www.nytimes.com Open in urlscan Pro
151.101.193.164  Public Scan

Form analysis
2 forms found in the DOM

POST https://nytimes.app.goo.gl/?link=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/23/opinion/23herbert.html&apn=com.nytimes.android&amv=9837&ibi=com.nytimes.NYTimes&isi=284862083

<form method="post" action="https://nytimes.app.goo.gl/?link=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/23/opinion/23herbert.html&amp;apn=com.nytimes.android&amp;amv=9837&amp;ibi=com.nytimes.NYTimes&amp;isi=284862083" data-testid="MagicLinkForm"
  style="visibility: hidden;"><input name="client_id" type="hidden" value="web.fwk.vi"><input name="redirect_uri" type="hidden"
    value="https://nytimes.app.goo.gl/?link=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/23/opinion/23herbert.html&amp;apn=com.nytimes.android&amp;amv=9837&amp;ibi=com.nytimes.NYTimes&amp;isi=284862083"><input name="response_type" type="hidden"
    value="code"><input name="state" type="hidden" value="no-state"><input name="scope" type="hidden" value="default"></form>

POST https://nytimes.app.goo.gl/?link=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/23/opinion/23herbert.html&apn=com.nytimes.android&amv=9837&ibi=com.nytimes.NYTimes&isi=284862083

<form method="post" action="https://nytimes.app.goo.gl/?link=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/23/opinion/23herbert.html&amp;apn=com.nytimes.android&amp;amv=9837&amp;ibi=com.nytimes.NYTimes&amp;isi=284862083" data-testid="MagicLinkForm"
  style="visibility: hidden;"><input name="client_id" type="hidden" value="web.fwk.vi"><input name="redirect_uri" type="hidden"
    value="https://nytimes.app.goo.gl/?link=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/23/opinion/23herbert.html&amp;apn=com.nytimes.android&amp;amv=9837&amp;ibi=com.nytimes.NYTimes&amp;isi=284862083"><input name="response_type" type="hidden"
    value="code"><input name="state" type="hidden" value="no-state"><input name="scope" type="hidden" value="default"></form>

Text Content

Manage privacy preferences
We and our vendors use cookies and similar methods to recognize visitors and
remember their preferences, for analytics, to measure our marketing
effectiveness and to target and measure the effectiveness of ads, among other
things. To learn more about these methods, view our Cookie Policy and Privacy
Policy. By clicking ‘Accept all,’ you consent to the processing of your data by
us and our vendors using the above methods. You can always change your
preferences by clicking on Manage Privacy Preferences in our website footer or
in your app Privacy Settings. Your preferences here are unrelated to Apple’s App
Tracking Transparency Framework.
Vendors 343
Vendors using consent 314
Vendors using legitimate interest 83
Precise geolocation data, and identification through device scanning
Precise geolocation and information about device characteristics can be used.
Personalised advertising, advertising measurement, audience research and
services development
Advertising can be personalised based on your profile. Your activity on this
service can be used to build or improve a profile about you for personalised
advertising. Advertising performance can be measured. Reports can be generated
based on your activity and those of others. Your activity on this service can
help develop and improve products and services.
Purposes
 * Use limited data to select advertising
 * Create profiles for personalised advertising
 * Use profiles to select personalised advertising
 * Measure advertising performance
 * Understand audiences through statistics or combinations of data from
   different sources
 * Develop and improve services

Store and/or access information on a device
Cookies, device or similar online identifiers (e.g. login-based identifiers,
randomly assigned identifiers, network based identifiers) together with other
information (e.g. browser type and information, language, screen size, supported
technologies etc.) can be stored or read on your device to recognise it each
time it connects to an app or to a website, for one or several of the purposes
presented here.

Manage preferences
Reject allAccept all
Manage Privacy Preferences



We and our vendors use cookies and similar methods (“Cookies”) to recognize
visitors and remember their preferences. We also use them for a variety of
purposes, including analytics, to measure marketing effectiveness and to target
and measure the effectiveness of ads. You can accept or reject the use of
Cookies for individual purposes below. If you previously accepted these methods
through our prior banner, then we will use your data for targeting. Your
preferences here are unrelated to Apple’s App Tracking Transparency Framework.



