In light of last week’s onbase shooting that killed 13, Dahr Jamail of Asia Times explores war’s ongoing and awful price paid at Fort Hood, whose soldiers:
have accounted for more suicides than any other army post since the US invasion of Iraq in 2003. This year alone, the base is averaging over 10 suicides each month – at least 75 have been recorded through July of this year alone.
I had no idea there were that many suicides.
I was amazed at the number, too.
This is a very, very serious situation. Is it a matter of the military not finding enough qualified mental health professionals, or are they tightening the purse strings?
Good question. It’s awful, either way.
How could that not be front page news? That seems like a huge number of suicides.
It is, isn’t it? It’s a crime.
Wouldn’t it be because it’s — um — “better” for us not to know? Just like we don’t (mostly) know about the 90,000 + casualties of the current wars? The more we know, MAYBE the more we’ll question?
http://original.antiwar.com/vlahos/2009/11/09/90000-casualties-but-whos-counting/
Excellent link. Thanks, Sister Cynical.
The October suicide figures mean that at least 134 active-duty soldiers have taken their own lives so far this year, putting the Army on pace to break last year’s record of 140 active-duty suicides. The number of Army suicides has risen 37% since 2006, and last year, the suicide rate surpassed that of the U.S. population for the first time.
The Wall Street Journal
At the same time, the number of attempted suicides or self-inflicted injuries in the Army has jumped sixfold since the Iraq war began. Last year, about 2,100 soldiers injured themselves or attempted suicide, compared with about 350 in 2002, according to the U.S. Army Medical Command Suicide Prevention Action Plan.
The Washington Post
Eighteen American war veterans kill themselves every day. One thousand former soldiers receiving care from the Department of Veterans Affairs attempt suicide every month. More veterans are committing suicide than are dying in combat overseas.
Foreign Policy In Focus
Shouldn’t that signal to somebody within the palace walls that something is seriously wrong?
You would think so, right?