WASHINGTON, Jan 13, 2008 (UPI via COMTEX) -- At least 121 killings in the
United States have involved veterans of the wars in Afghanistan or Iraq, The New
York Times reports.
Of the 121 cases examined by the newspaper, 75 percent involved active duty
soldiers, 50 percent involved guns and the remainder involved knives, beatings
and strangulations, The Times said Sunday.
U.S. Defense and Justice Department officials say the incidents reflect a
heightened attention given to military affairs by the post-Sept. 11 media
environment.
But psychiatric and other medical professionals say that, while violent crimes
committed by veterans have many causes, "combat, especially in a
counterinsurgency war, is such a powerful experience that to discount it would
be artificial."
Times investigators found few of the veterans received significant mental health
screening following their deployments and most were not evaluated until they
were arrested or otherwise implicated in violent crimes.
Critics say the military's mental health system is overburdened and "woefully"
understaffed.
"To deny the frequent connection between combat trauma and subsequent criminal
behavior is to deny one of the direct societal costs of war and to discard
another generation of troubled heroes," one criminal defense attorney told The
Times.
URL: www.upi.com
Copyright 2008 by United Press International