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- Concern mounts over Rising Troop (Suicides)Last year''s 2,100 attempted Suicides -- an average of more than 5 per day --
Compares with about 350 suicide attempts in 2002, the year before the war in Iraq began, according to the Army.
Average of 5 soldiers Per Day tried to commit suicide in 2007, Army figures show
U.S. ;.WASHINGTON
(CNN) -- Every day, five U.S.
soldiers try to kill themselves. Before the Iraq war began, that figure was Less than One Suicide Attempt a Day.
The dramatic increase is revealed in new U.S. Army figures, which show 2,100 soldiers (Tried to Commit Suicide in 2007).
"Suicide attempts are rising and have risen over the last five years," said Col. Elspeth Cameron-Ritchie, an Army psychiatrist.
"Our troops and their families are under unprecedented levels of stress due to the pace and frequency of more than five years of deployments," Webb said in a written statement.
Sen. Patty Murray, D-Washington, took to the Senate floor Thursday, urging MORE HELP for Military Members, especially for those Returning From War.
"Our Brave Service Members who face Deployment After Deployment without the rest, recovery and treatment they need are at the breaking point," Murray said.
According to Army statistics, the incidence of U.S. Army soldiers attempting suicide or inflicting injuries on themselves has SKYROCKETED in the nearly five years since the START of the IRAQ WAR. - Reply to this comment
- The blind walk endlessly behind the inexperianced leader promising them the sky will open, war will end, the economy will improve immediately, in the meanwhile they raise your taxes, keep the war going, provide no change in health care and smile.. I sure would like to be *kissed* first.
Vote McCain 2008.
ps Obama says he wants "unity" but can''t even travel with a fellow senator? What a hypocrit. - Reply to this comment
- Wait - we lost the war? Is Saddam Hussein still in power? What about his sons? Nope, all dead.
Ok, did we defeat the Revolutionary Guard? The Ba''ath Party? Install a democratic government and hold elections? Yes, a long time ago.
Please enlighten me on what we have "lost" besides vague, baseless references to imagined global dissatisfaction and loss of prestige. - Reply to this comment
- Obama thinking about trip to Iraq
May 29 (UPI) -- Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., says if he Visits U.S. Forces in Iraq, it''s to TALK to the TOOPS, not to Participate in a Republican Publicity Gimmick.
Obama, seeking the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination, has been criticized by presumptive Republican nominee Sen. John McCain for his lack of National Security Experience. To emphasize that point, the Republican National Committee lists on its Web site the number of days since Obama visited Iraq -- 872 as of Thursday.
Obama visited Iraq in January 2006 as part of a Congressional Delegation.
While considering visiting U.S. TROOPS in Iraq this summer, Obama declined McCain''s invitation to take a JOINT TRIP to the Middle Eastern country, a blog on The New York Times Web site reported.
"I just don''t want to be involved in a political stunt. ... I think that if I''m going to Iraq, then I''m there to TALK to TROOPS and talk to Commanders," Obama said. "I''m not there to try to SCORE POLITICAL POINTS or PERFORM."
McCain said he was confident Obama would change his position about ending the war and withdrawing U.S. TROOPS after his visit "because he will see the SUCCESS that has been ACHIEVED on the GROUND.'''' - Reply to this comment
- I think McCain needs to tour some VA hospitals
Or, better yet, since he is supposedly 100% disabled, he might want to stay for awhile.
Posted by nepeebles at 12:11 PM : May 29, 2008
Maybe McCain should get a better perspective of how life is for the average American as a result of the Conservative Agenda. - Reply to this comment
- Does McCain really believe that he can walk through "safe places" and come back home knowing all the answers. Every indicator known to us says we are wrong and that we are not winning this ''unwarranted war''
Why do we stay ther? Because we are in a ''war economy'' and to have all these troops home would be disastrous
I think McCain needs to tour some VA hospitals
Or, better yet, since he is supposedly 100% disabled, he might want to stay for awhile. - Reply to this comment
- Dear American Voters,
Hon. Senator McCain and Obama, besides each having many attributes and characteristics. The critical differences in my professional, political, and personal opinion are as under:
1. Presidential "Temperament and Integrity".
2. Little Washington "insider Versus outsider" connectedness.
3. Vision and mission for our nation future rather than past.
4. American policies first USA centric than other countries centric.
In my professional opinion one senator has it and the other does not. We need one for our Greatgrand Nation to address our all these challenges with a fresh, clean and new slate.
God Bless America. its diverse people, and our Greatgrand Nation.
Yours truly,
COL. [retd] A.M.Khajawall
Forensic psychiatrist, Las Vegas NV - Reply to this comment
- McCain rants about losing in Iraq, but he doesn''t say who he thinks to whom we would "lose". The reason is because al Qaeda has never been a threat to take over politically and that''s supposed to be who we are at war. The war has been a fraud from the start and it''s time to find a way out.
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- Of course they should go to Irag, a potential President must have courage to face adversity- to deal with reality- to make change- if they are cowards they will not.
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- Does anyone think Clinton should go to Irag, too? Do you think she will perceive it as reality or make up a story that she was ambushed, when or if she gets back?!
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- He''''s been to Iraq (Once) and he does not have to Go Again, to Appease, McCain, You or Anyone Else...
People like You, Who don''''t have the Guts to Enlist and Go, Moreover Fight as Soldiers, Over There.
Cowards, that want him to Go, for Ulterior Motives, who themselves, would be Too Scraed to Visit Iraq, moreover Visit the Country, as an Observer.
