MORAL INJURIES

CROSS-HAIRS; used figuratively to describe someone or something being targeted

They say, “war is hell” and, for those that physically survive them, many of them find themselves in Dante’s Inferno.  

Though it’s not talked about much there is a big difference between “offensive” wars driven by profits like those in Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan and “defensive” wars driven by self/community preservation like WWI and WWII. Even though the mechanics are the same, there are stark psychological differences. It’s referred to as “moral injuries,” an offshoot of PTSD, or what you could simply call “guilt.” With the exception of psycho or sociopaths most of us experience guilt in difference degrees throughout our lives. But, most of it is transitory and fade quickly like when you’re caught with your hands in the cookie jar.

The guilt we experience in wars is much different and can stay with us for life.  That’s especially true when we cannot reconcile the difference between defensive vs. offensive wars.  Iraq and Afghanistan are prime examples of offense, profit driven wars. Neither of these countries posed a threat to us. Even though we were fooled into believing that they had something to do with 9/11 that reality is that we were attacked by a rouge gang of Saudi Arabians based in Pakistan who’s leader was a Saudi and not a citizen or official of either of the countries we attacked. This was not “Pearl Harbor” regardless of how it was spun and those who fought in these wars are the victims/causalities of that great deception.  

War zone killing leaves troops with ‘moral injury,’ may rival PTSD cases