Enlisting in the US Military

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by
Ron Paul

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We Have Learned From Afghanistan



I am reading
the heartbreaking suicide
note of Daniel Somers, a US combat veteran who spent several
years fighting in Iraq. Mr. Somers was only 30 years old when he
took his own life, after being tormented by the horrific memories
of what he experienced in Iraq. He wrote:

“The
simple truth is this: During my first deployment, I was made to
participate in things, the enormity of which is hard to describe.
War crimes, crimes against humanity. Though I did not participate
willingly, and made what I thought was my best effort to stop these
events, there are some things that a person simply can not come
back from.”

Many who shout
the loudest that we must “support the troops” urge sending them
off to unwinnable and undeclared wars in which there is no legitimate
US interest. The US military has been abused by those who see military
force as a first resort rather than the last resort and only in
self-defense. This abuse has resulted in a generation of American
veterans facing a life sentence in the prison of tortured and deeply
damaged minds as well as broken bodies.

The numbers
sadly tell the story: more military suicides than combat deaths
in 2012, some 22 military veterans take
their lives every day, nearly 30
percent of veterans treated by the VA have PTSD.

We should be saddened but not shocked when we see the broken men
and women return from battles overseas. We should be angry with
those who send them to suffer and die in unnecessary wars. We should
be angry with those who send them to kill so many people overseas
for no purpose whatsoever. We should be afraid of the consequences
of such a foolish and dangerous foreign policy. We should demand
an end to the abuse of military members and a return to a foreign
policy that promotes peace and prosperity instead of war and poverty.

See
the Ron Paul File

June
26, 2013

Dr. Ron
Paul was a Republican member of Congress from Texas.

Copyright ©
2013 Ron Paul Institute for
Peace and Prosperity

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This article originally appeared on: Lew Rockwell