The effects of PTSD on US war veterans are exacerbated by the fact that the US doesn't want to be a society which cheerfully accepts killing. We want to be a society that fights wars only when just. Thus, veterans feel guilt about what they have done in war.

This makes a paradoxical contrast with the fact that the US fights so many avoidable wars that one can hardly keep track of them all. For most of these wars, there is no possibility of real victory, which means the US has to choose between indefinite prolongation and politically unacceptable voluntary defeat.

Perhaps the best way to reduce the harm done to Americans by PTSD is by learning to be less ready to fight a war. If we only fought when there was a reason to be proud afterward of having fought, perhaps we would fight fewer wars, fewer veterans would suffer moral injury, and those who did could be welcomed back and healed.

Other countries have similar problems. Samantha Crompvoets interviewed Australian veterans about war crimes, and stated conclusions that the Australian government would rather silence.