Anti-War Protestors Demand Peace And Mental Health Care for Troops

By Mumbi-Michelle Kimani — 10/02/10
A massive group of anti-war advocates and veterans came to the nation’s capital today to demand an end to the war effort.
They are outraged with the trillions of dollars going towards the military budget. So they are calling for President Obama to stop spending on the war and start spending on education and health care.
Abayomi Azikwe is an organizer for the Detroit Coalition Against Police Brutality he says increased military spending is directly related to the high unemployment rate.
However, several demonstrators believe that patience is the answer. One war veteran said she sympathizes with the President. She believes he needs more time to implement his war exit strategy.
U.S forces have been in Afghanistan for 10 years. icasualties.org estimates 1179 American soldiers have died in the Afghanistan war while over 100,000 have been wounded.
Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Admiral Mike Mullen said he expects there to be an increase in the number of suicides among deploying service members.
The group Iraq Veterans Against the War have published medical studies estimating that up to half of all troops deployed to Iraq and/or Afghanistan have probably suffered from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). IVAW maintains that military mental health problems including troops taking psychiatric drugs have reached overwhelming levels.
The group has also launched their first campaign called Operation Recovery: Stop the Deployment of Traumatized troops. The group is close to reaching its goal of 2000 signatures on a petition pledge to defend GIs’ and veterans’ right to heal.