"For soldiers serving in Afghanistan and Iraq, coming home is more lethal than being in combat." ― Brené Brown, research professor at the University of Houston
© DoD
Not all heroes wear the uniform of war.
In the United States, however, we take particular pride in recognizing as heroes those who have served in the military.
Yet while we honor our veterans with holidays, parades, discounts at retail stores and restaurants, and endless political rhetoric about their sacrifice and bravery,
we do a pitiful job of respecting their freedoms and caring for their needs once out of uniform.
Despite the fact that the U.S. boasts
more than 20 million veterans who have served in World War II through the present day, the plight of veterans today is America's badge of shame, with large numbers of veterans impoverished, unemployed, traumatized mentally and physically, struggling with depression,
suicide, and marital stress, homeless, subjected to sub-par treatment at clinics and hospitals, and left to molder while their
paperwork piles up within Veterans Administration offices.
Still, the government's efforts to wage war on veterans, especially those who speak out against government wrongdoing, is downright appalling.
Consider: we raise our young people on a steady diet of militarism and war, sell them on the idea that defending freedom abroad by serving in the military is their patriotic duty, then when they return home, bruised and battle-scarred and committed to defending their freedoms at home,
we often treat them like criminals merely for having served in the military.
The government even has a name for its war on America's veterans:
Operation Vigilant Eagle.
As first reported by the
Wall Street Journal, this Department of Homeland Security (DHS) program tracks military veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan and characterizes them as extremists and potential domestic terrorist threats because they may be "disgruntled, disillusioned or suffering from the psychological effects of war."
Coupled with the DHS' dual reports on
Rightwing and Leftwing "Extremism," which broadly define extremists as individuals, military veterans and groups "that are mainly antigovernment, rejecting federal authority in favor of state or local authority, or rejecting government authority entirely," these tactics bode ill for anyone seen as opposing the government.
Yet the government is not merely targeting individuals who are voicing their discontent so much as it is taking aim at
individuals trained in military warfare.
Don't be fooled by the fact that the DHS has gone extremely quiet about Operation Vigilant Eagle.
Where there's smoke, there's bound to be fire.
Comment: It is not whether the Brit government has contributed to poverty levels, it is how much.
See also: Moneybags Tony Blair claimed £1m in British taxpayers' money over the last decade