Omnicenter.org

OMNI NEWSLETTER ON CONSEQUENCES OF US WARS #2,
June 26, 2011, Compiled by Dick Bennett as part of OMNI’s multi-various
campaign to expose the harms perpetrated by US militarism and empire,
and for a Culture of Peace. (#1 April 9, 2011). See Dick’s Blog, “It’s the
War Department.”

Contents of #1 April 9, 2011
Iraq: Killing Innocents
Libya: Weapons
Our Soldiers
Combat Injuries
Deaths
Bitter Memories
Monetary Costs: Stiglitz and Bilmes
Civil Liberties Lost: Wiretapping, NYT editorial
Unintended Consequences: Hagan and Bickerton
Collapsing Empire: Glenn Greenwald
Contents of #2
Consequences to US Soldiers
Women Combat Amputees
Poster Girl Film
Suicides
Bradley Manning
Film: Beyond Treason, experiments on US military personnel
Consequences to Others
Bagram
Civilian Victims
Consequences to US Citizens: Civil Liberties Lost, Continued.
Consequences to Nature
Dai Dong
Film: Scarred Lands and Wounded Lives by Alice and Lincoln Day
Book: Green Zone by Barry Sanders
WOMEN COMBAT AMPUTEES
“Magnifying a Distinct Badge of Honor” by Jennifer Penate. Research Frontiers, UofA (Spring
2011). Account of a doctoral dissertation based upon interviews of six women amputees, their
physical and psychological problems. The deep flaw of the diss. is the uncritical treatment of the
women’s ignorance about the purpose of the wars. Apparently their recovery partly derived from their
erroneous belief “that their amputations occurred while protecting their country and freedom,” and they
risked their lives “for the safety of Americans,” when the US was not in danger and had not been
attacked by Iraqis or Afghans. Sadly, the women lost their limbs in an illegal, unnecessary war.
Poster Girl documentary (female hero PTSD on return home)(2010 film, 38 min.,
directed by niece of Ralph Nesson)
SUICIDES
MENTAL SUFFERINGS AND SUICIDES OF US TROOPS. A sharp increase of soldier suicides has
occurred recently, to an all-time high. In one period more suicides than combat deaths in Iraq and
Afghanistan combined. Growing evidence of neglect of PTSD soldiers showing suicidal signs. Mark
Benjamin’s studyxamines ten cases. For example, Adam Lieberman’s strong symptoms
of mental illness following his return from Afghanistan were treated by the Army as non-combat. He
turned to alcohol and prescription drugs and killed himself. Benjamin found many cases of depression,
violence, self-medication prior to suicide. Interv. Amy Goodman, Democracy Now, 2-20-09.
PTSD, SUICIDES, MILITARY CHOICE OF DRUGS OVER THERAPY
(from Citizen Soldier Reports 2011)
Soldier suicides increasing. 2009 rate highest since Army began keeping records in 1980. “In April
2010, the VA reported that an average of 18 veterans kill themselves each day; that’s 6,500 a year.”
Half of veterans who need treatment seek it, fearing damage to their careers. Only about half of these
receive adequate care.
Drugs instead of therapy. The military over-prescribes drugs like Paxil and Zoloft to “treat” PTSD
despite warning of the risk of suicide. Prescribing psychiatric medications for soldiers and dependents
has increased 42%.
Drugs are preferred at many military clinics because “psychotherapy would make them ineligible for
deployment and would be much more costly than drugs.”
Citizen Soldier:
New Resources in Bradley Manning Campaign
For those of you who want to participate more actively in the campaign to free Bradley Manning,
Courage To Resist has created an activist toolkit, jam-packed with useful info, strategy and resources.
The toolkit contains a breakdown of how to take individual action and encourage others, create and
host events, outreach to the media and ally.

FILM
Beyond Treason (2005). Our government experimented on US military personnel without their
consent, with dire consequences to the victims. LSD, Agent Orange, radioactivity, depleted uranium.
The Gulf War Syndrome included not only depleted uranium effects but also of chemical and
biological weapons Result: hundreds of thousands of soldiers were injured or even killed. Of course
there was zero concern for the “enemy” civilians similarly harmed by DU. Good explanation of the
lethality of DU.
CONSEQUENCES TO OTHERS
Bagram prison, bigger than Guantanamo, its prisoners in limbo,
cries out for some news coverage
COMMENTARY | May 31, 2011
Some 1,700 detainees are being held with no charges, no trial, no way to prove their innocence despite a Marine Corps general's 2009 report saying many should be released. In addition, there has been almost no in-depth news coverage of practices that, if widely known, would no doubt add to the call for removal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan and criticism of the government’s conduct of the war. Read More: --Tirman, John. The Deaths of Others: The Fate of Civilians in America’s Wars. Oxford UP, 2011. Rev. The Progressive (July 2011): “the definitive study.…a must-read.” by J. Glenn Gray Fourteen years after his discharge, Gray began to reread his war journals and letters in an attempt to find some meaning in his wartime experiences. The result is The Warriors, a philosophical meditation on what warfare does to us and an examination of the reasons soldiers act as they do. Gray explains the attractions of battle—the adrenaline rush, the esprit de corps—and analyzes the many rationalizations made by combat troops to justify their actions. In the end, Gray notes, “War reveals dimensions of human nature both above and below the acceptable standards for humanity.” CIVIL LIBERTIES LOST“The American Police State Is the 'New Normal' Jared Spurbeck, Y!News Contributor Network Shutting down websites, tasering nonviolent people to death, stealing your cellphone (and its data), arresting nonviolent activists, it's getting pretty crazy out there. READ MORE CONSEQUENCES TO LAND, SPECIES, CLIMATEDAI DONGDuring the 1970s, the Fellowship of Reconciliation organized an early international effort to make people aware of the harms by wars to the land and species, called Dai Dong. See this account: Paul Dekar’s Creating the Beloved Community (Chapt. 5) (2005). FILM ON WARS’ DESTRUCTION OF ENVIRONMENT: SCARRED LANDS WINS HIGH AWARDLETTER FROM CREATORS OF Scarred Lands and Wounded Lives, Alice and Lincoln Day, whom many of you met when they brought their film to OMNI to show. 4-26-11 “ Dear Dick. We're just back from Houston,TX where it received a Special Jury Remi award. Details below:Scarred Lands and Wounded Lives: the Environmental Footprint of War was presented with the highest level of award handed out at the Saturday night, April 16, awards dinner. The award plague reads: WORLDFEST - 2011 SPECIAL JURY REMI AWARD THE 44th ANNUAL AWARD WORLDFEST - HOUSTON INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL FILM & VIDEO REMI AWARDS . ECOLOGY/ ENVIRONMENT/ CONSERVATION "SCARRED LANDS & WOUNDED LIVES: THE ENVIRONMENTAL FOOTPRINT OF WAR," ALICE AND LINCOLN DAY. We went up on the stage, accepted the plaque, emblazoned with the Lone Star and our names and the film's name on a gold label and our photos were taken with Master of Ceremonies, Hunter Todd. Quite a thrill. We knew we were going to receive a prize, but didn't know it was going to be the highest level.
Our website: been revised. It now makes available the trailer and full version for both Scarred Lands and What We Are Leaving Behind”Best, Alice BOOKBarry Sanders, Green Zone: The Environmental Results of Militarism. 2010.
ANNOTATE END OF CONSEQUENCES NEWSLETTER #2

Source: http://omnicenter.org/storage/newsletters/2011/2011-06-26b.pdf