With America turning away from its own forces, leaving them like the movie character Rambo to languish after a decade of war, Le Monde columnist Marc-Olivier Bherer writes that the future will increasingly look like a scene from the film Terminator, in which unmanned and autonomous drones hunt their prey – and they won’t all be controlled by Americans in the White House.
For Le Monde, Marc-Olivier Bherer starts off this way:
The invasion of Iraq is ten years old. It led to a profound transformation of the American art of war – a change that raises profound questions.
As the faceless hero of an endless war, the shooter is screwed. This soldier left the army without waiting to receive a pension. Today he is unemployed, without health insurance, and without prospects. And yet, he is the man who liquidated public enemy number one, Osama bin Laden.
The confession of the shooter, whose name is kept secret, is the focus of an article published in the monthly Esquire Magazine. The article oscillates between the suspense of the hunt and the difficulty of returning to civilian life. As might be expected, the greatest fear is of becoming an everyday man again. And it’s no wonder.
Every day, about 22 U.S. veterans commit suicide. In 2010, more soldiers committed suicide than died on the front. Approximately 13 percent of homeless Americans are former military. The unemployment rate of veterans is two points higher than the already-high national average.
The slogan “support our troops,” so omnipresent at the beginning of the war in Iraq a decade ago, was very-conveniently forgotten at the time of withdrawal. “Rambo syndrome” threatens America. Will the boys find their place, or will they become social outcasts, as it was with some Vietnam veterans?
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