 * Purposes
 * Features
 * Vendors

Below, you will find a list of the purposes and special features for which your
data is being processed. You may exercise your rights for specific purposes,
based on consent or legitimate interest, using the toggles below.
ConsentLegitimate interest
Purposes
Store and/or access information on a deviceOff

Cookies, device or similar online identifiers (e.g. login-based identifiers,
randomly assigned identifiers, network based identifiers) together with other
information (e.g. browser type and information, language, screen size, supported
technologies etc.) can be stored or read on your device to recognise it each
time it connects to an app or to a website, for one or several of the purposes
presented here.

Most purposes explained in this notice rely on the storage or accessing of
information from your device when you use an app or visit a website. For
example, a vendor or publisher might need to store a cookie on your device
during your first visit on a website, to be able to recognise your device during
your next visits (by accessing this cookie each time).

Vendors178 vendor(s)

 * 6sense
 * A.Mob
 * ADventori
 * Aarki
 * AcuityAds
 * AdElement Media Solutions
 * AdGear
 * AdKernel
 * AdSpirit AdServer
 * AdTheorent

1-10 / 178




Use limited data to select advertisingOff

Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such
as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type
or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit
the number of times an ad is presented to you).

A car manufacturer wants to promote its electric vehicles to environmentally
conscious users living in the city after office hours. The advertising is
presented on a page with related content (such as an article on climate change
actions) after 6:30 p.m. to users whose non-precise location suggests that they
are in an urban zone.

A large producer of watercolour paints wants to carry out an online advertising
campaign for its latest watercolour range, diversifying its audience to reach as
many amateur and professional artists as possible and avoiding showing the ad
next to mismatched content (for instance, articles about how to paint your
house). The number of times that the ad has been presented to you is detected
and limited, to avoid presenting it too often.

Vendors44 vendor(s)

 * 6sense
 * AcuityAds
 * AdGear
 * AdKernel
 * Adform
 * Advanced store
 * Amazon Ad Server
 * Appier
 * AudienceProject
 * Bannernow

1-10 / 44




Create profiles for personalised advertisingOff

Information about your activity on this service (such as forms you submit,
content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you
(for example, information from your previous activity on this service and other
websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a
profile about you (that might include possible interests and personal aspects).
Your profile can be used (also later) to present advertising that appears more
relevant based on your possible interests by this and other entities.

If you read several articles about the best bike accessories to buy, this
information could be used to create a profile about your interest in bike
accessories. Such a profile may be used or improved later on, on the same or a
different website or app to present you with advertising for a particular bike
accessory brand. If you also look at a configurator for a vehicle on a luxury
car manufacturer website, this information could be combined with your interest
in bikes to refine your profile and make an assumption that you are interested
in luxury cycling gear.

An apparel company wishes to promote its new line of high-end baby clothes. It
gets in touch with an agency that has a network of clients with high income
customers (such as high-end supermarkets) and asks the agency to create profiles
of young parents or couples who can be assumed to be wealthy and to have a new
child, so that these can later be used to present advertising within partner
apps based on those profiles.

Vendors130 vendor(s)

 * 6sense
 * A.Mob
 * Aarki
 * AcuityAds
 * AdElement Media Solutions
 * AdGear
 * AdKernel
 * AdSpirit AdServer
 * AdTheorent
 * AdTiming

1-10 / 130




Use profiles to select personalised advertisingOff

Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on your advertising
profiles, which can reflect your activity on this service or other websites or
apps (like the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and
personal aspects.

An online retailer wants to advertise a limited sale on running shoes. It wants
to target advertising to users who previously looked at running shoes on its
mobile app. Tracking technologies might be used to recognise that you have
previously used the mobile app to consult running shoes, in order to present you
with the corresponding advertisement on the app.

A profile created for personalised advertising in relation to a person having
searched for bike accessories on a website can be used to present the relevant
advertisement for bike accessories on a mobile app of another organisation.

