Former Marine and powerful House Democrat John Murtha is incapable of allowing the United States to benefit from anything this administration does, despite how he really feels. Party politics must always triumph.

On Thursday:

Murtha, one of the most powerful House Democrats when it comes to war funding, gave qualified but likely his most glowing remarks Thursday about the Iraq war.

“I think the surge is working, but that’s only one element,” said Murtha, who chairs the defense appropriations subcommittee. “And the surge is working for a couple of different reasons. And one reason is the increase in troops.”

However, on Friday:

“The military surge has created a window of opportunity for the Iraqi government,” Murtha’s statement read. “Unfortunately, the sacrifice of our troops has not been met by the Iraqi government and they have failed to capitalize on the political and diplomatic steps that the surge was designed to provide.

“The fact remains that the war in Iraq cannot be won militarily, and that we must begin an orderly redeployment of U.S. forces from Iraq as soon as practicable.”

Ok - the military surge is working, yet we cannot win militarily. There are a couple of reasons the surge is working, yet the Iraqi government has failed to capitalize on the benefits of the surge.

John Murtha cannot possibly believe that the only reason for the current calm in Fallujah is military, when people are reporting that this also takes a high degree of help from Iraqi leaders.

Antiwar.com has an interesting post relating to what it calls the “hidden cost” of the war. Here it is in it’s entirety:

Two recent articles in USA Today illustrate the hidden costs of the war.

The first is about an Army study that found mental issues in 25,000 troops that came back from Iraq, including “post-traumatic stress disorder and depression to substance abuse and family conflict.” 7,000 soldiers admitted to having a drinking problem.

The second is about police officers who come home from Iraq with symptoms of PTSD “that law enforcement and mental health authorities fear could put their judgment and public safety at risk.”

Americans who served in the military and those who have the misfortune of being in their family or otherwise dealing with them will be suffering from the effects of this evil war for years to come. When will this madness end? Will it have to drag out as long as Vietnam did?

Getting soldiers safely home, and then safely reintegrated into society and a garrison mission is nothing new. The army has been evolving better ways of doing this since the Korean war. I would not call the military establishment expert in handling these issues, but it is obvious that the Army is well aware and addressing the issue. this is certain a concern, but it is not a hidden cost. There is absolutely nothing new about PTSD, depression, substance abuse, and family conflict in the military.

The other “hidden cost” of the war relates to PTSD symptoms in police officers returning home from Iraq. A “poll” of 103 mental health counselors is cited with 16% responding they were counseling someone who is returned from combat zones. It is likely these are not only returnees from Iraq. We have troops deployed in several combat zones. We should be well aware that PTSD symptoms are present among police officers regardless of whether they served in Iraq or not.

Eleven percent of officers reported no mental health symptoms at all. Twenty eight percent reported having between one and two complaints and 32% had between three and five symptoms. What is most startling is that 68 % of officers report frequently being irritable for the past six months.

Sixty six percent of officers report being fatigued and 57% report sleep difficulties. Depressions, restlessness, a sense of numbing/detachment and muscle tension were also reported by approximately a third of officers. Many reports have commented on the poor health and wellness behaviors and relative lack of attention to comprehensive wellness within law enforcement organizations. Previous research has found similar results in terms of depression and anxiety (Biggam, 1997; Ansen, 1995).

For example, an analysis of the data from Wilson, Poole and Trew indicated that 25% of officers reported symptoms consistent with at least mild to moderate depression (Wilson, 1997). The ability to replicate these statistics with multiple protocols is astounding.

What the antiwar crowd does not seem to recognize is that our first responders are at war daily, even while the military is not engaged in combat activities. I don’t hear a lot of concern about the mental health of these brave men and women, except as a means to denigrate their performance.

The bottom line is this is not a “hidden cost of the war”. It is an historical cost of having to deploy troops to protect America and its interests. It is an historical cost of having to police our streets and clean up the mess from the violence in our society.

The “concern” for harm done to the mental health of our heros home and abroad seems a bit misplaced, considering how much many antiwar folks contribute to it.