MANN reader observes: "Look at what soldiers go through "

Article here. The shooting attacks allegedly perpetrated by an Army psychologist at Fort Hood a few days ago should get people thinking about what our soldiers stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan go through. As an Army psychologist, the alleged perpetrator Maj. Nidal Malik, probably heard a lot of horror stories. Whatever his motives for killing 13 and wounding 42, I ask: Is our culture willing to consider that he may have just snapped given all the pressure our soldiers are under?

How can we MRAs leverage this incident, so that we help people to appreciate how difficult and painful it is to be a solider in the US Army today? How can we use this to publicize the PTSD, the brain trauma, the missing limbs, the recurrent terrifying nightmares, and other types of disability our soldiers (who are by far mostly men) are now suffering? How can we use this incident to underscore the multiple tours of duty, often soon right after another, that our men in uniform must go through?

Are we, as a culture, unwilling to consider that men suffer? Is this a taboo topic? Is that why people are trying to blame this incident on the fact that the perpetrator was a Muslim? I see a lot of military brass trying to sweep this incident under the rug, saying things like "we have services for the affected families" -- will things just go back to normal after this blows over? Or can we use this incident to launch both an investigation of the conditions, as well as a larger discussion about male suffering and what is expected of men?

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"Whatever his motives for killing 13 and wounding 42, I ask: Is our culture willing to consider that he may have just snapped given all the pressure our soldiers are under?"

I am glad someone submitted something like this for posting because it bears a direct answer. I am sure it is/was "floating out there" as an idea among some people.

I simply don't buy that what this guy did is ever OK on ANY level and to any degree, no matter how stressed a person is to do what that "alleged gunman" did. And he is not "alleged" in my mind by any means. He was caught red-handed murdering people who were doing their jobs in service to the country as best they knew. This man is a traitor to the US and a murderer.

Indeed soldiers undergo a great deal of stress and have serious problems coping, especially those who actually served under fire. This traitor did not serve a day under fire. Listening to others talk about their stress doesn't cut it, not by a long shot. Plenty of men have been subjected to far worse stressors than having to oh, I dunno, wait in traffic or have problems with their career choices, and did not do what this man did. If he didn't like being a soldier, as an officer and one whose loyalty was already seriously under question, he could have resigned his commission. By all accounts, I am sure his superiors would have gladly accepted it.

Of course what sort of stress men are put under during wartime while serving under fire should be taken much more into consideration in the public eye and the amount of time they are placed in that condition minimized as much as possible. I cannot see how the continued re-deploying of men already exhausted from the trauma of long deployments can be sustained, much less be held conscionable by anyone except under the most egregious of conditions. But the Fort Hood Traitor deserves no such consideration. I would not hesitate to swing the door under his legs myself and stand by with my hands in my pockets while whistling the National Anthem as I watched him dangle at the end of a rope. No trouble at all.

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"How can we MRAs leverage this incident, so that we help people to appreciate how difficult and painful it is to be a solider in the US Army today?"

There are plenty of instances to show that men bare the brunt of war. This isn't one of them.

If I had a dollar for every time I heard that being a "stay-at-home-mom" is the toughest job in the world I'd be thankfully retired by now. To the extent that MRAs can convince anyone that there just might be at least one tougher job, combat, out there then that would be a victory. This would be a tough sell though.

We need to start at square one first. Men are not expendable. Men bleed. Men have rights. Men are not robots. Men are not wallets. Men do want to be fathers. Men don't want to be serfs to their wives/exes. Men don't want to be second-class citizens. You get the idea.

The whole idea of "ladies first" needs to be shattered if we're to make any real progress.

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If this Major is entitled to such an excuse, then every woman who listened to stories of her Vet husband or father is entitled to pick up a pistol and begin blazing away. Every shrink who worked for years in asylums with patients suffering from severe psychosis should be picking off civilians from his office windows. Every fan of action/aventure should be suing Hollywood to pay for his psycho-therapy. Every Code Pink member should be building IEDs because of the horrible stuff that they say other people do. Every woman who feels that her husband is 'abusing' her should be taking a shot gun to him. (Oh, wait....) They should be 'entitled'.

That doesn't work for me. How about this? What say we expect people to take responsibility for their own actions and words, like those vets who have been to places like Iraq and Afganistan (and Korea, and Vietnam, and....) took responsibility for what they did to take care of their country, and quit looking for excuses? This guy allegedly shot about 40 people, shouting "Allu Akhbar" all the while. If that can be proven in a court of law, then he's responsible for those acts, no excuses.

In fact, it might be a nice idea if people started expecting CongressCritters and women and other protected aristos to take responsibility for what they do and say.

OK, that last was pretty far out in left field, but still.....what an idea, huh?

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