Salem-News.com Iraq articles

VA and Army Medical Care: More Dangerous than IED`s
It`s Also More Futile

Because medical cannabis is legal in Oregon I ended up with about one thousand PTSD Vets from all recent wars as legal MMJ users.

(MOLALLA, Ore.) - Along with other writers here, I have repeatedly posted articles of the same tone and I have received dozens of emails agreeing with me or commenting further in the same vein.

I have had very few comments from Vets stating that they had received good or even adequate care.

Army Psychiatrists: PTSD & Major Hasan - Retread

It's not a personality disorder.

(MOLALLA, Ore.) - The Fort Hood Massacre leaves many questions in my mind. I can look at this and think about it from several viewpoints. I did have a year of psychology in college and a course of psychiatry in medical school. By any standard that is not enough.

I did have advanced psychology courses in the Infantry as a Private Combat Infantryman. I was convinced that most of my sergeants, junior officers and even farther up the brass chain were off kilter.

The Dog House Helps Vets With PTSD

Blackdog Foundation is a self funded veteran outreach that deals with the most unpleasant aspects of PTSD such as domestic/community violence intervention and mediation.

(OLYMPIA, Wash. ) - I started using the 38ft LCPL (WWII landing craft) my wife bought me to get Blackdog Foundation (Blackdog is a 501c3 set up to help veterans) out of her spare bedroom I was using as an office.

From the first time we used it, it blew me away how much peace using the boat brought those I was working with on PTSD issues.

Veterans Gather in Protest of `Death by Remote Control`

Peace Gathering in Hood River calls for end of Drone Warfare.

(HOOD RIVER, Ore.) - Anti-war Veterans and other activists gathering for a special event Friday in Hood River, Oregon, say the new form of warfare in Afghanistan and Iraq involves death being delivered by remote control from thousands of miles away.

Gordon Sturrock, co-founder of VeteransAgainstTorture.com, believes this death-from-beyond concept removes all signs of humanity from the process. He says for the pro-war set, "it is a new form of justice, It's a trial by Hellfire missile, quick and cheap. No need for expensive time consuming trials. No risk at all to American lives."

Medical Marijuana and the By-Product Industry: Drug Counselors, e.g. Roger Burt MSW

As marijuana becomes increasingly accepted, what will the people who profited from the misinformation do?

(MOLALLA, Ore.) - I hope everybody knows that I am a strong advocate for Medical Marijuana/Cannabis based upon its effective, safe medical use for the last 4000 years.

As a physician/pharmacologist/toxicologist who has assiduously studied the subject for 50 plus years I get horn swaggled by frequent articles about how useless, dangerous and addicting that this medicine is.

The Man Who Despises America: Mark Hyman

Is his anti-American rhetoric a threat to national security?

(SALEM, Ore.) - Mark Hyman of the notorious Sinclair Broadcasting Group, wrote a Veterans Day article full of blistering lies and thinly veiled racism directed at the American President.

I don't know if he is aligned with domestic terrorists or some other kind of anti-American activists, but Hyman was and is out to steer Americans off the cliff.

Visit From the Ghosts of Marine Corps Birthdays Past (VIDEO)

Stories from an inescapable lifetime connection to the Marines, a message from beyond, and several Marine related videos, happy 234th birthday Marine Corps!

(SALEM, Ore.) - As the U.S. Marine Corps observes and celebrates the day it was founded, in Tun Tavern, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on November 10th 1775, I can't help but reflect on what a hard road it has been for the men and women who wear the eagle, globe and anchor for a living.

Currently embattled on numerous fronts, Marines fight the enemy in combat, then return to fight their own government for compensation. And that's not to mention the fact that the Marine Corps can eat its own for lunch.

Blackwater Used `Child Prostitutes in Iraq`

The criminal activities of the firm first came under scrutiny after a group of the firm's members who were tasked to guard US diplomats in Iraq opened fire on civilians in Baghdad on September 2007, killing 17 people.

(BAGHDAD PressTV) - New disturbing charges have emerged against XE, the infamous private security firm formerly known as Blackwater Worldwide, whose operations came under spotlight after its 2007 carnage in Baghdad.

According to a report by MSNBC and based on alleged sworn declarations by two Blackwater employees in federal court, the firm used child prostitutes at its compound in Baghdad's fortified Green Zone.

PTSD: Misinformation & Misunderstandings

PTSD is real.

(MOLALLA, Ore.) - Battle/Combat is certainly one of the most psychologically stressful activities of mankind but it is certainly not the only one.

Terror fatigue is part of PTSD. Being fearful in an artillery or mortar barrage is routine. Repeated exposure results in “is my turn (for death or injury) next”. Any battle veteran will tell you “it just gets to you”. Even killing of ones enemies is stressful. The pilot of the plane bombing Hiroshima never got over it.

Tragedy at Fort Hood: A Catalyst for Change?

This is the stuff of tragedy and death, and if America does not alter the way it does its business in the world, what we have experienced at Ft. Hood may well be only a portent and not an isolated event.

(JACKSON, Miss.) - The incident at Ft. Hood was a genuine tragedy. I’m only surprised it didn’t happen sooner, there or somewhere else. It is going to take time for the details to be sorted out.

Generalizing from a single incident is always dangerous, no matter how compelling it seems. Sometimes an isolated tragedy is just that, an outpouring of individual dementia rather than a wide-ranging political statement.