The wounds unseen

Matt Frei of the BBC has an investigative report on some of the casualties of Iraq that don't get much ink in the press. Many ex-military personell are suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) at such severe levels that they are either suicidal or a danger to their own families.

"My nightmares are so intense I woke up one night with my hands round my fiancee's throat. Another night she woke me up. I was really kicking and really getting violent in my sleep. So now I sleep on the couch until I can get my sleep, my nightmares, more under control."

- Lt. Julian Goodrum

How many troops are dealing with this? My initial guess was that it was probably easily in the hundreds. I was off by a fair bit.

More than 10,000 returnees from the Iraq war have sought help for a condition in which the mundane becomes a menace.

And that's the number of troops that were willing to admit it in the open and seek help. How many more are afraid or ashamed and are suffering in silence... at least until they wind up killing themselves or somebody else.

And for what?