My recommendation for two brilliant films to see for Memorial Day:
- "The Ground Truth" (2006)
- "The Veteran" (2011)
Both available on Netflix. Some quotes I find appropriate for this Memorial Day:
"About 18 veterans kill themselves each day. Thousands from the current wars have already done so. In fact, the number of U.S. soldiers who have died by their own hand is now estimated to be greater than the number (6,460) who have died in combat in Afghanistan and Iraq. Eleven years of war in two operating theaters have taken a severe toll on America’s military. An estimated 2.3 million Americans have served in Iraq or Afghanistan, and 800,000 of those service members have been deployed multiple times."
"Anthony Swofford on the Epidemic of Military Suicides"
http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2012/05/20/anthony-swofford-on-the-epidemic-of-military-suicides.html
"The organizing principle of any society is for war. The basic authority of the modern state over its people resides in its war powers. Today it's oil, tommorrow water. It's what we like to call the GOD business: guns, oil, and drugs. But there's a problem. Our way of life. It's over. It's unsustainable and in rapid decline. That's why we implement demand destruction. We continue to make money as the world burns. But for this to work, the people have to remain ignorant of the problem until it is too late. That's why we have triggers in place: 911, 77, WMDs. A population in a permanent state of fear does not ask questions. Our desire for war becomes its desire : a willing sacrifice. You see? Fear is justification, fear is control, fear is money. You're a brilliant soldier and I could still use someone like you."
Actor Brian Cox in "The Veteran" (2011)
"It seems to me also that in our days men abuse no less frequently that often affirmed principle: whatever I perceive clearly and distinctly of a thing is true and can be predicated of it. For frequently what appears to be clear and distinct to people who judge superficially is actually obscure and confused."
Gottfried Wilhelm Von Leibniz "Reflections on Knowledge, Truth, and Ideas" (1684)
3 comments:
It's tragic when anyone resorts to suicide, but this writer is misrepresenting the number who do so, whether intentionally or not. 18 veterans a day would be 6,570 per year, which is more than 20 times the actual number. The real number of military suicides was 278 in 2011, 305 in 2010, and near that level in previous years. Ask yourself why this writer would misrepresent such a serious statistic, and then ask whether you can really trust anything else they claim.
Moreover, the suicide rate is approximately the same in the military and civilian populations. But I guess that just doesn't support the narrative, does it?
Expected Optimism:
Not 'military suicides'! (Although the numbers for active duty suicides are troubling enough!) "Veteran Suicides" is what Mr. Swofford is detailing. He was probably sourcing from this study:
http://www.cnas.org/files/documents/publications/CNAS_LosingTheBattle_HarrellBerglass.pdf\
Here are some other secondary sources that quote that study:
http://www.veteranstoday.com/2011/11/02/a-veteran-commits-suicide-every-80-minutes/
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2010/04/military_veterans_suicide_042210w/
Once again without the backslash on the end:
http://www.cnas.org/files/documents/publications/CNAS_LosingTheBattle_HarrellBerglass.pdf
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