PressTV – April 4, 2014

A former American marine and Senior Editor of Veterans Today says as many as 40 percent of those who serve in the US military are under psychiatric care, adding that up to 70 percent of war veterans have been on anti-psychiatric drugs.

Gordon Duff, a senior editor at Veterans Today, made the remarks in a telephone interview with Press TV on Thursday, commenting on a Wednesday shooting rampage at a US military base in Texas.

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Specialist Ivan Lopez, an Iraq war veteran, shot dead three people and injured at least sixteen others before turning his gun on himself at Fort Hood, the sprawling Army post in Texas. According to an initial investigation into the incident, the shooter was a mentally unstable person.

“The shooting at Fort Hood yesterday shouldn’t have been a surprise to anyone.  Nor should it have been a surprise that the individual that has been accused is now under psychiatric care. Frankly, as many as 40 percent of those who serve America’s military are under psychiatric care. More than that, a much larger percentage of combat veterans, up to 70 percent, have been on psychiatric drugs,” Duff said.

“One of the issues that has come up is why should people who are under psychiatric care for depression, posttraumatic stress be allowed to carry weapons. Well, another issue might well be why they were allowed in Afghanistan and Iraq while under those same medications and that same diagnoses carrying weapons pretty much continually,  if we wonder why some of the issues have happened there?” the former American marine stated.