U.S. military: Heavily armed and medicated

[kiwi_2005]

Isn't this abit crazy to send your warriors to fight while drugged up to the eyeballs. If they are having issues why not send them home to rest. To bad about the war it can wait. I wonder how many soliders have been killed because they could not fight from being to doped up.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30748260/

Prescription drugs can help patients, Dr. Broder says, but they can also cause drowsiness and impair judgment. Those side effects can be dealt with by patients who are at home, she says, but they can put active-duty soldiers in great danger. She worries that some soldiers are being medicated and then sent back to fight before they're ready.

"The military is under great pressure to have enough people ready for combat," she says. "I don't think they're as cautious as they would be if they weren't under this kind of pressure."

One night, Cataldi took his pills after his commander told him he was done for the day. Five minutes later, however, plans changed, and he was told to drive the LAV. He asked the Marine sitting behind him to help keep him awake. "I said, 'Kick the back of my seat every 5 minutes,' and that's what he did."

Cataldi says he managed on the medications — until his Klonopin ran out. The medical officer told him there was no Klonopin anywhere in Iraq. So the officer gave him a drug called Seroquel. That's when Cataldi says he started to become "loopy."

"I'd go to pick up a wrench and come back with a hammer," he says. "I wasn't able to do my job. I wasn't able to fight."

[SteamWake]

Sure make it sound as if the Armed Forces are stumbling around spaced out like some kind of crack additct.

[Letum]

ed: hang on...

[kiwi_2005]

Originally Posted by SteamWake

Sure make it sound as if the Armed Forces are stumbling around spaced out like some kind of crack additct.

Well all im saying is if they are suffering from depression & anxiety the best thing for them is to be sent home to fully recover. Surely they can be replaced with fresh troops. Filling those troops that have problems with pills then ordering them to go out to fight is like sheep to the slaughter house they wouldn't be their best. I just think its wrong.

[Aramike]

Originally Posted by kiwi_2005

Well all im saying is if they are suffering from depression & anxiety the best thing for them is to be sent home to fully recover. Surely they can be replaced with fresh troops. Filling those troops that have problems with pills then ordering them to go out to fight is like sheep to the slaughter house they wouldn't be their best. I just think its wrong.

I'm not sure if "sheep to the slaughterhouse" is the best analogy...

While I agree with your point in the sense that care should be taken in this matter, I would bet that most cases of troops using meds are mild. The world doesn't just shut down whenever someone has to take a pill for a condition...

[bookworm_020]

This was exposed a few years ago when there was a friendly fire incident that got some Canadians killed in Afghanistan. The pilots were on some form of drug to boost there alertness, but it didn't help them in deciding who was friend from foe.

Maybe they could pass some of there appetite suppressant drugs on to the ADF, it seems they need it!

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au...-31477,00.html