The Curmudgeon

YOU'LL COME FOR THE CURSES. YOU'LL STAY FOR THE MUDGEONRY.

Thursday, February 16, 2006

Lack of Moral Fibre

No doubt by coincidence, in the wake of the latest images of British troops acting like lesser breeds, the Independent has discovered that Iraq has "forgotten victims".

These are not to be confused with the victims of sanctions, who are a price worth paying; or with the victims of coalition bombing, who are collateral damage; or with the victims of suicide bombers, who are tragic but useful; or with the victims of Abu Ghraib, who are intermittently embarrassing; or with the victims of abuse by coalition troops, who are propaganda for the forces of evil. The "forgotten victims" are British troops - "at least 1,333 servicemen and women - almost 1.5 per cent of those who served in the Iraq war" - who have returned with "serious psychiatric problems".

An unknown number of people in the remaining 98.5 per cent of those serving in Iraq, particularly reservists, have mental health problems which are not being recognised or treated by the Ministry of Defence. There have been suicides. The MoD said that "the problems faced by reservists were not being neglected but no solution had been found" except to inform the National Health Service that those returning to civilian life may face problems. Perhaps, now that everyone has stopped smoking, the National Health Service will have the resources to cope. Then again, perhaps the suicides are just more collateral damage. They're certainly cheaper than counselling, and much less indiscreet.

A certain Lance Corporal McGough of the Royal Army Medical Corps "served in Iraq for three months after the invasion during some of the fiercest fighting" and treated Iraqi civilians as well as military personnel. "Some of the children suffered from burns, others had shrapnel and bullet wounds. It was very distressing," he said. "When I was there I just carried on with what I was doing. We were working 14, 16 hours a day". When he got back he suffered blackouts and vomiting which, given the hours, seems natural enough.

Of the 1,333 servicemen and women diagnosed with mental health problems, 182 have been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, 601 with "combat stress", 237 with depression and 167 with "other forms of mental illness or substance misuse". The significance of these victims is evident from the precise terms in which their numbers are stated. The victims of coalition bombing can barely be calculated to the nearest fifty thousand; and to the extent that such figures are discussed, the prefix "at least" is generally considered bad form.

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