The Wire

On the three year anniversary of the invasion of Iraq by coalition forces, a concerning trend has emerged within our armed forces. Some 100 military personnel have been discharged from the army since 2003 after serving in Iraq, with the majority suffering some sort of psychological trauma. So far 3000 Australians have spent time in Iraq, so this means 4 percent have been discharged since 2003. According to the Medical Society for the Prevent of War, the high numbers of armed servicemen and women suffering trauma is a worrying trend, reminiscent of the impact that the Vietnam War had on Australian troops 30 years ago. The question is, is history repeating itself. The society’s Dr Robert Marr commented on a discharge rates of 4% currently being experiences by Australian military personell.