[Peace-discuss] IVAW: Operation Recovery

[Robert Naiman]

Campaign for GI and Veteran Rights - First sector: Right to Heal
Operation Recovery: A Campaign to Stop the Deployment of Traumatized Troops
http://www.ivaw.org/operation-recovery

Campaign for GI and Veteran Rights - First sector: Right to Heal
Operation Recovery: A Campaign to Stop the Deployment of Traumatized Troops

Join our campaign now by making a Pledge of Support

Thousands of troops are being sent to war despite suffering from Post
Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), and
Military Sexual Trauma (MST).  Many of us within IVAW have faced or
are currently facing deployment as we try to recover from the severe
trauma we have already experienced.

While we recognize that we must stop the deployment of all soldiers in
order to end the occupations in Iraq and Afghanistan, we see the
deployment of soldiers with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Traumatic
Brain Injuries, and Military Sexual Trauma as particularly cruel,
inhumane, and dangerous. Military commanders across all branches are
pushing service members far past human limits for the sake of 'combat
readiness.'  We cannot allow those commanders to continue to ignore
the welfare of their troops who are, after all, human beings.

There is a problem, a basic right is being denied, and we will
organize to get it back.

This issue affects all of us. Everyone needs to recognize that the
improper standards of care in the military and VA are harming our
brothers and sisters, our nation, and only furthers the cycle of
dehumanization and destruction of these wars.

Service members have the right to heal
Because the military is desperate for warm bodies in the field, and
the VA doesn't have the resources to serve all those in need, too
often service members are conveniently denied care or access to
quality mental health screenings.  We say, service members with PTSD,
TBI, MST, and combat stress have the right to high quality health
care.  They have the right to seek care and pursue treatments in the
best interest of their health and well-being.

Service members have the right to receive medical care and advice from
medical professionals. 
A commander's orders always supersede the
opinion of military medical professionals when it comes to the
well-being of our troops.  We say, no military authority shall
override the advice of medical professionals regarding the health of
service members.

Service members who experience PTSD, TBI, MST, and combat stress have
the right to exit the traumatic situation and receive immediate
support, and compensation.
 Too often, service members are forced to
redeploy back into dangerous combat, or train in situations that
re-traumatize them.  We say, individuals suffering from trauma have
the right to remove themselves from the source of the trauma. Service
members who are not physically or mentally healthy shall not be forced
to deploy or continue service.

We will support service members standing up for their right to heal,
and we will stand against those responsible for violating them.

We will expose those responsible for the deployment of traumatized
troops. Those responsible will do everything they can to hide the
truth, but Operation Recovery will expose the truth.

We will demand those responsible for the deployment of traumatized
troops end this inhumane practice, and back our demands up with
collective action.

We will end these wars by winning our right to heal We know that
without the repeated use of traumatized soldiers on the battlefield,
the occupations in Iraq and Afghanistan could not continue.


Join our campaign now by making a Pledge of Support.

-- 
Robert Naiman
Policy Director
Just Foreign Policy
www.justforeignpolicy.org
naiman at justforeignpolicy.org

Urge Congress to Support a Timetable for Military Withdrawal from Afghanistan
http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/act/feingold-mcgovern