General William Odom Tells Senate Rapid Withdrawal Is Only Solution

TESTIMONY BEFORE THE SENATE FOREIGN RELATIONS COMMITTEE ON IRAQ
By William E. Odom, LT General, USA, Ret.

2 April 2008

Good morning Mr. Chairman and members of the committee. It is an honor to appear before you again. The last occasion was in January 2007, when the topic was the troop surge. Today you are asking if it has worked. Last year I rejected the claim that it was a new strategy. Rather, I said, it is a new tactic used to achieve the same old strategic aim, political stability. And I foresaw no serious prospects for success.

I see no reason to change my judgment now. The surge is prolonging instability, not creating the conditions for unity as the president claims.

Last year, General Petraeus wisely declined to promise a military solution to this political problem, saying that he could lower the level of violence, allowing a limited time for the Iraqi leaders to strike a political deal. Violence has been temporarily reduced but today there is credible evidence that the political situation is far more fragmented. And currently we see violence surge in Baghdad and Basra. In fact, it has also remained sporadic and significant in
several other parts of Iraq over the past year, notwithstanding the notable drop in Baghdad and Anbar Province.

More disturbing, Prime Minister Maliki has initiated military action and then dragged in US forces to help his own troops destroy his Shiite competitors. This is a political setback, not a political
solution. Such is the result of the surge tactic.

http://www.afterdowningstre...

 Winter Soldier video

While the Winter Soldiers offered a searing critique of the military's treatment of civilians, which they described as alternately inhumane and sadistic, they also empathized with fellow soldiers thrust into a chaotic urban theater where the lines between combatants and civilians are blurred. "It's criminal to put such patriotic Americans...in a situation where their morals are at odds with their survival instincts," said Adam Kokesh, who served as a Marine sergeant in the raid on Fallujah in 2004.

For active-duty soldiers and veterans, testifying about combat duty carries new risks--including the possibility of being charged in military court for complicity in war crimes or in federal court under the War Crimes Act of 1996. But such concerns were not enough to silence their voices. "If it's a choice between sitting in cowardice and not speaking up against things that are wrong or being court-martialed, I'll take the court-martial," said Selena Coppa, 25, an active-duty military intelligence sergeant and one of several women who spoke at the hearings.

http://www.thenation.com/do...

 Loose Change, good advice galvandr, here`s the link and video

http://www.loosechange911.c...

 4012.

4010.

 Instead of loose change, do something to see if the REALLY want to help themselves...

Give them a business card and offer them work if they contact you. I have done this many times. I have even been willing to CREATE a job for them within my company if they really want to get back on their feet.

Not even ONE time has anyone taken me up on the offer of honest work instead of a handout. Not ONCE.

 Point well taken "hotandfoggy'; from now on when i give them some loose change, I'll also inform them where to seek help if they wish.

 Thanks Marylee for your column on Vets and Help for PTSD!  NAMI Kern County's FRONT LINE project is designed to provide support and education to our soldiers, their family and loved ones and our community.  Hopefully, all interested in PTSD regardless of origin (car accident, sexual assault, severe injury or witness of tragedy) will come out and learn from our soldiers and their families' stories.  This Conference on April 1st is FREE and the speakers have a positive message!  Hope to see those interested there!  Russ Sempell, Co-Founder and President of Kern County NAMI For more info contact me at the phone # in the article.

 Good article. PTSD is real. Good Samaritan sucks. It is because Good Samaritan refuses to take patients that KMC gets a lot of the blame. Galvnder, I share your concerns that the people on the street need professional help, but there isn't many social programs to help them.  I have given a man with one leg off of Mt. Vernon a dollar a few times, despite what he might do with it  because it is difficult and timeconsuming to go through the process of getting help from social programs. If he has a problem with depression and he doesn't have access to anti-depressants, I would rather have him drink away his sorrows than jump off a bridge.

Good Samaritan Hospital isn't really a good samaritan. I had a friend who was trying to be admitted there, but they wouldn't admit her because she didn't have insurance.  They also didn't admit another man because he didn't have insurance. They instructed my friend and the man to go to KMC. That man had serious problems. His family said that they didn't want to transport him to KMC because he had already tried to jump out of the car a couple of times.  The people at Good Samaritan were very rude and told his family to have a cop transport him. The family then asked Good Samaritan to call a cop for them, and they were told to do it themselves. The family said they didn't have a cell phone, and the receptionist reluctantly let them use their phone. The family then asked them what number they should call and the receptionist said 911. The hospital should have at least made the call. They should have had a procedure in place to transport patients that they wouldn't admit. Every other hospital is forced to admit people in need regardless of their ability to pay. If they can't pay, then they hook up the patients with a social worker that helps them fill out paperwork for Medi-CA.  Anyways, we transported my friend to KMC and waited an hour and a half for her to be evaluated. The other man stayed outside with a police escort. If that man's family wasn't as assertive, he could have ended up killing himself jumping out of a car or hurting someone else in his state of mind.

Good Samaritan has no problems turning down patients and putting the public's safety in jeopardy to make the most money. I honestly hope they get sued.

Yes,that was my meaning...any major stress can cause the syndrome .

 4007.

