Althouse: Working the combat-stress-without-the-combat theme.

November 7, 2009

Working the combat-stress-without-the-combat theme.

The NYT loves its theory of the Fort Hood attack.

215 comments:

«Oldest ‹Older 201 – 215 of 215

JAL said...: Veil schmale

He wanted the wife in the full burqa.; 11/7/09, 10:20 PM
From Inwood said...: Paul Zrimsek

You're ready for prime-time Army shrink work! 1:44 & 1:52. ROFL.

I feel I'm in the middle of the Walter Mitty movie (1947; Danny Kaye).

Mark Steyn, on Rush Limbaugh, called it “PPTSD” or “Pre-Post Traumatic Stress Disorder”.

Hell, I have PTNYTD & I don’t even read the NYT unless I see one of its Loony Liberal Syndrome stories being debunked on a blog.

And I had Pre-Post Traumatic Stress Disorder when the NYYankees lost game six of the World Series & all for naught since they eventually won handily.

In my corporate legal practice, some clients who’d screwed up royally were stressed royally & if they were important enough clients it was stressful to deal with them. Didn’t know that I, moi, needed psychiatric help!

But if these clients had gone to a civilian shrink should I have been afraid that this shrink would go postal against the corporation’s employees?

If he did, would I have rushed to excuse him or would ordinary people have been “very interested to know the role that stress (from the work he did, but also other areas of stress) and the seeming loss of control over his life having to go to Afganistan [sic]) played in his dispicable [sic] acts ...”?

{OK, none of my clients ever had to go to Afghanistan!)

See V. D. Hanson:

“While there is sometimes talk of backlash and anti-Muslim hysteria since 9/11, I don’t think the number of Muslims attacked or killed is comparable to the number of non-Muslims killed by Muslims who evoked Islam in some way as a catalyst for their angers. Nor do we see comparable serial Christian, Hindu, or Jewish-inspired attacks either against mosques and Muslims or the policies of the United States government, either by single actors or more active and organized plotters.”

And remember that it’s the 99% of Muslims who are giving the other 1%a bad name!; 11/7/09, 10:27 PM
Cedarford said...: Lisa said...
The Telegraph even commented on how hard the American media was going out of its way to avoid blaming this on Islam even though he was shouting Allah Akbar and had a history of supporting suicide bombing.

It is my hope that the US media will bow to common wishes that the public safety and the risk of other Islamoids in the military or other critical positions not screened for Jihadi sentiments trumps the "alleged suspects" rights. His right to lawyer up, his lawyers efforts to block public disclosure of evidence, to have all info concealed in order to "preserve his rights to a fair trial" many months or years off.

And coincidentally, to CYA the Army and FBI people who investigated him, found very disturbing things, and hesitated to act out of fear som NYC lawyer in robes on a Federal bench somewhere would ruin their careers for "racial, religious bigotry profiling". Right now, Undoubtedly! - there are people in the FBI and the military that would like no investigation.

===============
PatCA said...
I can't bear to read the article. Our suicidal PC-ness is just too much today.

The Bushes went to see the wounded and the bereaved today; Obama went...to Camp David.

The idea of the President as Consoler in Chief who is obligated to go to the scene of any publicized tragedy to lay his healing hands on the victims or Noble Victim Families!!! is as stupid, irritating, and pernicious to public understanding of Presidential constitutional duties as the timeworn "chickenhawk!!" meme.

The argument goes that certain military worshippers or victims advocates demand unlimited time of the President to personally show up at any incident or event they deem important...or it shows He Doesn't Care!! And any side distraction like working on the economy, jobs, healthcare, repairing the still dangerously unstable financial system, or talking with Japanese leaders on Asian affairs is a distraction when He Could Be Handing Out Ice to Hero Victims of a Hurricane! Or visiting Wounded Warrior Heroes. (All of them!) All Victim families! (with 2.4 million people dying in America each year, 100s of thousands tragically "before their time" that is a lot of Victim Families for the Consoler-In-Chief to attend to)

And the usual stupid snide crack.."While Bush was meeting with fishing industry officials, our wounded heroes in the Detroit VA Center were in pain, wondering when Bush would ever find time to meet with each and everyone of them." "While Obama was vacationing in Hawaii, 4 Heroes in Afghanistan stepped on an IED. Enjoying your pinapple spritzer, Mr. President? TELL IT TO THE VICTIM FAMILIES OF THE FALLEN HEROES!!"

Like "Chickenhawk" this crap is played by both sides endlessly.

Bush visited families at a base near his home? Good. THough his Presidency was badly damaged by his overfocus on the military, war, his "heroes", and Evildoers where he neglected his other duties to the Citizenry - preferring only to focus on "Being a War Time President - the Commander in CHief - with no time left for all that unimportant financial stuff, trade stuff, healthcare problems stuff.

Meanwhile, Obama, though I hope his agenda and policies fail, was not "at Camp David" but was at Capital Hill this Saturday pushing to pass healthcare.; 11/7/09, 10:29 PM
From Inwood said...: Paul Zrimsek

You're ready for prime-time Army shrink work! 1:44 & 1:52. ROFL.

