Retired General Thinks U.S. Troops Should 'Suck It Up'

http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Ret._General_Troops_grateful_for_hot_0620.html

Ret. General: 'If you can't embrace the brutality of combat, you shouldn't be in the infantry'

David Edwards and Muriel Kane
Published: Wednesday June 20, 2007

Dan Abrams reported Tuesday on MSNBC's Scarborough Country that "US commanders in Iraq are reportedly rejecting a recommendation ... that troops on the front line ... should get a month off for every three months that they serve."

"These are the toughest, most courageous combat troops we've ever fielded," stated retired General Barry McCaffrey in defending the rejection. "They are mostly not damaged by their combat exposure. In fact, they come home grateful for hot water, for living in this country, and for their families, not the victims of PTSD."

When shown statistics from a new report indicating mental health problems among 30% of soldiers who were in combat 56 hours a week, McCaffrey shot back, "Oh, come on now" and invoked the Battle of the Bulge during World War II. "It's a tough life," he insisted. "If you can't embrace the brutality of combat, you shouldn't be in the infantry."

- snip -

Prof. Charles R. Figley, a psychologist and expert on combat stress, rebutted McCaffrey's argument, saying, "We have never had a military engagement with this much intensity for this amount of time. ... There's all kinds of evidence to show that you just can't go that far without expecting breakdowns on the battlefield."

Paul Rieckhoff of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America remarked that "roughly one in three returning veterans are going to have some kind of mental health issue. Now, we can tell them, 'Be tough, suck it up,' or we can deal with what is really a readiness issue. ... We're running our people very hard, and we need to give them breaks so they can rest, refit, and also retrain."

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in an occupation that is not just senseless, but destructive to everyone involved?

..you got caught up in the bushits LIES and there ain't nothin' you can do about it. :sarcasm: Or is there?

While those who psychologically reject it are considered insane.

N/T

N/T

decider of who is insane or not?

but decided not too.

Shouldn't the retired general suck it up and get back in the game.

his helmet in florescent paint and a big blue flashing light mounted on top.

because it's never happened before. How would he know how soldiers should act after endless deployments, with no end in sight?

in extended, repeat tours on the front line?

This aggression is nothing but tip-toeing through landmine(IED) country. IMHO,the stress of that alone is worse than being in a firefight.

who has been in brutal combat has some problems. These problems have been given different names but the result is the same. Even the company commanders went nuts in previous wars. A person can only take so much stress before going off the deep end.

Fuck you,General...you and your kind who created the shell of a man that my son has become.Walk a mile in their multiply-deployed shoes and bring your crying candy-ass back and tell us how you bucked up.

My grandfather suffered for DECADES after the war. Nightmares, PTSD, Alcoholism, domestic problems. All of this from the psychological damage that McCaffrey's glorious Battle of the Buldge inflicted on him.

I hate these sick bastards that think the only measure of a man, or the only way to "make" a man, is to serve in some bloody conflict for no real reason...

Fuck Barry McCaffrey.

You should send an email note to the show about your grandfather.

Well, we wouldn't want to do anything to cut down on that gratitude, would we? I mean, hell, you don't drink a Pepsi while you're still on the treadmill, do ya? Same principle here. You don't really appreciate life in American if you get regular breaks from seeing your buddies ripped apart by IEDs.

That's just about the sickest thing I ever heard.

In other words, if you like brutality, consider it normal, and even relish it, you're our kind of guy.

Big talk from a guy who probably never came within 10 miles of a firefight.

It is surging thru the universe.
.

:mad:

:puke:

Google up his name. This creature is bad news.

Back then, to the limited extent that they had any understanding of the psychological effects of war, they called it being shell-shocked. But I don't think there were widespread, serious attempts to diagnose and treat the condition as a bona fide disorder. And I doubt that anyone tried to compile meaningful statistics on the numbers of shell-shocked WWII troops. But my guess is that the survivors of the Battle of the Bulge were significantly impaired by the experience.

These people are such unbelievable assholes.

dabrams@msnbc.com
also
viewerservices@msnbc.com

with nearly 40 percent of soldiers, a third of Marines and half of the National Guard members reporting symptoms

http://freeinternetpress.com/story.php?sid=12267

end of sentance---period.....

example of "Admirals Law", "nothing is impossible to those who don't have to do it!"

See how he likes being jerked around...

Don't you feel comfortable, having this sort of individual in charge of what you can do with your own body?