The Pentagon reported last month that the rate of suicides among US troops has reached an all-time high since record-keeping began three decades ago. At least 128 and potentially as many as 143 soldiers from the United States Army took their own lives last year. An increase from 117 suicides in 2007. Suicides in the Marines also have increased from 25 in 2006 to 33 in 2007 to 41 in 2008. This January the number of total U.S. military suicides spiked to twenty-four surpassing the total number of troops killed in Iraq and Afghanistan combined in the same period. Army Secretary Pete Geren announced the number of suicides at a press conference last month.
Veterans groups say the reason for the sharp rise in suicides are obvious. They are the product of a deadly combination of the guerilla nature in Afghanistan and Iraq and the Pentagon’s decision to send the same men and women to war again and again. The vast majority of troops sent to war in Vietnam served only one 12 month tour. Currently, at least 717,000 soldiers have deployed at least twice to the post 9/11 wars, due to the Pentagon’s low recruiting numbers. The increase in suicides may be a direct result of George W. Bush’s decision to allow soldiers to redeploy to war even after they had been diagnosed with a mental illness.
For a personal account of one soldier’s suicide read this article from The New Times.
Tags: Afghanistan, Iraq, Soldiers, Suicide, War
One Comment
Shameful, tragic and sad.