drugs to Desensitise male soldiers to the sounds of women being raped

Frightening story but is this true also for the UK military and for mercenaries or 'military contractors' as the powers to be like to call them now? Stories of the MOD giving troops amphetamine dexedrine, or allowing soldiers to take a drug called kava-kava, not to mention problems of illegal drug use are putting soldiers health at risk not to mention their families and the effect on their behaviour on those around them.

Warriors out of their minds: Drugs of choice for super soldiers
By Peacedream
US military training also includes a component to desensitize male soldiers to the sounds of women being raped, so the enemy cannot use the cries of their fellow soldiers to leverage information. I think it not unreasonable to connect ...
Circle of 13 - http://circleof13.blogspot.com/

U.S. military training also includes a component to desensitize male soldiers to the sounds of women being raped, so the enemy cannot use the cries of their fellow soldiers to leverage information. I think it not unreasonable to connect such desensitization techniques to the rates of domestic violence in the military, which are, according to the DoD, five times those in the civilian population. Is anyone really surprised that men who have been specifically trained to ignore the pain and fear of women have a difficult time coming home to their wives and families? And clearly they do. There were 2,374 reported cases of sexual assault in the military in 2005, a 40 percent increase over 2004. But that figure represents only reported cases, and, as Air Force Brig. Gen. K.C. McClain, commander of DoD's Joint Task Force for Sexual Assault Prevention and Response pointed out, "Studies indicate that only 5 percent of sexual assaults are reported."

What they have come up with has already been dubbed "the mourning after pill." Propranalol, if taken immediately following a traumatic event, can subdue a victim's stress response and so soften his or her perception of the memory. That does not mean the memory has been erased, but proponents claim that the drug can render it emotionally toothless.

If your daughter were raped, the argument goes, wouldn't you want to spare her a traumatic memory that might well ruin her life? As the mother of a 23-year old daughter, I can certainly understand the appeal of that argument. And a drug that could prevent the terrible effects of traumatic injuries in soldiers? If I were the parent of a soldier suffering from such a life-altering injury, I can imagine being similarly persuaded.

Not surprisingly, the Army is already on board. Propranolol is a well-tolerated medication that has been used for years for other purposes.
And it is inexpensive.

UK troops receiving 'trigger happy' drug

BRITISH troops are being prescribed with a controversial drug which has been blamed for making US pilots "trigger-happy" and causing friendly fire deaths.

The Ministry of Defence has admitted that it prescribes the amphetamine dexedrine, which is capable of keeping users awake for as long as 60 hours.

While the MoD has refused to say what it uses the Class B drug for, leading narcotics experts say that the main purpose is to keep soldiers awake during special operations. However, they have warned that the substance can be highly addictive.

In addition, the MoD has admitted that it permits soldiers to take a drug called kava-kava, from the South Pacific, which is known to be linked to severe liver damage.

Documents obtained under Freedom of Information provisions show that although the amount the MoD spends on dexedrine is just GBP32per year, this is estimated to be enough for several hundred 5mg doses. A typical course will see a user given the pills for about two or three days.

Outwith the armed forces, the amphetamine is used to treat narcolepsy, a condition where sufferers cannot stop falling asleep at random times.

In addition to dexedrine, the MoD dispenses a small number of tablets of ephedrine, which has a similar, though less potent, effect.

The ministry also spends about GBP3,000 a year on melatonin, a substance which aids sleep, in order to get the body clocks of troops into synch after flying long distances.

Amphetamines have been controversially used by the US Air Force to keep pilots awake on long missions, although the UK has always denied giving the 'go pills' to its pilots.

In 2002, the 'Tarnak Farm incident' saw US fighter-bombers attack a group of Canadian soldiers, killing four and wounding another eight near Kandahar in Afghanistan.

During official hearings into the incident, the US pilots testified that they had been ordered to take amphetamines to keep awake. The pilots blamed the pills for their actions.

One leading defence insider said: "There are not many uses for these drugs in the military apart from keeping soldiers awake for long periods. If you need them for narcolepsy then there is not much point in you being in the army.

"Is it operationally justified? Yes - if you are on deep patrol for days at a time then you need to be awake, otherwise you risk getting killed."

Dr Paul Skett, a drugs expert at Glasgow University's Institute of Biological and Life Sciences, said: "It is a matter of concern because these substances are very addictive indeed. They can also make the user aggressive."

The documents also reveal that the MoD has decided to permit the use of kava-kava, which is popular in Fiji and produces a euphoric high, provided local commanders don't believe its use compromises operational effectiveness.

It is usually taken as a drink after being ground to a fine powder and mixed with water.

An MoD policy paper on the substance said: "There is some medical evidence that kava-kava could be detrimental to health, in particular that it can cause severe liver damage."

More Soldiers Lost To Drugs Than War

THE British Army loses almost a "battalion a year" due to illegal drug use, research published today said.The findings also showed a four-fold growth in soldiers testing positive for the class A drug cocaine. Research into compulsory drugs testing (CDT) of UK service personnel identified a rise in positive tests for illegal substances in the British Army from 517 individual cases in 2003, to 795 in 2005 and 769 in 2006.

The findings, published by the Journal of the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) said the cost is nearly the equivalent of losing one battalion a year and higher than fatalities and serious casualties in both Iraq and Afghanistan.

