Inspired by our friends over at Tikkun and Sojourner’s, this is from an esteemed colleague of mine, whom I respect very much…

Memo to President Obama:

One of your core strengths throughout the campaign, and evidenced again on inauguration day, is your impeccable ability to push us to consider new forms of discourse about policy and the way it shapes our collective life in the US and globally.

I encourage you to take the lead in shifting discourse on “terror” or “terrorism” with a focus instead on the psychological affects of war and the realities of domestic violence and sexual assault it often perpetuates.  In our public discourse, we must dismantle the notion that the enemies of well-being and freedom are those with a non-”American” identity, external and foreign.

In defense of American imperial reign, we have spent literally billions of dollars to fund military and counterterrorism programs.  We have exhausted our nation’s resources in order to train our men and women, who are also mothers and fathers, to perpetrate violence and thus fostered an environment which leads to instances of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), toxic stress, and addiction.

According to a 2003 Pentagon study (1) , nearly 40,000 military personnel have been diagnosed with PTSD since returning from combat. Significant increases in domestic and partner assault have been reported as military personnel return from service.  Intensifying the realities:

Women make up some 15 percent of the United States active duty forces, and 11 percent of the soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. Nearly a third of female veterans say they were sexually assaulted or raped while in the military, and 71 percent to 90 percent say they were sexually harassed by the men with whom they served. (2)

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