Vendors128 vendor(s)

 * 6sense
 * A.Mob
 * ADventori
 * Aarki
 * AcuityAds
 * AdElement Media Solutions
 * AdGear
 * AdKernel
 * AdSpirit AdServer
 * AdTheorent

1-10 / 128




Measure advertising performanceOff

Information regarding which advertising is presented to you and how you interact
with it can be used to determine how well an advert has worked for you or other
users and whether the goals of the advertising were reached. For instance,
whether you saw an ad, whether you clicked on it, whether it led you to buy a
product or visit a website, etc. This is very helpful to understand the
relevance of advertising campaigns.

You have clicked on an advertisement about a “black Friday” discount by an
online shop on the website of a publisher and purchased a product. Your click
will be linked to this purchase. Your interaction and that of other users will
be measured to know how many clicks on the ad led to a purchase.

You are one of very few to have clicked on an advertisement about an
“international appreciation day” discount by an online gift shop within the app
of a publisher. The publisher wants to have reports to understand how often a
specific ad placement within the app, and notably the “international
appreciation day” ad, has been viewed or clicked by you and other users, in
order to help the publisher and its partners (such as agencies) optimise ad
placements.

Vendors77 vendor(s)

 * 6sense
 * Aarki
 * AcuityAds
 * AdGear
 * AdKernel
 * Adelaide
 * Adform
 * Adikteev
 * Adloox
 * Adnami

1-10 / 77




Understand audiences through statistics or combinations of data from different
sourcesOff

Reports can be generated based on the combination of data sets (like user
profiles, statistics, market research, analytics data) regarding your
interactions and those of other users with advertising or (non-advertising)
content to identify common characteristics (for instance, to determine which
target audiences are more receptive to an ad campaign or to certain contents).

The owner of an online bookstore wants commercial reporting showing the
proportion of visitors who consulted and left its site without buying, or
consulted and bought the last celebrity autobiography of the month, as well as
the average age and the male/female distribution of each category. Data relating
to your navigation on its site and to your personal characteristics is then used
and combined with other such data to produce these statistics.

An advertiser wants to better understand the type of audience interacting with
its adverts. It calls upon a research institute to compare the characteristics
of users who interacted with the ad with typical attributes of users of similar
platforms, across different devices. This comparison reveals to the advertiser
that its ad audience is mainly accessing the adverts through mobile devices and
is likely in the 45-60 age range.

Vendors28 vendor(s)

 * AdGear
 * Amazon Ad Server
 * Amobee (Nexxen)
 * Appier
 * AudienceProject
 * Bombora
 * Clinch
 * Crimtan
 * Emerse
 * Google Ads

1-10 / 28




Develop and improve servicesOff

Information about your activity on this service, such as your interaction with
ads or content, can be very helpful to improve products and services and to
build new products and services based on user interactions, the type of
audience, etc. This specific purpose does not include the development or
improvement of user profiles and identifiers.

A technology platform working with a social media provider notices a growth in
mobile app users, and sees based on their profiles that many of them are
connecting through mobile connections. It uses a new technology to deliver ads
that are formatted for mobile devices and that are low-bandwidth, to improve
their performance.

An advertiser is looking for a way to display ads on a new type of consumer
device. It collects information regarding the way users interact with this new
kind of device to determine whether it can build a new mechanism for displaying
advertising on this type of device.

Vendors50 vendor(s)

 * 6sense
 * Aarki
 * AcuityAds
 * AdGear
 * Adelaide
 * Adform
 * Admixer
 * Amazon Ad Server
 * Amobee (Nexxen)
 * Appier

1-10 / 50




Below, you will find a list of the features for which your data is being
processed. You may exercise your rights for special features using the toggles
below.
Features
Match and combine data from other data sources

Information about your activity on this service may be matched and combined with
other information relating to you and originating from various sources (for
instance your activity on a separate online service, your use of a loyalty card
in-store, or your answers to a survey), in support of the purposes explained in
this notice.

Vendors109 vendor(s)

 * 6sense
 * A.Mob
 * AdGear
 * AdTheorent
 * Adara (Rate Gain)
 * Adelaide
 * Adex (Virtual Minds)
 * Adform
 * Admixer
 * AdsWizz

1-10 / 109




Link different devices

In support of the purposes explained in this notice, your device might be
considered as likely linked to other devices that belong to you or your
household (for instance because you are logged in to the same service on both
your phone and your computer, or because you may use the same Internet
connection on both devices).

