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Opinion Why Veterans Kill Themselves “Challenging People to Shape a Better Future Now” B ERNIE F OSTER Founder/Publisher B OBBIE D ORE F OSTER Executive Editor T ED B ANKS Advertising Manager J ERRY F OSTER Account Executive L ISA L OVING News Editor H ELEN S ILVIS Multimedia Editor D AVID K IDD Graphic Designer M ONICA J. F OSTER Seattle Office Coordinator J ULIE K EEFE S USAN F RIED Photographers The Skanner Newspaper, established in October 1975, is a weekly publica- tion, published each Wednesday by IMM Publications Inc., 415 N. Killingsworth St., P.O. Box 5455, Portland, OR 97228. R ecent figures indicate that for every soldier killed in Afghanistan and Iraq, 25 veterans commit suicide upon their return to the U.S. That is an astonishing statistic! How can this be? In 1971, Stanford University conducted a prison experiment to determine what the effects of imprisonment were on a selected group of students. One half of the students were chosen to act as prison guards while the other half were to be criminals convicted of serious crimes. The University had to bring the experiment to an abrupt end when it was discovered that the “prison guards” were becoming sadistic, violent oppres- sors, and the “criminals” were responding to the conditions of imprisonment in dangerously rebellious ways. The experiment underscored what happens to average, educated people, when they are treated without respect, and without pro- tections. More importantly, it demonstrated the catastrophic effect that unrestrained authority, violence and corruption had on those entrusted with the roles of caretakers and guards. We are witnessing a similar breakdown of morality and judg- ment among U.S. troops presently carrying out our imperialist wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, and elsewhere throughout the Middle East. “The Journal of Consult- ing and Clinical Psychology” recently issued the report that for every soldier who was killed in Iraq, Afghanistan and the Middle East over the last 10 years, 25 more veterans have committed P ROGRESSIVE A VENUES Luke Hiken & Marti Hiken suicide. Whether or not these sui- cide attempts are a result of PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder), mental health breakdowns, or the natural consequences of having good “soldiers” turn into murder- ing monsters because of the conditions they are placed under (i.e. the Stanford experiment), is debatable. Yet, what is more at issue here is the fact that over a half million soldiers and merce- provided a clue as to the disastrous results that unjustified wars have on the men and women asked to fight in them. But no, our Penta- gon and “misleaders,” have learned nothing from Vietnam, the Russian and French failures in Afghanistan, or our deceitful and shameful attack on Iraq. These “misleaders” are unaffected by the cruelty and viciousness of their overseas forays, while many engaged in these wars will spend their days contemplating killing themselves. Recent studies conducted by NYU and Stanford have docu- For every soldier who was killed in Iraq, Afghanistan and the Middle East over the last 10 years, 25 more veterans have committed suicide naries (i.e. “civilian contractors”) have returned home to our com- munities from the Middle East, and the Pentagon opines that approximately one third of them suffer from some form of PTSD. What these statistics highlight, is the moral depravity resulting from all aspects of our involvement in the Middle East, and the impact our colonial assaults have, not only on the defenseless popula- tions we have chosen to destroy, but also on the perpetra- tors of those assaults as well. It is impossible for soldiers to partici- pate in unjustified mass murder, and not be scarred by it. One would have thought that our expe- riences in Vietnam would have mented the fact that hundreds more civilians have been killed by the U.S. drone attacks than the Pentagon acknowledges. [3] Yet some bull-headed bureaucrat in the Defense Department, named John Brennan, has the audacity to explain to Obama that these stud- ies are inaccurate, and that our “pinpoint” accuracy with drones is only killing terrorists, and any unwarranted deaths are “extremely rare.” Are these patho- logically absurd comments by Brennan designed to insulate Obama from his slaughter of hun- dreds of innocent women and children identified in the studies, or do we assume that Obama is even more of a scoundrel than we imagined, for setting up a clown like Brennan to rubber stamp the illegal use of drones? A nation that murders civilians indiscriminately, wages wars of aggression against defenseless nations, and lies to its own people about our reasons for destroying governments around the world is not only subjecting its soldiers to resulting suicidal behavior, but destroying the moral integrity of the entire nation as well. At every sporting event where we see jet planes and U.S. flags displayed for purposes of propagandizing the American people to put up with our international war crimes, most of the people watching hang their heads in shame over