Comments on: U.S. Army Suicides Highest In 3 Decades

At Least 128 Soldiers Took Their Own Lives In 2008

[nomealaska]

To cbscrash072 - If Clinton didn''t cut the military, the troops would have been ready. Ready for what? A war against people who didn''t provoke us? How do you prepare for an illegal war anyhow? Flushing your morals and ethics down the john? It''s just good to know that we have trained and armed over 100,000 Iraqis, and as occupiers we gave them more reason to dislike us. Hmmm... Don''t think that won''t bite us in the *** later. Good work!

[cbscrash072]

apple2pie: If Clinton had not cut the military so severely we would have had the troops. there is plenty of blame for everyone. Don''t be stingy.

[johnpatrick9]

Six thousand five hundred Veteran Suicides a year....tragic and one more note that War is indeed Hell to the mind and soul and body and should not be embarked upon lightly. God Bless our Soldiers and God *** the *** (NEO-CON REPUBLICAN SCUM) who so blithely send them into dead-end, duplistic wars and as that criminal Cheney said:"So what?" ....when they die. Tragic and a reminder to all the Yahoos out there who supported bush the worthless as to what they have done to our MILITARY/

[claydowner]

Psychologists have found that three combat tours is about the mental breaking point for many veterans. Many soldiers have served FOUR TOURS and most have served two or three tours in a combat zone. We can make better technology but the human factor seems to stay a constant. If we are going to abuse our military troops like we are in Iraq and Afghanistan we must accept the sad fact that suicides will go up dramatically. Military families are suffering from high rates of stress, financial problems, relationship problems, divorces, alcoholism, drug abuse and suicides. Many of these problems are caused by the alienation many veterans feel towards the civilian world. They know their platoon that becomes their pseudo-family and life support structure in a combat zone. The problems at home are often the most difficult battles the veteran has to fight because they are all alone. Combat veterans often feel like aliens on another planet even when in their hometowns. Civilians who have not been on active duty in a war zone do not understand what a combat soldier has to put up with each day and they never will. Civilians are totally clueless so the veteran has to fight his battles all alone.

[dredigga]

Unfortunately, the liquid gold of Iraqi oil so blinded Bush that he continued his crusade at the expense of our fine men and women in uniform. He should be hung for treason!

Posted by masterballs2


I second that. Write congress and urge them to do the right thing. Hold the crooks in the Bush White House accountable.

[nomealaska]

How many of these traumatized people will hurt or kill people when they return from this war? I think that many of them will not be fit for civilization after fighting an extensive, poorly justified and poorly managed war against a country that didn''t deserve it. The Vietnam veterans returning to an America which hated the war was difficult, and most Americans don''t support this war either.
I served in the Army and I support the troops, but this stupid war will make it difficult for everyone for a long long time to come.

[yellow651]

How does this rate compare to the general population? That is the only relevant measure here. As I understand it, even with the increase, the miliary is still well below the average.

[ballpen1]

I guess PTSD existed in all wars, WW1, WW2 and so on, since war must be terrible (never been a serviceman). But some wars are differnt then others. WW2 was "better" then Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq because there was an enemy you could see and attack and there was a goal everybody could understand.

I can only imagine how frightening and frustrating it must be for our soldiers to wait for the next IED or to see whole provinces return to Taliban rule. And nobody, not their commanders, not the politicians, not even their CIC can tell them what victory would look like, how to achieve it, who the enemy is (no uniforms...), how to win these two wars OF terror and AGAINST terror.

Maybe Nixon was right back then, declare victory and move out. Let them sort it out among themselfs. Our retreat from Vietnam has NOT led to a communist world, maybe our retreat from the middle east might lead to INCREASED stability, albeit on a lower civilisatory level, like, the stone age...

[ddaryl1]

what did anyone expect. Kepe good men and women from their famileis for years living in cess pool of violence and terror and then tell these same soldiers that when you return everything you did have wil be gone and you;ll have ot start all over with little or no help from the same government that sent you there...

[excoachken]

Bush considered this a good way to reduce Veteran''s benefits!