Vendors109 vendor(s)

 * 6sense
 * A.Mob
 * AcuityAds
 * AdElement Media Solutions
 * AdGear
 * AdTheorent
 * Adara (Rate Gain)
 * Adex (Virtual Minds)
 * Adform
 * Adikteev

1-10 / 109




Identify devices based on information transmitted automatically

Your device might be distinguished from other devices based on information it
automatically sends when accessing the Internet (for instance, the IP address of
your Internet connection or the type of browser you are using) in support of the
purposes exposed in this notice.

Vendors127 vendor(s)

 * 6sense
 * A.Mob
 * Aarki
 * AdElement Media Solutions
 * AdGear
 * AdKernel
 * AdSpirit AdServer
 * AdTheorent
 * Adacado
 * Adara (Rate Gain)

1-10 / 127




Special features
Use precise geolocation dataOff

With your acceptance, your precise location (within a radius of less than 500
metres) may be used in support of the purposes explained in this notice.

Vendors66 vendor(s)

 * A.Mob
 * AdElement Media Solutions
 * AdGear
 * AdKernel
 * AdTheorent
 * Adacado
 * Admixer
 * Adrule mobile
 * AdsWizz
 * Airtory Inc

1-10 / 66




Actively scan device characteristics for identificationOff

With your acceptance, certain characteristics specific to your device might be
requested and used to distinguish it from other devices (such as the installed
fonts or plugins, the resolution of your screen) in support of the purposes
explained in this notice.

Vendors24 vendor(s)

 * A.Mob
 * AdKernel
 * AdTheorent
 * Adcell (Firstlead)
 * Cheq
 * Clickagy
 * Dentsu Product & Services GmbH
 * Fraudlogix
 * Human
 * Hybrid

1-10 / 24




Below, you will find a list of vendors processing your data and the purposes or
features of processing they declare. You may exercise your rights for each
vendor based on the legal basis they assert.
ConsentLegitimate interest
IAB TCF Vendors
6senseIAB TCFOff

6sense stores cookies with a maximum duration of about this many days: 730. This
vendor also uses other methods like "local storage" to store and access
information on your device.

Privacy policyLegitimate interest disclosure

PurposesRetentionStore and/or access information on a device400 day(s)Create
profiles for personalised advertising400 day(s)Use profiles to select
personalised advertising400 day(s)Use limited data to select advertising400
day(s)Measure advertising performance400 day(s)Develop and improve services400
day(s)

Special purposesRetentionEnsure security, prevent and detect fraud, and fix
errors 400 day(s)Deliver and present advertising and content400 day(s)

FeaturesMatch and combine data from other data sourcesLink different
devicesIdentify devices based on information transmitted automatically

Data categoriesIP addressesProbabilistic identifiersBrowsing and interaction
dataNon-precise location dataUsers’ profiles

A.MobIAB TCFOff

A.Mob stores cookies with a maximum duration of about this many days: 395. This
vendor also uses other methods like "local storage" to store and access
information on your device.

Privacy policy

PurposesRetentionStore and/or access information on a device395 day(s)Use
limited data to select advertising395 day(s)Create profiles for personalised
advertising395 day(s)Use profiles to select personalised advertising395
day(s)Measure advertising performance395 day(s)Understand audiences through
statistics or combinations of data from different sources395 day(s)Develop and
improve services395 day(s)

FeaturesMatch and combine data from other data sourcesLink different
devicesIdentify devices based on information transmitted automatically

Special featuresUse precise geolocation dataActively scan device characteristics
for identification

Data categoriesIP addressesDevice characteristicsDevice identifiersProbabilistic
identifiersAuthentication-derived identifiersBrowsing and interaction
dataUser-provided dataNon-precise location dataPrecise location dataUsers’
profilesPrivacy choices

ADventoriIAB TCFOff

ADventori stores cookies with a maximum duration of about this many days: 90.
These cookies may be refreshed. This vendor also uses other methods like "local
storage" to store and access information on your device.

