Pentagon Changes Tune About War Dead Coverage

At his first prime-time news conference, President Obama said his administration would review the Pentagon policy that banned the media from taking pictures of the flag-draped coffins of U.S. troops returning from the battlefield with Defense Department officials. Apparently that review was concluded and according to CNN:

The Pentagon will lift its longtime ban on media coverage of the flag-draped coffins of war victims arriving at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, according to a senior U.S. defense official with direct knowledge of the decision.

The coverage must be approved by the victims' families, however. Advocates of opening the base to coverage say the unmarked coffins make it impossible to identify specific remains.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates is to announce the change at a news conference at 2 p.m. ET, the senior official said. He ordered a review after President Obama asked for more information on the long-standing policy.

Though the Defense Department won't confirm it, it is widely accepted that the ban began after the December 1989 U.S. invasion of Panama, which deposed dictator Manuel Noriega.

While this is a step in improving transparency to reporting the full scope of the carnage of war to the public, it is long overdo.

PTSD: Iraq Veterans Deserve Better

Veterans from the Iraq war and Afghanistan are coming back to a country that is not well-prepared to deal with their many psychological needs and a military that wants them to do more. In this season of giving, we need to remember these brave men and women.

Here is a sad example from the AP story of Sgt. 1st Class Patrick Henderson who returned from Iraq and was turned into a military recruiter. His wife found him in a shed behind their house hanging from a dog chain due to the pressure he was under to recruit and the nightmares he carried with him from fighting in Iraq. He was treated by a local counselor who did not have a handle on the military jargon on his medical record and was ineffective in treating him.

The RAND Corporation estimates that 20 percent of Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans report symptoms of PTSD or major depression. Only half have sought treatment. With deployment topping 1.5 million by the summer of 2007, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has treated more than 52,000 persons,

The symptoms are PTSD are broken into three broad groups:
- Reexperiencing: This involves intrusive memories and flashbacks.
- Avoidance: Symptoms include isolation, withdrawal, emotional numbing, detachment, memory loss.
- Hyperarousal: Patients experience insomnia, irritability, outbursts and poor concentration.

According to Medscape, "estimates are for a minimum of 300,000 psychiatric casualties from service with an estimated lifetime cost of treatment of $660 billion. That is more than the actual cost of the war to date ($500 billion).

A study of the first 100,000 [Iraq and Afghanistan] veterans seen at VA facilities showed that 25% of them received mental health diagnoses. Of these, 56% had 2 or more mental health diagnoses. The most common were PTSD, substance abuse, and depression," Dr. Kanter said. "The younger the veterans are, the more likely they are to have mental health conditions."

Evaluation immediately on return from deployment suggested that 5% of active duty and 6% of reserve personnel had a significant mental health problem. When reassessed 3 to 6 months later, 27% of active duty and 42% of reserve personnel received that evaluation."

Headlines from the War

On October 24th, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that the two wars in Iraq and Afghanistan could cost taxpayers a total of $2.4 trillion by 2017 when counting the huge interest costs because combat is being financed with borrowed money, according to a study released on Wednesday.

Today, Washington Post and the AFP say a new study by congressional Democrats estimates the economic costs could send the price tag of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan ballooning to 3.5 trillion dollars by 2017, Democrats warned. This report estimates the conflicts “hidden costs,” which include oil prices, interest payments on money borrowed to pay for the wars and treating wounded veterans. "The full economic costs of the war to the American taxpayers and the overall U.S. economy go well beyond even the immense federal budget costs already reported." Through 2008, it is estimated that the combined wars will cost a family of four $20,200 in taxes.

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On the brighter side...

The U.S. military is sending 3,000 soldiers home from Diyala province, the second large unit to leave Iraq as troop levels are cut after a 30,000-strong "surge" earlier this year.

Soldiers from the 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, will not be replaced by a new unit when they leave the ethnically and religiously mixed province north of Baghdad by January, military officials said on Tuesday.

Instead, troops from the larger 4th Striker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, located near Baghdad, will take over the area, said military spokeswoman Major Peggy Kageleiry. There are around 162,000 U.S. soldiers in Iraq, the Pentagon said.

About 2,200 Marines from the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit left western Anbar province in late September under President George W. Bush's plan to cut troop levels in Iraq.

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