At least 17 US troops have committed suicide in Iraq; Army seeks answers

[Manix]

<snip>

Since April, the military says, at least 17 Americans - 15 Army soldiers and two Marines - have taken their own lives in Iraq. The true number is almost certainly higher. At least two dozen non-combat deaths, some of them possible suicides, are under investigation according to an AP review of Army casualty reports.

No one in the military is saying for the record that the suicide rate among forces in Iraq is alarming. But Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, the top American military commander in Iraq, was concerned enough, according to the Army Surgeon General's office, to have ordered a 12-person mental health assessment team to Iraq to see what more can be done to prevent suicides and to help troops better cope with anxiety and depression.

http://www.utusan.com.my/utusan/content.asp?y=2003&dt=1125&pub=Utusan_Express&sec=World&pg=wo_09.htm

[mw]

1. Keep them alive long enuf to be blown to bits by roadside bombs

nt

[opihimoimoi]

2. Those troops are but PAWNs

Pawns are one thing, but , Abused pawns are another.

I suggest the troops are abused with a poor excuse to risk their lives and fortune. They are abused also with poor backup and poor excuses/planning, etc

Caught between a rock and a hard place, even our best goes for the desperate "escape"

Fuck Bush/Rummy

[Dr Fate]

3. This is terrible- what is causing this???

????

[Langis]

4. Well I am sure a 12 person team

will be able to help all 130,00 troops. If they each see 4 troops day, they would be able to make sure everyone is mentally stable in... 7 and 1/2 years!

[Nihil]

5. Why the sudden interest?

Has an officer topped themselves or something?

[dbt]

6. Couldn't be CONSCIENCE, could it?

These troops put on the uniform to defend this country and uphold the Constitution, only to find themselves part of an Imperial Occupation Force in an operation that has nothing to do with defending this country. Moreover, it goes against everything the Constitution stands for.

No wonder anxiety and depression are preying on our troops. They simply see that this mission in Iraq is wrong. It's the evil opposite of everything they thought military service was about.

Only this and nothing more.

:cry:
dbt

[teryang]

7. Nothing new about this

Put people in an environment of unchecked violence, filled with killings, shootings, explosions, and dead bodies and you get suicides.

It has all been studied before. There is nothing new about it.