Veterans Can Lie?

Last week, the federal government announced a new policy related to security clearances for government jobs. They still ask applicants if they have consulted a health care professional in the past 7 years, but as of last week, it is no longer a federal crime to deny having sought mental health counseling IF “the condition was related to service in a combat zone.”

It’s Good News because even though over 4,064 American soldiers have been killed in Iraq, and 29,829 physically maimed, and tens of thousands psychologically damaged by an ill-conceived war, and even though the Veteran’s Administration seems horribly ill-prepared to provide appropriate mental health treatment for the returning hordes of traumatized soldiers, at least our heroic soldiers, many of whom have paid a terrible price in service to their country, won’t be prosecuted for lying on their job application.

But it’s Bad News because we all know that anyone who has ever sought counseling for any sort of emotional stress is forever after incapable productive activity, and thus this new policy will frustrate our burgeoning security-clearance industry’s efforts to ensure that no such persons are ever given an opportunity to earn a living.

The new policy is also bad in that it may provide access, for disabled people, into government-work environments which, as we know, are widely regarded as models of efficiency and productivity – what if one of these veterans landed a job at the post office, a place never previously exposed to mental instability?

But actually, it’s No News because the new policy applies to such a tiny fraction of the workforce – only those traumatized by service in Iraq, and only those applying for government jobs, and, worst of all, only those who have sought treatment. We need to realize that 20% of the population experiences some form of mental health problem during their lifetimes; we need to ensure that none of these damaged Americans ever gets a job.