I feel I'm in the middle of the Walter Mitty movie (1947; Danny Kaye).

Mark Steyn, on Rush Limbaugh, called it “PPTSD” or “Pre-Post Traumatic Stress Disorder”.

Hell, I have PTNYTD & I don’t even read the NYT unless I see one of its Loony Liberal Syndrome stories on a critical blog.

And I had Pre-Post Traumatic Stress Disorder when the NYYankees lost game six of the World Series & all for naught since they eventually won handily.

In my corporate legal practice, some clients who’d screwed up royally were stressed royally & if they were important enough clients it was stressful to deal with them. Didn’t know that I, moi, needed psychiatric help!

But if these clients had gone to a civilian shrink should I have been afraid that this shrink would go postal against the corporation’s employees?

If he did, would I have rushed to excuse him or would ordinary people have been “very interested to know the role that stress (from the work he did, but also other areas of stress) and the seeming loss of control over his life (having to go to Afganistan [sic]) played in his dispicable [sic] acts ...”? ((OK, none of my clients, at least as far as I know, had to go to Afghanistan!)

See V. D. Hanson:

“While there is sometimes talk of backlash and anti-Muslim hysteria since 9/11, I don’t think the number of Muslims attacked or killed is comparable to the number of non-Muslims killed by Muslims who evoked Islam in some way as a catalyst for their angers. Nor do we see comparable serial Christian, Hindu, or Jewish-inspired attacks either against mosques and Muslims or the policies of the United States government, either by single actors or more active and organized plotters.”

And remember that it’s the 99% of Muslims who are giving the other 1%a bad name!; 11/7/09, 10:36 PM
From Inwood said...: C4

You forgot your usual rant about Bolshevik Jewish psychology.; 11/7/09, 10:38 PM
Unknown said...: DrillSgt.,,
Another story from a time when we still believed in civilization enough to fight for it...cartoonist David Low portrayed Mohammed in a cartoon, and a local imam traveled to India and stirred everyone up to riot. Low and the government refused to apologize. Riot ended.

Those were the days!; 11/7/09, 10:40 PM
Synova said...: Blackfive.net has some very good discussions of PTSD.

The gist is that it's usually as the Drill Sgt said. It's survival reflexes held over into the new environment as well as our brains attempting to cope. Some people come back from active combat with no symptoms at all. Probably most people have some... because their life depended on those reflexes... even on the FOB... and it helps most to realize that this is entirely sane and rational responses to have and they'll fade. And some people have serious, debilitating responses and need to get real help.

And oh, absolutely, if you're dealing with trauma directly, patching people up or watching them die... you're entitled to some PTSD of your own.

But REALLY... the idea that the stress of military service got to this guy, or the lack of control over his own life as he was going to be deployed... it's so much BS.

And the media that is bringing PTSD into it is absolutely and with malice aforethought indulging in the slander and defamation of ALL soldiers.; 11/7/09, 11:08 PM
AllenS said...: Remove the cash reward for being diagnosed with PTSD, and the syndrome will pretty much go away.

AllenS
Combat veteran; 11/8/09, 5:17 AM
AllenS said...: I should have also said, 11B2P.; 11/8/09, 6:06 AM
The Drill SGT said...: AllenS said...
I should have also said, 11B2P.

that translates into;

11B = Light Infantryman
2 = rank E-4 (e.g. Corporal or Specialist 4)
P = parachutist

Allen was in either the 82 Airborne or the 173rd Airborne as I recall

in other words a Combat Infantryman, a grunt; 11/8/09, 7:04 AM
Bob said...: A "shout out" to the Bushes. They actually went to Ft Hood, visited the wounded, and left. All without the press.; 11/8/09, 7:47 AM
AllenS said...: I was in both the 82nd and the 173d. Spec. 4. Grunt all the way. CIB and wings. Don't get much better than that.; 11/8/09, 8:39 AM
Cedarford said...: AllenS said...
I was in both the 82nd and the 173d. Spec. 4. Grunt all the way. CIB and wings. Don't get much better than that.

The true tip of the spear.; 11/8/09, 9:44 AM
MnMark said...: Time and again we hear this: "don't stereotype or blame all muslims because of the actions of a few."

OK, I have a question then: what percentage of a population has to be dangerous before you think it is legitimate that we be concerned about them? Does every single muslim have to be dangerous before the Danielles out there will agree that muslims are dangerous? Where do you draw the line? Because their rule seems to be that as long as you can find one muslim who's a nice guy and no threat at all, you can't make any generalizations about muslims.; 11/8/09, 10:38 AM
Jim Treacher said...: No doubt his religion gave him some sense of justification, but that doesn't explain things very well when he's so similar to lone gunmen who are Christians or agnostic or Church of England.

It explains why he wasn't drummed out of the Army.; 11/8/09, 9:04 PM