Soldier Suicide as Political Statement Essay - 1218 Words

Soldier Suicide as Political Statement At least twenty-nine U.S. soldiers stationed in Iraq and Kuwait committed suicide between March 2003 and March 2004. Even the Pentagon considers this an alarmingly high suicide rate. It lead the military to commission a morale poll to be completed by Stars Stripes (August 2003) and to send in a special mental health advisory team to assess the situation. In April 2004, military officials reported the teams conclusion: while the suicide rate for soldiers overseas is almost double that of the civilian population, is not considered a crisis. (1) Perhaps these suicides tell us more about how the implementation of democracy and freedom in Iraq is going than we learn from other†¦show more content†¦During the Vietnam war, in an order to stop the war machine from the ground up, activists attempted to shift the moral conscience of the nation towards peace by stripping away the myths of the glory of war to reveal its abject brutality. They held individual soldiers, even dr aftees, accountable for violent acts done in the course of war. Soldiers returning from Vietnam did not receive a heros welcome. Without the heroic warrior myths to justify the horrors they witnessed (and perhaps engaged in), many Vietnam veterans succumbed to the pain of their conscience; impaired by guilt and post-traumatic stress disorder among other things, many have been unable to successfully re-enter civilian community. The mental health of these veterans was sacrificed in an effort towards grand social change. Yet war is still part of our foreign policy strategy. While peace activists today are more sensitive to the position of soldiers (they are not individually blamed for the actions of the government), because the military is now all volunteer and servicemembers, who are primarily working class, choose to be sent to combat, it is easier for U.S. citizens of middle and upper classes to slip into apathy about the sacrifices and the duties these people undertake in our name. Stanley Aronowitz writes, As the Vietnam war revealed, one of the most powerful sources of resistance to an unjust war are the working class, black and Latino grunts who do mostShow MoreRelatedUnited States Intervention Against The Terrorist Organization Isis1342 Words   |  6 PagesSimultaneously, H. A. Goodman attempts to appeal to the readers’ pathos. He states, â€Å"Once ISIS is defeated, American soldiers will have to occupy territory and be exposed to IEDs.† This statement isn’t backed by evidence, and its vague approach leaves room for the reader’s imagination. 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