60,000 Marriages Broken by Iraq War

[Jcrowley]

60,000 Marriages Broken by Iraq, Including Mine
By Stacy Bannerman, The Progressive. Posted March 5, 2007



We hadn't talked about the possibility of him being deployed for months, not since President Bush had declared, "Mission accomplished." But I knew exactly what he meant; I didn't know then what it would mean for us.

We weren't prepared, and neither was the Guard. The Guard sent him into harm's way without providing some of the basic equipment and materials, such as global positioning systems, night vision gear, and insect repellant, that he would rely on during his year-long tour of duty at LSA Anaconda, the most-attacked base in Iraq, as determined by the sheer number of incoming rockets and mortars, which averaged at least five per day.

Unlike active duty military, the National Guard had no functional family support system or services in place. While the Guard was scrambling to get it together, my husband was already gone, and I was alone, just months after we had moved to Seattle.

<snip>

The escalation contradicts the advice of top U.S. military officials. Although the majority of Americans are opposed to the "surge," most members of Congress are reluctant to block the supplemental appropriations request that will fund it, claiming that they don't want to abandon the troops. Congress has abandoned the troops for nearly four years. It is the soldiers, their families, and the people of Iraq that pay the human costs. The tab so far: more than 3,000 dead U.S. troops, tens of thousands of wounded, over half a million Iraqi casualties, roughly 250,000 American servicemen and women struggling with PTSD, and almost 60,000 military marriages that have been broken by this war. Including mine.

http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/48788/

[DemBones DemBones]

1. What was that about family values?

Guess it doesn't apply to helping military families under great stress. It is never easy to be a military wife or a military brat but during war it's far worse.

[hippiechick]

2. You took the words right off my fingers ...

:hi: The GOP are such freakin' hypocrites. :(

[Swede]

5. They're too worried about homosexuality ruing marriages.

It's just maddening to try and understand these right wingers.

[Breeze54]

3. And they're not counting all the "Dear John" letters...

of what might have been... It's pretty sad, all around. The whole damn mess! :grr:

[shain from kane]

4. A surge in divorces.