According the the new issue of the New American, a recent military report acknowledged that Army soldiers committed suicide last year at the highest rate in twenty-six years. According to the report: “There was a significant relationship between suicide attempts and the number of days deployed.”
11 thoughts on “Army Suicide Rate Soaring”
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Meanwhile the Republicans block another attempt at bringing some relief to the troops. If the Democrats were not so spineless they would go on the attack and yell for all to hear that the Republicans don’t support the troops and will grind them up until there is nothing left. If the situation were reversed imagine the vitriol that they would be spewing all over the airwaves within minutes of the decision today.
Republicans don’t support the troops. They support their own agendas.
Democrats are not spineless – they want us in Iraq just as much as Republicans do.. well, except for Ron Paul, of course.
The troops see horrible things that no human being should ever witness. I know someone who is still dealing with his experiences in Vietnam and that was 32 or 33 years ago.
not just what they SEE, but what they DO. Killing people does great harm to the soul and its so hard to deal with, i think the way out for some is only in killing themselves. Even drugs can only numb you so much.
juxtapose that with the failure of the Webb amendment
Yeah. Has anyone seen an explanation of the senate vote which was 55 to 45 (approx.) in favor but it didn’t “advance” Wtf?
[The 56-44 vote, “four short of reaching the 60 needed to advance — all but assured that Democrats would be unable to muster the support needed to pass tough anti-war legislation by year’s end.”] – AP
I’m guessing that it’s because it’s an amendment it needs 60 votes instead of 51. How about if it were a standalone Bill? At least send it to the chimp and make him veto troop support. Oh yeah, and once again John Warner sells out while posing as a patriot opposing the President’s war.
I’m proud to say that I voted for Webb in the primary and general elections and if the Va Republicans don’t get their act together, the next Senator Warner might be 60th vote. Plus, he’s a Dem that’s good on guns.
Interesting times… I have no faith in our political system, but they somehow keep bringing me back in. Sucker.
Bush still swaggers around and talks tough, “we’re kicking ass in Iraq”, while the troops get the short end of the stick; extended deployments, ruined families, denial of benefits, sub-par health care, etc, etc. Yup, the government is sure “supporting” the troops. It is a wonder that there hasn’t been a mass mutiny or fragging incident by now… Perhaps there has but we haven’t heard about it because Bushco keeps such a tight lid on everything and has purged most of the free thinkers from the upper ranks of the military?
They are there to protect American oil contractors, both of which are our president and vice-president, who are glad that the Anerican people are paying for their security. The death and destruction of these military persons are not even the price of business for these businessmen and their families. I so admire those who refuse to serve them and do their killing.
“They support their own agendas” This is true of both parties. I give Kudos to Jack Cafferty for saying what needed to be said last night. That the “big 2” parties want to control things and they go to great lenths to keep other parties marginalised.
Ghost*Warrior
Silent, haunting, empty, statuary stare,
Blank and distant hollowed eyed tin soldier,
Attempting to search a retreated soul, disconnected from he’r shattered, broken and damaged spirit,
Worn everlastingly thin with trauma, death and abuse,
Stark emotionless shell shocked bone and nerve, held in constant motionless turmoil,
Tightly wound, dark thoughts hinge ready to recoil on brutally dangerous, hair triggered memories,
Vaguely stiff and unable to cope, this warrior, this hero, this son, this daughter, this father grips furiously to life’s ragged edge, he’r soul hemorrhaging internally, as the ghosts of combat flash the forgiving release of suicide before every waking moment, within each guilt labored step, toward an endless parade of failure to simply cope with the ghostly shadow of the reaper,
Gathering corpse upon corpse unto the eternity of he’r personal eternal war,
Resting now in a flag draped coffin, this warrior, this hero took he’r own life in a calculated suicide, leaving family, friends and comrades to vainly try and explain the horrors of a proud nations young men and women slaughtering and being slaughtered,
Like Ogres in a video game, to the comfort laden viewers of the nightly news, as the silent pelting rain of uncounted ghost warriors falls prey to suicides deathly cold, and relentless embrace.
©Bruce Larson*Moore
In the year 2005 A.D. – 6,240 – U.S. military veterans, violently took their own life, an average of One Hundred and Twenty a week, for each and every one of the 52 weeks, as the number continues to grow, very few in power desire you to*know, that many times more of our children have died due to a poorly run, under funded, weakly staffed military mental health system than by the hands of the supposed enemy.