Privacy policyLegitimate interest disclosure

PurposesRetentionStore and/or access information on a device400 day(s)Use
limited data to select advertising90 day(s)Use profiles to select personalised
advertising90 day(s)Measure advertising performance400 day(s)

Special purposesRetentionEnsure security, prevent and detect fraud, and fix
errors 400 day(s)Deliver and present advertising and content400 day(s)

Data categoriesIP addressesDevice identifiersProbabilistic identifiersBrowsing
and interaction dataUser-provided dataNon-precise location dataPrivacy choices

AarkiIAB TCFOff

uses methods like "local storage" to store and access information on your
device.

Privacy policyLegitimate interest disclosure

PurposesRetentionStore and/or access information on a device365 day(s)Use
limited data to select advertising365 day(s)Create profiles for personalised
advertising3650 day(s)Use profiles to select personalised advertising3650
day(s)Measure advertising performance1500 day(s)Develop and improve services365
day(s)

Special purposesRetentionEnsure security, prevent and detect fraud, and fix
errors 365 day(s)Deliver and present advertising and content365 day(s)

FeaturesIdentify devices based on information transmitted automatically

Data categoriesIP addressesDevice characteristicsDevice identifiersUser-provided
dataNon-precise location data

AcuityAdsIAB TCFOff

AcuityAds stores cookies with a maximum duration of about this many days: 365.
These cookies may be refreshed.

Privacy policyLegitimate interest disclosure

PurposesRetentionStore and/or access information on a device180 day(s)Create
profiles for personalised advertising180 day(s)Use profiles to select
personalised advertising180 day(s)Use limited data to select advertising180
day(s)Measure advertising performance180 day(s)Develop and improve services180
day(s)

Special purposesRetentionEnsure security, prevent and detect fraud, and fix
errors 180 day(s)Deliver and present advertising and content180 day(s)

FeaturesLink different devices

Data categoriesIP addressesDevice characteristicsDevice
identifiersAuthentication-derived identifiersBrowsing and interaction
dataNon-precise location dataUsers’ profilesPrivacy choices

AdElement Media SolutionsIAB TCFOff

AdElement Media Solutions stores cookies with a maximum duration of about this
many days: 365. These cookies may be refreshed.

Privacy policyLegitimate interest disclosure

PurposesRetentionStore and/or access information on a device180 day(s)Use
limited data to select advertising180 day(s)Create profiles for personalised
advertising90 day(s)Use profiles to select personalised advertising90
day(s)Measure advertising performance180 day(s)Understand audiences through
statistics or combinations of data from different sources90 day(s)Develop and
improve services180 day(s)

Special purposesRetentionEnsure security, prevent and detect fraud, and fix
errors 180 day(s)Deliver and present advertising and content180 day(s)

FeaturesLink different devicesIdentify devices based on information transmitted
automatically

Special featuresUse precise geolocation data

Data categoriesIP addressesDevice characteristicsDevice identifiersBrowsing and
interaction dataUser-provided dataNon-precise location dataPrecise location
dataUsers’ profilesPrivacy choices

AdGearIAB TCFOff

AdGear stores cookies with a maximum duration of about this many days: 395. This
vendor also uses other methods like "local storage" to store and access
information on your device.

Privacy policyLegitimate interest disclosure

PurposesRetentionStore and/or access information on a device395 day(s)Create
profiles for personalised advertising395 day(s)Use profiles to select
personalised advertising395 day(s)Use limited data to select advertising395
day(s)Measure advertising performance395 day(s)Understand audiences through
statistics or combinations of data from different sources395 day(s)Develop and
improve services395 day(s)

Special purposesRetentionEnsure security, prevent and detect fraud, and fix
errors 395 day(s)Deliver and present advertising and content395 day(s)

FeaturesMatch and combine data from other data sourcesLink different
devicesIdentify devices based on information transmitted automatically

Special featuresUse precise geolocation data

Data categoriesIP addressesDevice characteristicsDevice identifiersProbabilistic
identifiersAuthentication-derived identifiersBrowsing and interaction
dataUser-provided dataNon-precise location dataUsers’ profilesPrivacy choices

AdKernelIAB TCFOff

AdKernel stores cookies with a maximum duration of about this many days: 18.
These cookies may be refreshed.