the decline of what was once a great nation. The Stanford prison experiment was a microcosm of what is hap- pening to the U.S. worldwide. It demonstrates what happens to cit- izens who become international killers and to the nation that pays them to do so. Marti Hiken is the director of Progressive Avenues. She is the former Associate Director of the Institute for Public Accuracy and former chair of the National Lawyers Guild Military Law Task Force. She can be con- tacted at info@progressive avenues.org, 415-702-9682. Luke Hiken is an attorney who has engaged in the practice of criminal, military, immigration, and appellate law. Telephone (503) 285-5555. E-mail: info@theskanner.com World Wide Web site: http://www.theskanner.com Fax: (503) 285-2900 The Skanner is a member of the National Newspaper Pub lishers Associ- ation and West Coast Black Pub lishers Association. All photos submitted become the property of The Skanner. We are not re - spon sible for lost or damaged photos either solicited or unsolicited. © 2012 The Skanner. ALL RIGHTS RE SERVED. REPRODUCTION IN WHOLE OR IN PART WITHOUT PERMISSION PROHIBITED. To see The Skanner News on your smart phone go to theskannermobile.com or scan this QR code with your app. • • • • • • • • Local news Opinions Jobs, Bids Sports Entertainment Music reviews Bulletin board RSS feeds Families Struggle: Child Poverty Remains T he U.S. Census Bureau’s new poverty data for the states show millions of fam- ilies struggling mightily to keep their heads above water in the wake of the Great Recession. Fourteen states saw statistically significant increases in their child poverty rates, 26 states saw small increases, and nine states and the District of Columbia saw small declines in child poverty rates last year. But the morally scandalous bottom line is clear: 16.1 million children are poor in our rich nation with more than seven million liv- ing in extreme poverty, too often scared, hungry, and homeless. Although there are more poor White than Black or Hispanic chil- dren, Black and Hispanic children suffer most. In 25 states and the District of Columbia, at least 40 percent of Black children were poor; in four states, Iowa, Maine, Michigan, and Ohio, 50 percent or more of Black children were poor. Thirty-three percent or more of Hispanic children were poor in 32 states. In 2011, more than one in five children were poor in over half the states and the District of Colum- bia. In half of these states more than one in four children were poor. Children are the poorest age group in America, and the younger they are the poorer they are. More than one in four children under six were poor in 21 states and the Dis- Page 4 The Portland Skanner October 3, 2012 C HILD W ATCH Marian Wright Edelman trict of Columbia during their years of greatest brain develop- ment. In 30 states and the District of Columbia, 10 percent or more of infants, toddlers, and kinder- garteners lived in extreme poverty which means an annual family income of less than $11,511 for a family of four. Alabama 27.6 Kentucky 27.4 Arizona 27.2 Texas 26.6 Georgia 26.3 Tennessee 26.3 West Virginia 25.8 North Carolina 25.6 These shameful child poverty levels call for urgent and persist- ent action. Citizens must demand that every political leader state what they will do now to invest in and protect vulnerable children from hunger, homelessness, and poor education and to prepare them to be competent future work- ers. It’s way past time to eliminate epidemic child poverty and the Children are the poorest age group in America, and the younger they are the poorer they are The 13 states and the nation’s capital with child poverty rates 25 percent or higher are: Mississippi 31.8 New Mexico 30.7 District of Columbia 30.3 Louisiana 28.8 Arkansas 28.1 South Carolina 27.8 child suffering, stress, homeless- ness, and miseducation it spawns. A number of leading economists and researchers agree that invest- ing in children today is the best way to prepare and create a strong America tomorrow. As Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told participants at the Children’s Defense Fund’s national confer- ence in July: “Economically speaking, early childhood programs are a good investment with inflation-adjusted annual rates of return on the funds dedicated to these programs esti- mated to reach 10 percent or higher. Very few alternative investments can promise that kind of return. Notably, a portion of these economic returns accrues to the children themselves and their families, but studies show that the rest of society enjoys the majority of the benefits, reflecting the many contributions that skills and pro- ductive workers make to the economy.” Do most Americans really want our children to get poorer while the rich get richer and to allow our budget to be balanced on the backs of poor babies while millionaires and billionaires receive hundreds of billions in more huge tax cuts they do not need? If you do not, speak up and vote for a more just America for every child. Marian Wright Edelman is pres- ident of the Children’s Defense Fund. For more information go to www.childrensdefense.org.
