A soldier came home to Springfield, Illinois, to find that his local paper was writing about the IVAW. The Illinois Times wrote a somewhat favorable article on vets against the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Problem is, they didn't do much research. Here are the key graphs: ...Iraq War veterans Aaron Hughes of Chicago, Scott Kimble of Champaign, and Brock McIntosh of Normal spoke about Operation Recovery, which opposes sending troops with PTSD, Traumatic Brain Injury, and Military Sexual Trauma back into battle. Operation Recovery insists that traumatized veterans have the right to heal. “I think it’s morally abhorrent to send mentally traumatized soldiers back to battle where they use heavy weapons and armor,” McIntosh said. “Many of these soldiers are on psychotropic drugs and are a danger to themselves, to fellow soldiers and everyone else.”... Twenty percent of troops deployed repeatedly have PTSD, Hughes said. Suicide rates among active-duty troops are twice as high as that of the civilian population, and veterans with PTSD are six times more likely to attempt suicide, according to the IVAW. Hughes said that Military Sexual Trauma is a major problem for female soldiers, one third of them suffering sexual assault. Ninety percent of women soldiers seeking help from the Veterans Administration report sexual assault from fellow soldiers, he said. “Women have to go to their commander to prove their case first,” Hughes explained, and often their complaints are dismissed. “Women are expected to return and serve with the same soldiers who assaulted them,” he said. The actual number of cases of MST is difficult to verify, as many sexual assaults go unreported. According to a 2004 study cited by the Service Women’s Action Network, 71 percent of women veterans seeking help from the VA had been sexually assaulted... So the returning soldier decided to respond: Ms. Lee, I hope this email finds you well. I just finished reading your article on the IVAW members who recently visited Springfield. I'm currently serving on active duty in the US Army, and from their description of my Army I would hardly recognize it. I noticed you did attempt to do a little fact checking in the article, but if you did more you would note some more inconsistencies between statements made by Hughes, Kimble, and McIntosh, and actual facts. I think I'm most disturbed by Mr. Hughes unchallenged assertion that sexual assault victims have to go to their commanders first to prove their case, and they are usually brushed off at that level. If you consult the Army's Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Program information at www.sexualassault.army.mil you would realize this is not the case at all. To allow his assertion to make it to publication, and as a result painting our military as a group that is focused on sweeping rape under the rug, is just plain irresponsible reporting. Another statistic stated by Mr. Hughes is that the suicide rate among the military is twice that of the general population. 2009 was the worst year recorded for suicides in the Army. Unfortunately in 2009 we lost 160 Soldiers to suicide. That is 160 Soldiers out of an Army force of 1,156,616 which translates into a rate of 13.8 per every 100,000. In 2007 according to the National Institute of Mental Health the general population suicide rate was 11.3 per every 100,000. In our worst year on record, we came nowhere close to having a rate double that of the general public, and yet again his false claim goes unresearched, unchallenged, and even worse, published. There are more things in there claims that don't pass the smell test, but these two are the easiest to show to you this morning. Please, in the future, be a responsible journalist and check claims, facts, and statistics before publishing them. Enjoy this holiday season. The editor and journalist responded and we expect more from the returning vet in response. Over at This Ain't Hell - the vets who made a cottage industry out of busting the liars at IVAW - have more info about the people that the journalist talked to...go check it out. And feel free to send a polite and professional email to the Illinois Times about research (email form at the top of the article). After all, they can't leave finding facts up to us veterans only, can they? Update: Here is the vet's formal response (and. it. kicks. ass.): I read with great interest the Illinois Times' article on Iraq Veterans Against the War and there recent visit to Springfield. I have served in the Army for five years, and am still on active duty. My service has taken me to Afghanistan and large parts of Latin America. I have seen the good, the bad, and the ugly of military service, and the service they describe is one that is radically different then what exists in reality. Aaron Hughes describes a military service where “Women have to go to their commander to prove their case first, and often their complaints are dismissed." One where “Women are expected to return and serve with the same soldiers who assaulted them,”. The Army I serve in recognizes there is no place for sexual assault in today's professional Army. Each unit has a victim advocate trained in how to respond to victims of sexual assault, and trained in how to handle their complaint in a manner the victim chooses. Each victim, upon making a complaint, is given the service of a Sexual Assault Response Coordinator who walks the victim through the process, while ensuring the rights of the victim are always respected. Mr. Hughes describes an Army where we hide Sexual Assault. In the Army I serve in we take sexual assault serious. We strive to create an atmosphere where it is not tolerated, and a system that protects the victim, while punishing the guilty. Mr. Hughes describes a military service where suicides are twice the rate of that in the civilian world. Let the truth be told, 2009...
Read the complete post at http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Blackfive/~3/tR44hIJKPr4/when-the-ivaw-jackwagons-come-to-your-home-town.html
Posted
Dec 23 2010, 12:18 AM
by
BLACKFIVE