Privacy policyLegitimate interest disclosure

PurposesRetentionStore and/or access information on a device180 day(s)Create
profiles for personalised advertising180 day(s)Use profiles to select
personalised advertising180 day(s)Understand audiences through statistics or
combinations of data from different sources180 day(s)Develop and improve
services180 day(s)Use limited data to select advertising180 day(s)Measure
advertising performance180 day(s)

Special purposesRetentionEnsure security, prevent and detect fraud, and fix
errors 180 day(s)Deliver and present advertising and content180 day(s)

FeaturesIdentify devices based on information transmitted automatically

Special featuresUse precise geolocation dataActively scan device characteristics
for identification

Data categoriesIP addressesDevice identifiersNon-precise location dataPrecise
location dataUsers’ profiles

AdSpirit AdServerIAB TCFOff

AdSpirit AdServer stores cookies with a maximum duration of about this many
days: 30. These cookies may be refreshed.

Privacy policyLegitimate interest disclosure

PurposesRetentionStore and/or access information on a device60 day(s)Use limited
data to select advertising14 day(s)Create profiles for personalised
advertising60 day(s)Use profiles to select personalised advertising60
day(s)Measure advertising performance14 day(s)Understand audiences through
statistics or combinations of data from different sources60 day(s)

Special purposesRetentionEnsure security, prevent and detect fraud, and fix
errors 60 day(s)Deliver and present advertising and content60 day(s)

FeaturesIdentify devices based on information transmitted automatically

Data categoriesIP addressesDevice characteristicsDevice identifiersProbabilistic
identifiersBrowsing and interaction dataNon-precise location dataUsers’
profilesPrivacy choices

AdTheorentIAB TCFOff

AdTheorent stores cookies with a maximum duration of about this many days: 730.
These cookies may be refreshed.

Privacy policyLegitimate interest disclosure

PurposesRetentionStore and/or access information on a device365 day(s)Use
limited data to select advertising365 day(s)Create profiles for personalised
advertising365 day(s)Use profiles to select personalised advertising365
day(s)Measure advertising performance365 day(s)Understand audiences through
statistics or combinations of data from different sources365 day(s)Develop and
improve services365 day(s)

FeaturesMatch and combine data from other data sourcesLink different
devicesIdentify devices based on information transmitted automatically

Special featuresUse precise geolocation dataActively scan device characteristics
for identification

Data categoriesIP addressesDevice characteristicsDevice identifiersProbabilistic
identifiersNon-precise location dataPrecise location dataPrivacy choices

1-10 / 314

SaveReject allAccept all
Skip to contentSkip to site indexSearch & Section NavigationSection Navigation
SEARCH

SUBSCRIBE FOR €0.50/WEEKLog in
Friday, August 30, 2024
Today’s Paper
SUBSCRIBE FOR €0.50/WEEK
Opinion|The Way We Treat Our Troops

https://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/23/opinion/23herbert.html
 * Share full article
 * 
 * 
 * 229

Advertisement

SKIP ADVERTISEMENT



Supported by

SKIP ADVERTISEMENT


Opinion

Op-Ed Columnist


THE WAY WE TREAT OUR TROOPS

By Bob Herbert

 * Oct. 22, 2010

 * Share full article
 * 
 * 
 * 229
 * Read in app
   

You can only hope that the very preliminary peace efforts in Afghanistan bear
fruit before long. But for evidence that the United States is letting its claim
to greatness, and even common decency, slip through its fingers, all you need to
do is look at the way we treat our own troops.

The idea that the United States is at war and hardly any of its citizens are
paying attention to the terrible burden being shouldered by its men and women in
uniform is beyond appalling.

We can get fired up about Lady Gaga and the Tea Party crackpots. We’re into
fantasy football, the baseball playoffs and our obsessively narcissistic tweets.
But American soldiers fighting and dying in a foreign land? That is such a yawn.

I would bring back the draft in a heartbeat. Then you wouldn’t have these wars
that last a lifetime. And you wouldn’t get mind-bending tragedies like the death
of Sgt. First Class Lance Vogeler, a 29-year-old who was killed a few weeks ago
while serving in the Army in his 12th combat tour. That’s right, his 12th — four
in Iraq and eight in Afghanistan.




