Opinion
Why Veterans Kill Themselves
“Challenging People to Shape
a Better Future Now”
B ERNIE F OSTER
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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.
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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.