Nate Peele
Member
- May 25, 2008
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Lie-berals have been pointing to the suicide statistics of troops returning from Iraq to show that Iraq must be a terrible place for a solider because their suicide rate of Iraq War veterans is double that of the general population.
Thanks to a recent investigation by ABC New and the Washington Times we learn that just maybe things arent as bad in Iraq as the Dumocrats like to paint them. It seems that mentally distressed veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan are being recruited for government tests on pharmaceutical drugs linked to suicide and other violent side effects.
It is quite possible that these drug tests are responsible for the higher suicide rate and not conditions the troops were exposed to in the middle east. One large scale test involves the stop smoking drug Chantix.
James Elliot, a decorated Army sharpshooter who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after serving 15 months in Iraq, was confused and psychotic when he was Tasered by police in February as he reached for a concealed handgun when officers responded to a 911 call at his Maryland home.
Mr. Elliott, a chain smoker, began taking Chantix last fall as part of a VA experiment that specifically targeted veterans with PTSD, opting to collect $30 a month for enrolling in the clinical trial because he needed cash as he returned to school. He soon began suffering hallucinations and suicidal thoughts, unaware that the new drug he was taking could have caused them.
Just two weeks after Mr. Elliott began taking Chantix in November, the VA learned from the FDA that the drug was linked to a large number of hallucinations, suicide attempts and psychotic behavior. But the VA did not alert Mr. Elliott before his own episode in February.
As you can see, it wasnt anything overseas that caused the problembut the drug he was taking. Im not saying Iraq is a great place to be, but it isnt half as bad as some people make it out to be. Surely, at least some of the high rate of veteran suicides could be because of this program. Now the VA may come off looking a bit negative in this particular article, but as their spokesperson points out, helping [post-traumatic stress disorder] sufferers to stop smoking would prolong their lives.
Thanks to a recent investigation by ABC New and the Washington Times we learn that just maybe things arent as bad in Iraq as the Dumocrats like to paint them. It seems that mentally distressed veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan are being recruited for government tests on pharmaceutical drugs linked to suicide and other violent side effects.
It is quite possible that these drug tests are responsible for the higher suicide rate and not conditions the troops were exposed to in the middle east. One large scale test involves the stop smoking drug Chantix.
James Elliot, a decorated Army sharpshooter who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after serving 15 months in Iraq, was confused and psychotic when he was Tasered by police in February as he reached for a concealed handgun when officers responded to a 911 call at his Maryland home.
Mr. Elliott, a chain smoker, began taking Chantix last fall as part of a VA experiment that specifically targeted veterans with PTSD, opting to collect $30 a month for enrolling in the clinical trial because he needed cash as he returned to school. He soon began suffering hallucinations and suicidal thoughts, unaware that the new drug he was taking could have caused them.
Just two weeks after Mr. Elliott began taking Chantix in November, the VA learned from the FDA that the drug was linked to a large number of hallucinations, suicide attempts and psychotic behavior. But the VA did not alert Mr. Elliott before his own episode in February.
As you can see, it wasnt anything overseas that caused the problembut the drug he was taking. Im not saying Iraq is a great place to be, but it isnt half as bad as some people make it out to be. Surely, at least some of the high rate of veteran suicides could be because of this program. Now the VA may come off looking a bit negative in this particular article, but as their spokesperson points out, helping [post-traumatic stress disorder] sufferers to stop smoking would prolong their lives.