Veterans lack mental health help: Comment

The Pogues sing: "And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda"

A Nation is meant to be judged on how it treats those who are less able to protect themselves; the very young and the old; the poor and the sick and those with disabilities. The 'Con-Dem-Nation' of a government that we are afflicted with in the UK fail in my eyes in every one of those areas. Their right wing reactionary policies dictated by the desire to destroy the NHS, tax the Working Class and destroy the system of benefits relied on by those that are unemployed (through government cuts and a recession caused by the wealthiest in society) and the severely disabled, to finance tax brakes for those that need it the least, are destroying the lives of those at the lowest end of society. It is not just a cancer that afflicts the Millionaire Ministers of Her Majesty's Government in the UK. We saw exactly what Mitt Romney and his party think of the '47%', the poorest in society (see the video below)! Why would multimillionaires and Billionaires in the Republican Party care about feeding the poor or medicating the sick other than I believe it to be a basic human right to have sustenance and health?

Mitt Romney on Obama Voters

Even more sickening to me is a report in today's papers about lack of support for veterans of our Armed Services suffering from mental health problems.

I am not a militarist, I have no understanding of why someone would choose to be cannon fodder for an uncaring and aloof government and outmoded system of power and influence through force. In my mind the answer to Plato's question is 'Might is NOT right'. I do not have any comprehension of why someone would choose to become a trained killer and actually utilise these abilities, however, young men and women are asked by this country and every other country to do just that and it is not for me to comment or to vilify those that make that choice for what ever their personal reasons.

War is not glorious. As Wlifred Owen put it in Dulce et decorum est:

My friend, you would not tell with such high zest

To children ardent for some desperate glory,

The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est

Pro patria mori.

War is dirty. It is vicious. It kills and maims women and children, the aged and infirm. Innocents are brutalised alongside the professional soldier; Freedom Fighter; Terrorist, what ever we name we give to those who take up arms for what ever cause and with what ever justification. I thank God that I have never been put into the position to make the choice, to do so or not.

This being said, those that do make the choice to 'Fight for Queen and Country' deserve to be treated by the government of this Realm with dignity and respect and uphold a duty of care to those who have done so. 

It was piteous and lamentable that in the run up to the Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the Blair government allowed troops (against the wishes of the majority of the people of these islands) to go to War. He allowed troops to be deployed without the necessary means to protect themselves, with a lack of basic equipment. This cannot be undone, however lessons must be learned!

In the last few months we have learned of front-line troops receiving redundancy notices while still in active service in these countries, and of a lack of specialist help for those sustaining 'life changing wounds' in the field of battle. The arrogance and callousness of the government in the former is at least being balanced by improvements in the latter. However, once these men and women leave 'the forces' there seems to be no follow through.

In today's papers, there is a report that states:

As many as one million military veterans in the UK could be suffering from mental health problems, the former head of defence clinical psychology at the MoD (Ministry of Defence) has said. 

Many of the UK's five million ex-service personnel do not have access to adequate treatment services, according to Professor Jamie Hacker Hughes-and the problem is growing as an additional 24,000 people leave the armed forces every year.

Professor Hughes, visiting professor of military psychological therapies at Anglia Ruskin University, said 20 per cent of military veterans who develop mental health problems also face a postcode lottery of treatment.

"There are lots of excellent services for veterans but not everyone has access to them," he said. "There are large areas of the country where there are no specialist mental health provisions." Veterans also see mental health problems as shameful and hide their symptoms, he added.

Steve McQueen 'Queen and Country' detail

Having to witness and participate in the carnage and horrors of war and conflict, is there any wonder that some troops would have mental health problems? And in the Ivory Towers of government, the 'Con-Dem-Nation' stick their heads up their arses as they whistle 'Rule Britannia' and award themselves another pay and pension rise, while clapping them selves on the back at just how well they are doing in destroying the NHS, The Working Classes, and the ability of those with the most severe disabilities from retaining a dignified existence, in the name of 'reducing the deficit!'

They can try their weak justifications in other areas and believe that they may be winning the argument, however, in the treatment of those damaged in the belief that they were fighting for 'Queen and Country,' there can be no justification of this crass and immoral lack of resources!

This and every other government will be judged by the people that they claim to represent, and I believe that judgement already exists: that they are morally corrupt and socially ambivalent to the needs of those to whom they have a duty of care.