The recent security breach(es) resulting from Secret Service bungling have kept the cable news cycle churning. While everyone is focusing on fence jumpers and the security of the president, what about the security of the veterans who have fought our wars and brought their mental and physical scars home?
Lost in most of the stories about the White House fence-jumper running through the “People’s House,” is the fact that Omar Gonzalez was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. I find it sadly ironic that the location where George W. Bush launched a disastrous war was breached by one of the very people who suffers terribly because of that unnecessary war.
While the vast majority of people with PTSD are not dangerous or planning to hop the White House fence with a knife, clearly veterans’ mental health needs are not being adequately treated. With very high rates of PTSD among people returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, high rates of suicide and substance abuse, the story should be about protecting the people we’ve sent to fight our wars. The president is important, but let’s not lose sight of the story behind the story. (You can find more links to the news stories behind this cartoon here.)