Soldier Decries AWOL Arrest at Hospital
By JEFFREY McMURRAY – 8 hours ago
LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — A soldier facing his second tour of duty in Iraq said in a jailhouse interview Monday that he was at a hospital seeking mental help when he was arrested in the middle of the night for allegedly being absent without leave.
Spc. Justin Faulkner insists his superior officers at Fort Campbell knew about his mental problems but refused to provide adequate treatment.
On Thursday, Faulkner checked into a Lexington VA hospital, where doctors told him they wanted to keep him until Monday for observation. Police showed up at the hospital shortly after 2 a.m. Saturday to take him to jail.
"It's humiliating, degrading," Faulkner, 22, of Stanton, said in an interview with The Associated Press minutes before his release from the Fayette County Detention Center. "It's made me lose respect for the military. To come and arrest me at the VA, it wasn't like I was trying to hide, trying to run. I was getting help. I am being punished for getting help."
Faulkner, who concluded a one-year tour of duty in Iraq in February 2006, was due to head back there Monday to join the rest of his unit. He was released from jail on the condition he report back to Fort Campbell on Tuesday.
Faulkner said he would but insisted the Army would be "foolish" to send him to Iraq. He said he has been experiencing post-traumatic symptoms since realizing a few weeks ago that a return trip to Iraq was likely.
"I kept getting these flashbacks, these recurring scenes from when I was over there the first time," Faulkner said. "I get these anxiety attacks at night, and sometimes during the day, I daze off. I can't get it out of my head. It wasn't until I was told I had to go back to Iraq, something just clicked in my head — it was like reliving your worst nightmare."
Faulkner's superior officer at Fort Campbell, Sgt. Donnie Burnett, said he wasn't authorized to comment on the case.
Fort Campbell spokeswoman Cathy Gramling said she couldn't comment on specifics because of privacy issues but said "there are systems in place on the installation and through the chain of command to ensure soldiers receive the treatment they require."
Faulkner said those systems didn't work for him.
~~~cont'd~~~
The following are headlines on www.IRAQ.net at 5:40 am EST on Tuesday 20 November 2007:
General says N. Iraq most violent region (AP)  AP - Despite a decline in violence in Iraq, northern Iraq has become more violent than other regions as al-Qaida and other militants move there to avoid coalition operations elsewhere, the region's top U.S. commander said. | Five killed in Baghdad attacks: security officials (AFP)  AFP - Bombings and shootings in Baghdad on Tuesday killed five people, including a senior government official, and wounded nine, Iraqi security officials said. |
Iran says will soon hold new talks with U.S. on Iraq (Reuters)  Reuters - Iran has agreed to hold a new round of talks soon with the United States on how to improve security in Iraq, Iran's foreign minister was quoted as saying on Tuesday. | Iran agrees new talks with US on Iraq (AFP)  AFP - Iran said on Tuesday it has agreed to a new round of talks with United States on improving security in Iraq, despite mounting tensions between the two arch-foes over the Iranian nuclear drive. |
| Keeping on Top of the Surge (Time.com) Time.com - One bad Sunday rocks U.S. soldiers in Sadr City, but American troops now feel they have the upper hand in Baghdad | Rising player with a vision for Shiite Iraq (The Christian Science Monitor) The Christian Science Monitor - Ammar al-Hakim is presiding over an Iraqi Shiite building boom. His austere Shaheed al-Mihrab Foundation has raised 400 mosques in Iraq since 2003. It's building the largest seminary here in the holy city of Najaf and opening a chain of schools. And it now has 95 offices throughout the country. |
Iran agrees to new talks with US on Iraq (AFP)  AFP - Iran said on Tuesday it has agreed to a new round of talks with United States on improving security in Iraq, despite mounting tensions between the two arch-foes over the Iranian nuclear drive. | 43 detained after Baghdad shooting: US military (AFP)  AFP - Iraqi troops detained 43 people, among them Sri Lankans, Nepalese and Iraqis, after a shooting incident involving a private security convoy in Baghdad, the US military said Tuesday. |
US military accuses AP photographer of being "terrorist media operative" (AFP)  AFP - The US military has filed a formal complaint with an Iraqi criminal court accusing a detained, award-winning Associated Press photographer of being a "terrorist media operative," the Pentagon said Monday. | US denies Americans detained in shooting (AP)  AP - Iraqi troops detained 43 people, most Sri Lankans and other foreigners, in a convoy run by a U.S.-contracted firm after an Iraqi woman was wounded in a Baghdad shooting involving their vehicles, the U.S. military said. It denied reports that two Americans were also arrested. |
US plans case against AP photographer (AP)  AP - The U.S. military plans to seek a criminal case in an Iraqi court against an award-winning Associated Press photographer but is refusing to disclose what evidence or accusations would be presented. | Iraqi police seize foreign security guards after shooting (McClatchy Newspapers)  McClatchy Newspapers - BAGHDAD? Iraqi authorities on Monday detained at least 12 foreigners, including two Americans, in connection with a shooting incident in central Baghdad that injured a woman and two men. |
Compare the TWO stories below. These could be filed in bulletin board mode under a thread titled "Juxtaposed Contradictory Headlines":
Keeping on Top of the Surge
TIME.com
3:25 am EST Tue 20 Nov 2007
One bad Sunday rocks U.S. soldiers in Sadr City, but American troops now feel they have the upper hand in Baghdad
Five killed in Baghdad attacks: security officials
AFP 4:20 am EST Tue 20 Nov 2007
Bombings and shootings in Baghdad on Tuesday killed five people, including a senior government official, and wounded nine, Iraqi security officials said.
The official from the Geological Survey and a person accompanying him were shot dead when their car was raked with gunfire by unidentified attackers in Buratha, in the centre of Baghdad, a security official said.
In a similar incident, two civilians were killed when their car was attacked by gunmen in Drag neighbourhood of western Baghdad, he said.
One person was killed and six wounded when a bomb exploded at Al-Shariqa crossroads in southwestern Al-Bayaa neighbourhood, another official said.
Separately, three people were injured in a roadside bomb in Al-Baladiyat in southeastern Baghdad.
US military commanders say that there has been a sharp decline in the levels of violence across Iraq, including in Baghdad.
But they caution progress is "fragile" and "far from irreversible."
Major General Mark Hertling, the new commander of Multi-National Division North, told reporters in Washington on Monday via video link from Iraq that Al-Qaeda fighters have been pushed toward eastern and northern Iraq where violence is now the highest in the country.
"What you see is that the enemy is shifting," he said.
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