You Sideline War Mongering ''Rocking Chair & TV Patriots''
Go Because a 71 Year ''War Mongering'' Senior Citizen, who Wants him to....Means Nothing
Why in the F--K would Obama Waste Time with Plain, Mundane, An Forever the Same, John McCain on Continuing....
The Same D@mn Thing !!! - Reply to this comment
McCain Needs to Listen to the Top Naval Commander, who Agrees with (Diplomacy over War with Iran)
U.S. Commander: Iran War Would Be ''Disastrous''
U.S. Navy''s Persian Gulf Commander Says War With Iran Would Cause ''Aftershocks'' in the Region
www.abcnews.com
RSS The top U.S. Navy official in the Persian Gulf warned in an interview with ABC News that war with Iran would be "pretty disastrous," with "echoes and aftershocks" reverberating throughout the region.
Vice Adm. Kevin Cosgriff, the top U.S. Navy official in the Persian Gulf, told ABC News that war with Iran would be "disastrous," and that the ideal way to interact with the country is through diplomatic methods.
Nobody I''ve spoken to suggests that going to war with Iran is a good thing," Vice Adm. Kevin Cosgriff told ABC News.
"The preferred path by far is the (Diplomatic Path), keep working with the international community to bring the right sort of pressure to bear on the Islamic Republic of Iran."
For years, there has been a swirl of speculation about the prospects of war, as the United States has accused Iran of arming militias in Iraq, trying to develop nuclear weapons and supporting terrorism.
President Bush and other top U.S. officials have repeatedly stressed diplomacy when it comes to Iran, but say "all options are on the table," including the military option.- Reply to this comment
- Obama, should offer McCain trips to homeless shelters, under funded VA hospitals, soup kitchens, closed steel mills & plants, unemployment offices, & US citizens homes that are on the brink of being lost.
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- 20 years of listening to his "uncle" and he didn''''''''t know he was a racist. ..
Posted by bswalker12 at 03:09 AM : May 29, 2008
"wait til we really get into it with barack. maybe he''''''''ll keep his senate seat warm. he shouldn''''''''t miss too many more of those important meetings on the hill. because the White House will remain white lol."
Posted by bswalker12 at 03:15 AM : May 29, 2008
We see your point. It only took you 9 minutes for all of us to see that YOU are a racist. Rotflmao
Posted by b-easy63 at 10:43 AM : May 29, 2008
CORRECTION: MAKE THAT 6 MINUTES. LMAO - Reply to this comment
- 20 years of listening to his "uncle" and he didn''''t know he was a racist. ..
Posted by bswalker12 at 03:09 AM : May 29, 2008
"wait til we really get into it with barack. maybe he''''ll keep his senate seat warm. he shouldn''''t miss too many more of those important meetings on the hill. because the White House will remain white lol."
Posted by bswalker12 at 03:15 AM : May 29, 2008
We see your point. It only took you 9 minutes for all of us to see that YOU are a racist. Rotflmao - Reply to this comment
- Obama should tell McCain "No thank you, I''ve no interest in being a martyr to the Dem Party just yet". Obama should go AFTER he is elected, when Hillary and McCain would not have as much incentive to accidently get him killed.
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- He is coward and a phoney. He speaks of UNITING but cannot go with a Republican to share the burden of anaylzing the situation because he is afraid it is a pilitcal stunt?? Perhaps OBAMA is A POLITCIAL STUNT!! It makes me mad, not because I am a fan, as I prefer McCain, but because so many have fallen for the Democratics lines of BS.
Posted by jack3213 at 10:16 AM : May 29, 2008
+
Hello. Just how smart is it for any potential new leader to head into a war zone, especially when that leader is subjected monthly to jokes and allusions about assassinating him?
Obama should not go-and neither should McCain--it could be a set up--it would certainly be very poor judgment to do so. - Reply to this comment
- Visits to Iraq mean nothing. Due to the nature of the war--all visits are carefully choreographed. What the visitor sees, or is allowed to see is carefully crafted to tailor the view. And of course, the visitor "cannot go anywhere else" due to the huge safety risks.
There is no part of Iraq that is not filled with propaganda--even McCain has no idea of what is going on, since the visits are to bases, the green zone, and very carefully chosen areas promoted by the Army to show progress. That is like taking a group of people to Disney World under armed guard, never letting them leave the park and insisting the rest of the country looks and acts EXACTLY like that park.
How accurate a representation of YOUR town, is Disney world? LMAO - Reply to this comment
- The Republicans started the invasion and occupation on false pretense. Bush privatized everything they could to divert Federal Treasury Funds to the Contractors while consistently cutting benefits to the regular Military Troops.
Bush%u2019s plans to have the Iraqis Parliament pass a bill to turn over Oil Production to
5 Private Multinational Corporations for a long term 30 year contract with no (very little) provisions for the Iraqis People has failed to be passed.
The Republican Party%u2019s constant drumming of war and more war in the Middle East has seen the future oil market run havoc with uncertain and menacing forecasting of oil production and supply.
Visits to Iraq aren%u2019t necessary, the pulling back from, and allowing the Maliki Government to take control of their country is the only act that needs to take place. The American People have been imperceptibly taxed by the price of Oil driving up the cost of everything up caused by the further military threats of the Republican Government Members. The continued threat of further conflict in the Middle East will see a major recession not only in the United States but the entire world. - Reply to this comment
- What a hypocrit! Actions speak louder than words- He is coward and a phoney. He speaks of UNITING but cannot go with a Republican to share the burden of anaylzing the situation because he is afraid it is a pilitcal stunt?? Perhaps OBAMA is A POLITCIAL STUNT!! It makes me mad, not because I am a fan, as I prefer McCain, but because so many have fallen for the Democratics lines of BS.
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International recording artist Shakira on love, career and more.
