Hard to believe their is irony in a story about a US soldier who shoots and kills Afghani civilians.
The Secretary of Defense wants to try SSG Bales quickly and maybe even execute him, notwithstanding the fact that he suffers from a traumatic brain injury.
But what about MAJ Hasan? You remember the Islamic officer who on November 7, 2009 shot and killed his fellow soldiers at Fort Hood while screaming Allahu Akbar. This murderer STILL has not stood trial and the military is STILL paying his salary and all medical expenses! The government is still debating whether he was insane, even with the clear evidence regarding his motive: slay as many infidels as possible.
So we have a non-commissioned officer in a war zone with a documented traumatic brain injury who apparently snaps, and he must be tried and potentially executed immediately, on the one hand. Meanwhile, on the other, you have a Muslim psychiatrist who was stateside in a safe office all day who murders 13, and wounds 29 of his fellow soldiers, and the government wants to explore whether he suffered post-traumatic stress syndrome, from listening to real soldiers who had actual battle experience and emotional scars.
Two and a half years later, they still haven't tried the murderous bastard.
I wonder where SSG Bales will be in two and a half years.
Ain't politics grand?
Some day it will be said of our age that common sense was an uncommon virtue.
We are surrounded by idiots, and they are us.
Crap, there goes my avatar.
Hasan should have decomposed long ago.
Bales got screwed by being thrown into a 4th tour after injury. I had a look at an interview of him in Iraq. He was all about making a new life for the people there. It may have been a PR thing I dont know. There is apparently an old woman he screwed over financially in Washington. The court ruled he owed her a fortune in some property deal. Apparently the only thing keeping the Bales from bankruptcy is he doesnt have to pay while serving on the front.
I think both cases reflect badly on the service. Hasan far more so.
Bales did ask for help for his PTSD and was refused. He is a scapegoat and a victim just as much as the people he killed.
If they find out that SSG Bales was on mefloquine.....things aren't going to be so cut & dry.
If Bales was on that mefloquine, combined with PTSD, and asked for help...that's even worse. His life is over due to things out of his control.
Is that a perscibed drug? Wouldn't his marine doctor have to give it to him? Surely people don't go into a combat theatre on drugs the service doesn't know about. Either way he was not fit for service.
Bales is in the Army.
Here's a link on mefloquine, given to fight malaria: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mefloquine
And what you post above is my sentiment...he was not fit for duty and his superiors should have removed him as soon as he asked for help. They didn't and then he lost his mind, literally.
If that is indeed what happened then it does reflect poorly on the military.
OMG, it can cross the blood brain barrier and in the brain it has anti-viral properties while there. This speaks to neural interactions both subtle and obvious .... halleucinations should have been the first clue.
Quote from: Smuckatelli on March 27, 2012, 12:00:02 PM
If they find out that SSG Bales was on mefloquine.....things aren't going to be so cut & dry.
Where was this reported?
Quote from: Bison on March 27, 2012, 05:35:09 PM
Quote from: Smuckatelli on March 27, 2012, 12:00:02 PM
If they find out that SSG Bales was on mefloquine.....things aren't going to be so cut & dry.
Where was this reported?
This is speculation so far, no confirmation from the Army. A few days after the incident one of the headshed Army doctors sent out a message about being careful when giving it out to TBI people. This is where the speculation comes from.
Quote from: Mr. Bigglesworth on March 27, 2012, 12:32:26 PM
Is that a perscibed drug? Wouldn't his marine doctor have to give it to him? Surely people don't go into a combat theatre on drugs the service doesn't know about. Either way he was not fit for service.
A Nigerian Peace Corps Doctor gave it to us in Bangui.
Honestly I'd be very surprised if that turned out to be true. Doxycycline is the standard issue for malaria.
Quote from: Bison on March 27, 2012, 05:52:39 PM
Honestly I'd be very surprised if that turned out to be true. Doxycycline is the standard issue for malaria.
I've taken probably thousands pills of doxycycline. There was one year that I was taking mefloquine only for most of my time in Bangui. There is a lot of movement below the waves on this subject.
Here's an article, like I said, it is speculation until the Army gives S/A:
A senior Pentagon official ordered an emergency review of the military's use of an anti-malaria drug known to have severe psychiatric side effects - nine days after the Afghan massacre in which a U.S. solider allegedly shot dead 17 civilians including nine children, it has been alleged.
The notorious drug Mefloquine, also known as Lariam, has been implicated in a number of suicides and homicides in the military spanning back more than ten years, with side effects including paranoia, Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2120577/Was-Staff-Sgt-Robert-Bales-given-anti-malaria-drug-known-cause-psychotic-episodes-Afghan-massacre-Pentagon-ordered-emergency-review-drug-days-shooting.html#ixzz1qMjjx3fH
Quote from: Windigo on March 27, 2012, 04:46:55 PM
OMG, it can cross the blood brain barrier and in the brain it has anti-viral properties while there. This speaks to neural interactions both subtle and obvious .... halleucinations should have been the first clue.
Yeah.....it also gave some really vivid nightmares....
Interesting. It's possible I guess if he were allergic perhaps to the doxcycline?