Watching the 80 something veterans talk about their WWII experiences,they all talked much like Chico and his friend...except now they allowed themselves to cry. I read this article and thought about my exSO,he "drove on" as was said,yet much like Cassandra story there were nights he'd "wake" and try to choke me... then I could always really wake him up,but it is scary.

When I read the list of symptoms,I acquired most of them after my boy's deaths. Post Traumatic Stress is,in this mothers opinion, quite real. As was also said,not an excuse to continue bad behavior at all,but something to be aware of certainly. Certainly nothing to be ashamed of in any way~ the human mind is a wonderful self protecting device.

 Yeah, you're probably right. I never analyzed my drinking, just recognized it as a problem and had the motivation to do something. Not on my own by any means, I had help from some patient people.

 I drank a good bit after VN too

Then I realized it was just an excuse to drink

Not puttin anybody else down, every body's different, but I was using it for an excuse

Like Oenghus said, an excuse for my own failures, shortcomings

I think his take on it is pretty spot on

But that's what I would expect from one of the purest soldier/warriors I've ever come across........

 As a personal aside: Two types of personality I most mistrusted; the individuals who could not get past their normal fears and function and the ones who had no fear at all (and were gung-ho to shoot somebody). I did not want either in my bunker or foxhole or patrol. These guys could scare me more than the enemy who would shoot at me.

I know about nightmares and dreams. They became further apart and faded altogether. I did have my bout with alcohol after my discharge. Decades past my discharge I got around to checking out the Viet Nam Memorial. I wanted to find a name of a buddy and give him my own silent "rest in peace." I couldn't remember his first name. I guess I am more fortunate than the ones who don't forget.

The condition has been around for quite awhile. Although the names shell-shock or battle fatigue have evolved to our current terminology, the diagnosis has been constant since the first World War.  I would have to say  the condition is very real given the length of time it has been studied.

 I have to agree with Chico. without doubt, anyone who experiences combat is affected by it. what separates the wheat from the chaff, though is how they handle it. The vast majority work through it. They suck it up and drive on with the rest of their lives.

Some however, find it to be a convenient excuse for failure... a convenient excuse for not taking responsibility for their lives and their actions.

Everybody comes home with scars. Some just use them as an excuse to whine for the rest of their lives. This is not to say that NO ONE suffers derious psychiatric damage as a result of being on the two way rifle range. Of course, some do... but they are a VERY small minority.

 Some of the most hardened combat veterans I know are convinced PTSD is BS.

I'm not convinced myself one way or the other.

Certainly combat is traumatic but some are so sensitized to it they cannot even view pics of the countryside where they were 35 or 40 years later. Some use it as an excuse to take drugs, guzzle booze, whatever......

A bunch of gun truck buds just came back from a trip to where we all were for at least part of our tour(s). The normal person does what he has to, then moves on.

Those hardened SF types I spoke of are almost to a man of the opinion that PTSD is more an indicator of a character defect in the individual than a pervasive  "condition" that warrants special treatment.

Then I think of Ira Hayes and how he dealt with his post war experiences. In his case, though, I think he just couldn't handle the pressure from those that wanted to politicize his heroism, more than from the trauma from what he had seen and did.

 My uncle was in one of the first waves to land at Iwo Jima.  The only thing that was talked about in the family is that he said they had to walk over the bodies of their buddies on the beach.  He was shipped back to San Fransisco with "Shell Shock."  I guess that would be considerd PTSD now.

A young man who grew up next door to us was in Vietnam.  His father told me how the young man would wake the house screaming in his sleep.

It is very tragic but it isn't new.   There is a greater understanding of it now and it seems, a lot more help for the soldiers who have to live with it.  My hope is that the returning military will seek the help they need.

 my husband suffers from this.  he does very strange things in his sleep and has become violent while sleeping when i would  try and wake him.  PTSD is no joke and if you know anyone suffering from this please encourage them to see someone about it. i know nothing can take the memories away but having someone who understand what's going on with you might  be extremely helpful.

 Casualties of War has been around since war began.  Percentages here, percentages there it doesnt matter.  What matters  is, what is the nation doing about it.  This program is one of many; but how do we get our veterans to acknowledge that they may be afflicted with it.  Do we as citizens facilitate thier not getting the help they need when we see one along the road begging for change (with a sign in the backgorund saying "veteran");  A percentage of what we give them on the street goes to thier habit.  Lets not give them anything, but tell them to seek help they need and tell them where they can find it.  PTSD is a very small percentage compared to other mental illnesses that abounds our society, what are we doing about them.  Equality in all.  

Very sad.   The "war on terror" has claimed 4,500 American soldiers' lives, another 50,000 wounded, and now we hear about 50,000 mental casualties.  And, as catpaw implies, that is only the diagnosed number.  

Does anyone still think this war was a good idea (the Iraq part at least)?

 Excellent column on a very serious issue!

 Amen to that.

 My hat is off to  " Doc "-- thats what we use to call them.....they were right there with us when the *&^% hit the fan.....if it wasn't for them, alot of men and women wouldn't be home today.....Semper Fi Doc.....job well done.....

 Speaking from personal experience and observation, no person can experience a combat zone and not be changed into something different than when he left. Describing war as "hell" can be an understatement: it is the very depths of insanity. I think every vet should get a time period of R&R readjustment with a psych interview before being discharged.