Twelve tours may be unusual, but multiple tours — three, four, five — are
absolutely normal. We don’t have enough volunteers to fight these endless wars.
Americans are big on bumper stickers, and they like to go to sports events and
demonstrate their patriotism by chanting, “U-S-A! U-S-A!” But actually putting
on a uniform and going into harm’s way? No thanks.

Sergeant Vogeler was married and the father of two children, and his wife was
expecting their third.

It’s a quaint notion, but true: with wars come responsibilities. The meat
grinder of war takes its toll in so many ways, and we should be paying close
attention to all aspects of it. Instead, we send our service members off to war,
and once they’re gone, it’s out of sight, out of mind.

If we were interested, we might notice that record numbers of soldiers are
killing themselves. At least 125 committed suicide through August of this year,
an awful pace that if continued would surpass last year’s all-time high of 162.

Image

Bob HerbertCredit...Damon Winter/The New York Times

Stressed-out, depressed and despondent soldiers are seeking help for their
mental difficulties at a rate that is overwhelming the capacity of available
professionals. And you can bet that there are even higher numbers of troubled
service members who are not seeking help.



Advertisement

SKIP ADVERTISEMENT



In the war zones, we medicate the troubled troops and send them right back into
action, loading them up with antidepressants, sleeping pills, anti-anxiety drugs
and lord knows what other kinds of medication.

One of the things we have long known about warfare is that the trouble follows
the troops home. The Times published an article this week by Aaron Glantz, a
reporter with The Bay Citizen news organization in San Francisco, that focused
on the extraordinary surge of fatalities among Afghanistan and Iraq veterans.
These young people died, wrote Mr. Glantz, “not just as a result of suicide, but
also of vehicle accidents, motorcycle crashes, drug overdoses or other causes
after being discharged from the military.”

An analysis of official death certificates showed that, from 2005 through 2008,
more than 1,000 California veterans under the age of 35 had died. That’s three
times the number of service members from California who were killed in
Afghanistan and Iraq during the same period.

Veterans of the two wars were two-and-a-half times as likely to commit suicide
as people the same age with no military service. “They were twice as likely,”
Mr. Glantz reported, “to die in a vehicle accident, and five-and-a-half times as
likely to die in a motorcycle accident.”



Advertisement

SKIP ADVERTISEMENT



The torment that wars put people through is not something that can be turned on
and off like a switch. It’s a potentially deadly burden that demands attention
and care. People shouldn’t be exposed to it if there is any possible
alternative.

The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have been world-class fiascos. To continue them
without taking serious account of the horrors being endured by our troops and
their families is just wrong.

The war in Afghanistan, the longest in our history, began on Oct. 7, 2001. It’s
now in its 10th year. After all this time and all the blood shed and lives lost,
it’s still not clear what we’re doing. Osama bin Laden hasn’t been found. The
Afghan Army can’t stand on its own. Our ally in Pakistan can’t be trusted, and
our man in Kabul is, at best, flaky. A good and humane society would not keep
sending its young people into that caldron.

Shakespeare tells us to “be not afraid of greatness.” At the moment, we are
acting like we’re terrified.


A version of this article appears in print on Oct. 23, 2010, Section A, Page 21
of the New York edition with the headline: The Way We Treat Our Troops. Order
Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe
Read 229 Comments
 * Share full article
 * 
 * 
 * 229
 * Read in app
   





Advertisement

SKIP ADVERTISEMENT




COMMENTS 229

The Way We Treat Our TroopsSkip to Comments
The comments section is closed. To submit a letter to the editor for
publication, write to letters@nytimes.com.


Enjoy unlimited access to all of The Times.


6-month Welcome Offer
original price:   €3sale price:   €0.50/week
Learn more


SITE INDEX




SITE INFORMATION NAVIGATION

 * © 2024 The New York Times Company

 * NYTCo
 * Contact Us
 * Accessibility
 * Work with us
 * Advertise
 * T Brand Studio
 * Your Ad Choices
 * Privacy Policy
 * Terms of Service
 * Terms of Sale
 * Site Map
 * Canada
 * International
 * Help
 * Subscriptions

 * Manage Privacy Preferences