Quote from: Bison on March 27, 2012, 06:18:24 PM
Interesting. It's possible I guess if he were allergic perhaps to the doxcycline?
The primary reason that we were given was that the malaria in CAR was resistant to the doxcycline treatment. The mef was a whole lot easier to take; once a week, one pill.
Here's soem US info:
"Mefloquine is a zombie drug. It's dangerous, and it should have been killed off years ago," said Dr. Remington Nevin, an epidemiologist and Army major who has published research that he said showed the drug can be potentially toxic to the brain. He believes the drop in prescriptions is a tacit acknowledgment of the drug's serious problemshttp://www.usatoday.com/news/military/story/2011-11-19/military-malaria-drug/51311040/1
Quote from: Smuckatelli on March 27, 2012, 06:12:17 PM
Quote from: Bison on March 27, 2012, 05:52:39 PM
Honestly I'd be very surprised if that turned out to be true. Doxycycline is the standard issue for malaria.
I've taken probably thousands pills of doxycycline. There was one year that I was taking mefloquine only for most of my time in Bangui. There is a lot of movement below the waves on this subject.
Here's an article, like I said, it is speculation until the Army gives S/A:
A senior Pentagon official ordered an emergency review of the military's use of an anti-malaria drug known to have severe psychiatric side effects - nine days after the Afghan massacre in which a U.S. solider allegedly shot dead 17 civilians including nine children, it has been alleged.
The notorious drug Mefloquine, also known as Lariam, has been implicated in a number of suicides and homicides in the military spanning back more than ten years, with side effects including paranoia,
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2120577/Was-Staff-Sgt-Robert-Bales-given-anti-malaria-drug-known-cause-psychotic-episodes-Afghan-massacre-Pentagon-ordered-emergency-review-drug-days-shooting.html#ixzz1qMjjx3fH
God in heaven. That's some nasty-sounding stuff.
I'm suddenly hoping against hope that Bales was, in fact, on Mefloquine -- at least for his sake. It could explain much.
There's a bunch of Mef-related stuff in the news right now, but some of the stories about problems with it go back to 2009.
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/03/army_lariam_032209w/
QuoteSchoomaker said mefloquine should be given only to troops who can't take doxycycline, and that it is "critically important" that mefloquine not be given to anyone with mental health issues or a recent history of traumatic brain injury.
QuoteMefloquine has been found to cause side effects in as many as 25 percent of people who take it, including vomiting, convulsions, psychosis, nightmares, dizziness, confusion, insomnia, unusual dreams, lightheadedness, vertigo, visual disturbances, ringing in the ears, rash and irritability.
It also can cause anxiety, paranoia, depression, agitation, panic attacks, hallucinations, mood changes, aggression and psychotic behavior, according to the Deployment Health and Readiness Library.
2012: http://battleland.blogs.time.com/2012/03/20/afghan-massacre-potentially-toxic-exposures/
2004: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1209648/posts
Quote from: bayonetbrant on March 28, 2012, 06:09:30 AM
There's a bunch of Mef-related stuff in the news right now, but some of the stories about problems with it go back to 2009.
The Canadians were issuing it to their missionaries back in the mid 90's. One of my FB friends has been having issues ever since she left Bangui. So far two of my Marines have reported back that they have been having issues also.....
Freakin WAWA.....it always wins.
This could be a good drug in the long run. Just not for the purposes originaly intended and certainly not in the dosages currently prescribed.
What about Bales serving 3 tours in Iraq and then being ordered to Afghanistan and his PTSD? This guy needed help even without the anti-malaria medicine.
Quote from: Smuckatelli on March 28, 2012, 08:33:28 AM
Freakin WAWA.....it always wins.
WAWA?
Quote from: Gusington on March 28, 2012, 10:35:15 AM
What about Bales serving 3 tours in Iraq and then being ordered to Afghanistan and his PTSD? This guy needed help even without the anti-malaria medicine.
A very good point. His defense attorney will no doubt do his utmost to emphasize that.
Quote from: Martok on March 28, 2012, 02:30:10 PM
WAWA?
I had to ask, too.
It's from his days in Africa: "West Africa Wins Again."
Aha. Thanks Chief!
Quote from: Martok on March 28, 2012, 02:57:58 PM
Aha. Thanks Chief!
No, we are not talking about Aha Okinawa
http://okinawahai.com/2012/02/tanaga-gumui-aha-falls.html
We are talking about Africa.....Here are some WAWA examples:
For whites, it's "wa-wa." The few whites who live and work in West Africa have a phrase that expresses their frustration. It is "wa-wa." It means, roughly, "West Africa wins again--the white man just can't win."
A housewife sighs and says "wa-wa" when she has told her native cook again and again to wash the salad greens in a disinfectant solution and finds that he has done so--and then has washed them again at the water tap in the yard.
A businessman says "wa-wa" after he has waited an hour or more for a West African clerk to cash his check at a bank.
A traveler says "wa-wa" when he has been charged anywhere from 28 cents the first time to $2 the second for the same 10-minute taxi ride.
http://www.nathanielturner.com/wherewhitemancantwin.htm