WP: Military Investigates 7 Suspected Suicides

The Washington Post

The U.S. military is investigating at least seven cases of suspected suicide by soldiers deployed for the war in Iraq that began in March a week before hostilities commenced and have continued in the months since major combat operations ended, defense officials said. ---

Overall, the military has not released an official count of possible suicides under investigation, and the total could be higher than seven, given a number of unexplained deaths included in the Pentagon's casualty statistics. The military has reported nine cases of accidental death that could include suicides, most of which were from "noncombat weapons discharges."

In 12 other cases, the cause of death has been officially listed as "other" and described only as "noncombat injuries." ---

"Suicide prevention is a leadership issue," Swanner said. "It involves caring for soldiers, knowing what's going on in the lives of your soldiers, and having the compassion to act if you see something is going wrong." ---

It is hard to see hatred in other people's eyes every day. There should have been planning for this too. No planning anywhere in this fiasco.

I'm sure that some have seen (and/or been part of) some of the most deeply disturbing horrors imaginable.

Just wondering.. how many Iraqis have done themselves in from this tragedy? I wonder how many of the attacks on American troops are committed by the desperately suicidal.

Poor things! They probably weren't suited to the ugly reality of war.

Just wait until the troops rotate back to the states. What they say ought to shut Faux and Clear channel up for good.

Maybe thats why the pentagon wont let them come home ?

DU supports the troops more than any of the morons on the right.

So, this is getting more and more like Vietnam all the time, where people used to shoot themselves so they wouldn't have to back into the bush, and they had no hope of ever getting home.

Isn't it going to be great when these guys do get home, find out the only jobs are at McDonald's and that the government won't uphold its vets benefits? Then we'll have plenty more Tim McVeighs!

Won't that be great?

Such an APT metaphor for what has happened to The (Once) Greatest Country in the world since 12/2000. Usage example:

"We were OK until we went BACK INTO THE BUSH!"

:freak:
dbt

I see a simple two step program being applied again and again:

Step 1. Supply unstable people with military training.
Step 2. Do things to make them to hate you.

Wonderful!

from earlier in the week. This is when ABC News first broke the story about the suicides. There's some additional interesting discussion in this thread; I'm not shamelessly plugging it at all! :-)

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=17861&mesg_id=17861&listing_type=search

Thanks for posting this Nambe... I've been searching and searching for the media's follow-up to this incredibly important and heartbreaking development.

- Jennifer

I read that solidiers are only getting ONE bottle of water a day. When it's 115 degrees, and you are dehydrated with all of that equipment on, soldiers must start to take on a pretty dim view of the their lives. It is a known fact that even mild dehydration can lead to depression.

Hot and Thirsty in Iraq
http://www.dailyworld.com/html/081A23F0-B7B8-4DC3-BBE6-318EEAAE023A.shtml

The temps in IRAQ are about the same as they are in Phoenix. The story say's the soldier in question is only getting a 1 liter bottle of water per day. If that was all the water he was getting, he would be dead. You cannot survive in 115+ degree heat with only 1 litre of water, not if you are involved in any kind of physical activity. I am assuming that these soldiers ARE involved in some type of physical activity. I drink that much myself and I work inside. Something is fishy here.

It is common for the military to experience supply problems but you would have people dropping like flies if they didn't have enough water and so far that hasn't been the case.

lead to fierce headaches and heat stroke. I get migraines when dehydrated. It makes you want to die.

We are now admitting that there were 7?

How many more suicides are there that they are not talking about?

How about the 18 year old Marine that "fell" 60 feet from the roof?:

No. 516-03
IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 16, 2003

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

DoD Identifies Marine Casualty

The Department of Defense announced today that Lance Cpl. Cory Ryan Geurin, 18, of Santee, Calif., was killed in Babylon, Iraq, on July 15. He was standing post on a palace roof in Babylon when he fell approximately 60 feet.

Geurin was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, Twentynine Palms, Calif.

http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/2003/nr20030716-0200.html

:bounce: