From the New York Times:
Across America, Deadly Echoes of Foreign Battles
“The New York Times found 121 cases in which veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan committed a killing in this country, or were charged with one, after their return from war. In many of those cases, combat trauma and the stress of deployment — along with alcohol abuse, family discord and other attendant problems — appear to have set the stage for a tragedy that was part destruction, part self-destruction.”

The NY Times article certainly gives the impression that a ton of vets are coming home crazy and killing people. But is that really accurate? The Veterans of Foreign Wars say not so.

From the VFW:
VFW Slams NY Times for Wacko Vet Story
“The national commander of the nation’s largest organization of combat veterans is furious at the New York Times for not fact-checking the Jan. 13 article that portrays servicemembers returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as mentally unstable and more likely to commit violent crimes than nonveterans.”

“This is irresponsible journalism,” said Veterans of Foreign Wars National Commander George Lisicki, a Vietnam veteran from Carteret, N.J., “because it twists facts to perpetuate a myth that combat veterans are crazy and more likely to commit violent crimes. This dishonors the service and integrity of 1.5 million servicemen and women who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan.”

(snip)

“The Times documentation of 121 potential killings out of more than 1.5 million veterans of Operation Iraqi Freedom (Iraq) and Operation Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan), divided by 6 years of conflict results in a murder rate of just 1.34 incidents per 100,000 veterans per year. That murder rate is far lower than the murder rate for the general population, demonstrating that the experiences of military service – including having served in Iraq and Afghanistan – actually made it less likely for returning veterans to commit murder once they returned home, than the general population.”

Posted by Vixen in News