I started this blog with a post about at a NYTimes article that looked at the increasing number of soldiers affected by brain injuries in this war. MSNBC’s Robert Bazell has been reporting on that same topic this week, with a two-part series on the increased number of injuries in this war due to IED explosions and the difficulty in diagnosing some brain injuries.

The latter is frightening because, as Bazell writes in a blog post on MSNBC’s The Daily Nightly, “many troops in Iraq with brain injuries may be returning to duty.” The problem, Bazell says, is that it is not always outwardly apparent that a brain injury has occurred, and that signs of injury – like changes in behavior – are often attributed to mental health problems like depression. Military officials seem to not be calculating battle readiness with a strong understanding of the possibilities for and nature of brain injury. Bazell reports,

Dr. Harriet Zeiner, a VA psychologist and brain injury specialist, was recently on a conference call with medical officials at several military treatment facilities including hospitals in Iraq. "One of the things commanders are trying to determine," she says, "is that after someone has been exposed to five and six concussive blasts are they still battle ready? Frankly, that floored us. You could have very significant effects from one exposure, and now they're trying to figure out if people who've been exposed five and six times should be going back into battle."

The challenges these soldiers are facing upon their return home are huge. The possible effects of brain injury impact the fundamental aspects of life that form identity and ease transition from war to home; personality, memory, behavior and cognitive abilities all change the way a person relates to him/herself, to his/her family and friends and his/her abilities to pick up employment where they left it before the war.

This is just one of the consequences of war that places the rebuilding boondoggles, the lack of coherent alternatives from our legislators, and the military’s strategies for recruiting into sharp relief. The administration's business plan for this war seems to need a serious overhaul: the ethics of its marketing plan are in question, its projects and initiatives are failing, and its strategy for its human resources (that, for example, they should be able to go back into battle after being exposed to several concussive blasts, any of which could have a devastating impact on the brain) is seriously problematic.

From the various reports on soldiers with brain injury, it seems as though they are receiving a good amount of care and rehabilitation when the injury has been diagnosed. Even so, I wonder if the permanent impact on their lives is a cost-benefit ratio we are willing to bear.