War... & the terrible, brutalizing effects on soldiers.

Sexual violence, orgasms which are like being on patrol or in a firefight ... ?

I think maybe I'll just leave it to anyone else who might care to respond to you, hawkeye.

That boy is sick, sick, sick . . . i'd say you're better off to ignore his ravings, Miss Olga . . .

That might well be for the best (for me), Setanta. Thanks.



A pity, seems that this thread went no where. Oh well .... I meant well!

Considering how few people have been in combat or know well someone who has been, this was predictable. To complicate matters those who have been there rarely want to talk about it. There are a few books around on the subject though, maybe you aught to go that route if you are truly interested. I kinda doubt that you are.

I have a few kinda doubts about you, too ... but there you go!

Where did you want it to go?

(Might be able to give it a nudge...)

I was actually hoping to learn more, Deb, from an online discussion. I think I was hoping for direction from folk who know a lot more about this subject than I do. (Through their own personal experience, perhaps.) I suspect the problem might have been starting the thread with the (Israeli) IDF's "T shirt issue" .... which is what got me thinking (again) about what actually happens to people when they become involved in combat situations. I've been thinking about this since Vietnam. The out-of-character things that people do in war - and how they are often permanently affected by these experiences. I've most likely been far too vague in what I wanted to discuss & learn more about. Anyway ...

I can certainly support the view that Australian soldiers (at least in my state) do not get state of the art treatment for PTSD.

You know, one of the best novels I have read re this is Snow Falling on Cedars (as far as I can tell) which speaks of the kind of separation of soldiers rreturning from WW II from their community, since nobody could comprehend what they had seen and become.

I think this feeling of apartness is common in occupations that routinely deal with horrors.

Given that we brutalise soldiers, to some extent or other, pretty much every generation, one wonders what effect this has on a country's life, as brutalised men (and now women) come back and try to raise families etc.

Not all soldiers go on to develop PTSD, and it is becoming more possible, in a general way, to predict those who will.

I have to say I am very shocked and stunned by the Israeli t shirts and such your article mentions.

Is this some sick bravado and culture of unbearable stress? Or is this common in soldiers?

I know many say that the sort of warfare common for Israel, and in Vietnam, and in Iraq and Afghanistan, where there is an ongoing insurgency with the use of terror and no clear line between combatants and civilians is said to produce an especial brutalization, and a high degree of traumatisation, and atrocities...but I do not know if this is true.