The life and suicide of an Iraq veteran who could take no more

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purba

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The following SOTT comment was offered in relation to the above article posted 1/25/06:

To talk about evil as though it were a REAL concept is something we have been programmed to NOT do!

We clearly need to study this problem of macro-social evil in our world in a systematic and scientific way. And we need to get over the idea that thinking only good thoughts, thinking about happy and "nice" things is the way to good psychological health.

It's clear that trying to think "happy thoughts" did no good for Douglas Barber; his observations and experience were in conflict with this plausible lie. But it is so plausible that millions upon millions of people are taken in by it.

Who knows? If Douglas Barber had known about SOTT, if he had known about our work with the Quantum Future Group, if he had known about our studies in psychopathy and Ponerology, perhaps he would have been able to come to a resolution about the fact that Evil does exist, that it rules this world and has done for millennia, and then he would have been able to convert his suffering into positive work for the promotion of that which is good, decent, and normal.
Link to original article:
http://signs-of-the-times.org/signs/chains/signs20060125_Iranq.php#1c9ab484ecf9aaf1cd601591afe


First off, I am really glad to see this message board up and running. I think it is a very much needed bridge between the environment of rigorous analysis over at casschat and the information contained in the literature and work presented by SOTT in general. So thank you very much for this.

Secondly, analyzing evil in an objective and intentional way (not to mention systematic and scientific) in the context of current events is the only way to make sense of what's going on in the world. It may be that what makes life livable in our time and place is not being free from discomfort or anxiety, but rather in simply being able register the presence of evil in the world for what it is, at any level it appears. Understanding the objective presence of evil in the world seems to me, in this sense, prerequesite for having a fundamental sense of reality at all. To understand evil in the context of a forum like this removes us from the difficult isolation that the recognition of systemic evil might otherwise leave us in. When you suggest that Douglas Barber might "have been able to convert his suffering into positive work for the promotion of that which is good, decent, and normal," this to me points to the essential difference between self-empowerment and suicidal despair, a difference SOTT is demonstrating in increasingly bold and energizing ways.

Thanks again for going public one step more.

purba
 
I accidently stumbled across this blog post from November 30th, 2005 that describes a similar situation:

A Journey That Ended in Anguish

Col. Ted Westhusing, a military ethicist who volunteered to go to Iraq, was upset by what he saw. His apparent suicide raises questions.

By T. Christian Miller, Times Staff Writer

"War is the hardest place to make moral judgments."

Col. Ted Westhusing, Journal of Military Ethics

WASHINGTON — One hot, dusty day in June, Col. Ted Westhusing was found dead in a trailer at a military base near the Baghdad airport, a single gunshot wound to the head. The Army would conclude that he committed suicide with his service pistol. At the time, he was the highest-ranking officer to die in Iraq. The Army closed its case. But the questions surrounding Westhusing's death continue. [...]

After a three-month inquiry, investigators declared Westhusing's death a suicide. A test showed gunpowder residue on his hands. A shell casing in the room bore markings indicating it had been fired from his service revolver.

Then there was the note.

Investigators found it lying on Westhusing's bed. The handwriting matched his.

The first part of the four-page letter lashes out at Petraeus and Fil. Both men later told investigators that they had not criticized Westhusing or heard negative comments from him. An Army review undertaken after Westhusing's death was complimentary of the command climate under the two men, a U.S. military official said.

Most of the letter is a wrenching account of a struggle for honor in a strange land.

"I cannot support a msn [mission] that leads to corruption, human rights abuse and liars. I am sullied," it says. "I came to serve honorably and feel dishonored.

"Death before being dishonored any more."

A psychologist reviewed Westhusing's e-mails and interviewed colleagues. She concluded that the anonymous letter had been the "most difficult and probably most painful stressor."

She said that Westhusing had placed too much pressure on himself to succeed and that he was unusually rigid in his thinking. Westhusing struggled with the idea that monetary values could outweigh moral ones in war. This, she said, was a flaw.

"Despite his intelligence, his ability to grasp the idea that profit is an important goal for people working in the private sector was surprisingly limited," wrote Lt. Col. Lisa Breitenbach. "He could not shift his mind-set from the military notion of completing a mission irrespective of cost, nor could he change his belief that doing the right thing because it was the right thing to do should be the sole motivator for businesses." [...]

end quote.

Why we need to truly understand our reality - and understand that our culture has been shaped by psychopaths - is becoming clearer all the time.
 
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