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An ignored trauma of Iraq and Afghanistan

Things aren't going as well in Iraq and Afghanistan as the US pr machine would suggest. What is often overlooked is effect on the military who have served in both areas of war. Anyone who has seen the remarkable and moving movie "Stop Loss" will have a more ready appreciation of what those who return from the battlefields of war experience.

Now, The Independent reports on what the British are ignoring - the trauma of servicemen and women who have returned to the UK:

"Andy McNab, the former SAS soldier turned author, has warned that Britain faces a social crisis because of the mental trauma suffered by veterans of the Iraq and Afghan wars.

"This is not something new, people have been suffering from some form of post-traumatic stress disorder for years from past conflicts, yet we still don't have anything like an adequate system for looking after them," McNab told The Independent.

He said that the Government's ongoing neglect of its soldiers' mental health when they come back from front-line action would lead to unprecedented levels of mental illness, and in some cases suicide – as had happened with several of his Special Forces colleagues."

The fall-out of what Bush, Blair and Howard allowed to happen with the war on Iraq keeps on - and they stand sorely condemned.

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