical for him to deploy to support an occupation he opposes on both moral and legal grounds and he has filed for conscientious objector (CO) status.

Spc. Victor Agosto was court-martialed last week for his refusal to deploy to Afghanistan. Agosto's lawyer, James Branum, who is also Bishop's lawyer, is the legal adviser to the GI Rights Hotline of Oklahoma and co-chair of the Military Law Task Force. Branum told Truthout during a phone interview on July 10 that, contrary to mainstream opinion that believes Afghanistan to be a "justified" war, the invasion and ongoing occupation are actually in violation of the US Constitution and international law.

(click link for complete story)
http://www.truthout.org/081209A?n