De Oorlogsstaat 4

De oorlog houdt nooit meer op. De frontlinie loopt overal, tot in de eigen huiskamer. Het kostte de Amerikaanse auteur Kurt Vonnegut bijna een kwarteeuw om het wereldberoemde 'Slaughterhouse-Five' te schrijven, een dunne roman over zijn ervaringen als krijgsgevangene tijdens het bombardement van Dresden. De oorlog tekende zijn leven en dat van miljoenen anderen. Alleen dwazen schilderen de oorlog af als iets heroisch. Alleen een man met een kinderlijke geest als George W. Bush speelt oorlogje, als piloot verkleedt. De Independent bericht: 'By his own admission Douglas Barber, a former army reservist, was struggling. For two years since returning from the chaos and violence of Iraq, the 35-year-old had battled with his memories and his demons, the things he had seen and the fear he had experienced. Recently, it seemed he had turned a corner, securing medical help and counselling. But last week, at his home in south-eastern Alabama, the National Guardsman e-mailed some friends and then changed the message on his answering machine. His new message told callers: "If you're looking for Doug, I'm checking out of this world. I'll see you on the other side." Mr Barber dialled the police, stepped on to the porch with his shotgun and - after a brief stand-off with officers - shot himself in the head. He was pronounced dead at the scene. The death of Mr Barber is one of numerous instances of Iraqi veterans who have taken their own lives since the US-led invasion to oust Saddam Hussein in spring 2003. Concern is such that the Pentagon has recently instigated new procedures for monitoring the mental health of returning troops. But his story would not have been told but for a group of determined activists and a British journalism student who was among the handful of people the reservist e-mailed just minutes before he killed himself.' Lees verder: http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article340826.ece