The Philosophy of War and Exile: From the Humanity of War to the Inhumanity of Peace

摘要

Early in his introduction, Professor Gertz uses troubling statistics to expose the problem he discusses in this captivating book. Of those soldiers who served in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2001, death by suicide exceeded death from combat by a ratio of 25 to 1 between 2005 and 2010. While only one per cent of United States citizens served in these conflict areas, veterans who served there accounted for 20 per cent of suicides, or one every 36 hours. Combat has always been difficult and there have always been psychological casualties. Gertz's argument is that well-intentioned but misinformed efforts to help these soldiers reacclimatize to civilian life have compounded their difficulties. This is a sad and ironic injustice indeed.