Brutalisation of military personnel and the impact on personnel and the local community raises questions

Militarisation

Brutalisation of military personnel and the impact on personnel and the local community raises questions

Brutality is a fact of life for soldiers who are forced to carry on training in full battle dress, with a hat, rifle and pack. In the USA 11 servicemen died from heat exhaustion in the past decade and 400 were injured. Brutality and negligence by officers of the USSR military have claimed the lives of an estimated 15,000 soldiers in the period 1985-90. In 1993 it was claimed that in Russia some 5,000 soldiers a year die from what is termed "non-combat causes".

Bullying

Bullying by officers and sergeants, together with appalling living conditions, have been responsible for a very high level of suicides among recruits, with 3,900 dying in 1989 alone. It is claimed that thousands have died or been maimed because of negligence or dangerous exercises with live ammunition. Cruelty and bullying may be exacerbated by racial tensions between soldiers of different ethnic origin. In 1992, a former UK Artillery officer claimed he suffered a mental breakdown and attempted suicide after continuous abuse by 10 other colleagues, who, in one incident, tore his clothes off and tied him to a cannon at the barracks

Most military units have a tradition of imposing some sort of informal initiation test on new recruits. This may range from efforts to get them drunk or to undertake some degrading task. A vicious element may be added if the process involves sexual humiliation, whether coating the genitals with some substance, performing with a specially hired prostitute, or the rare, but well-publicized, instances of buggery with a broomstick.

Torture
Allegations of torture by British squaddies in Iraq could point to a culture of humiliation and brutality pervading military bases at home. War had exposed a deep-seated culture of sexual harassment and violence in the Army in peacetime.

Assults
Alcohol plays a prominent role in almost all cases reaching courts martial and contributed to many violent offences. Dozens of soldiers have been imprisoned in the past year for assaults, some of which involved knives, iron bars and wooden sticks. 'There is a culture of very heavy drinking in the services,' said Gilbert Blades, a lawyer who deals with many military cases.

Sexual assults, Rape

A recent survey revealed that one in 10 women cadets at West Point, the premier US military academy, had been raped or had suffered sexual assault.

According to Amnesty International, and other women’s rights groups working with it on this campaign, there has been an alarming rise in the number of rapes and sexual assaults against women in uniform, especially in Iraq. Who is raping American women soldiers in Iraq? Not Baath party loyalists, or the Al Queada terrorists allegedly pouring into the country – but their fellow American soldiers

We have to ask what 1. What impact huge numbers of predominately male military personnel will have on our communities. 2. Will it lead to increased incidences of drunkenness and related violence in our city and town centres. 3. Will it lead to increased assaults on women? And 4. If so, what will be the cost to the community of resources to deal with increased crime and disorder.

Mindsets Nationalism and militarism are both ideologies (mindsets), and practices that flow from them. Now if you think about it, the inequalities and distortions of gender in a patriarchal society are very characteristic of social systems we call militarist and nationalist. They are kind of 'brother' ideologies, and have very similar scenarios for women and men, for gender relations. They model an active, aggressive, public kind of man and masculinity. This 'real man' is sharply differentiated from the proper woman, whose femininity features passivity, domesticity and loyalty. In all three of these mindsets, the male (father, patriot, soldier) is ascribed much higher value than the female.

Women in most social classes and most countries experience disadvantage and inequality as a sex, and that sometimes brings them together. One aspect of this is that women often experience personal sexualised violence perpetrated by men. So we get to see a connection between violence, militarism and certain masculine cultures in which men learn violence and bond together as men around disrespect for women. What will this do to our communities when there are 10,000 trainees at St Athan?

A future based on militarism

Professor J Paul Dunne and Dr Sam tell us that there has been a massive expansion of Britain's offensive military capability in a form that seems to have little value for national defence or for peace support operations. Instead it provides capabilities for attacks on nation states as part of US-led coalitions. Something the most recent Defence White Paper treats as a very serious possibility. So what we are talking about is a dangerous resurgence of British militarism in which the principle purpose of Britain’s military forces is global power projection, involving pre-emptive strikes – not excluding nuclear strikes – on so-called ‘rogue’ nations. A dangerous reliance on security based on military might, and indeed on aggressive power projection rather than more targeted defence. The new aircraft carriers and the Trident replacement are major pillars of this policy.

It is also expensive £75.5 billion up to 2042 or we could have • 1.25p off the basic rate of income tax • The capital and running costs of around 200 new hospitals

• The capital and running costs of around 1130 new secondary schools

in moderate/high cost areas, with 1,000 pupils each• A real increase in the basic state pension of £11 per week. Is there a negative effect on the economy with out this spending? The sustained decline in defence spending with the end of the Cold War, from the mid 1980s to the end of the 90s, was much greater than any likely reduction that would result from the cancellation of the Trident replacement.

Aggressive Militarism or Security: By Professor J Paul Dunne and Dr Sam Perlo-Freeman 08/04/2007

Miltary spending negative effects on economix productivity

Military spending leads to a serious distortion of educational and occupational structures and negative effects on economic productivity, and their low-yield contribution of jobs and incomes for ordinary people, when compared with the same levels of non-military government spending. To support economic militarism is to give support to big business and right wing policies for all dimensions of our existence.

It is argued that Britain doesn‘t have the kinds (or size) of armed forces to engage in large scale of prolonged warfare – designed to participate in political actions?

There should be a rigorous and extensive investigation to determine the effects , requirements of launching such a major and complex enterprise on communities at St Athan, Barry and Cardiff.