MSNBC: Mentally Ill Troops Sent Into Combat

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12777489/

Report: Suicidal troops sent into combat
U.S. military violated own rules on mentally ill troops, newspaper finds

HARTFORD, Conn. - U.S. military troops with severe psychological problems have been sent to Iraq or kept in combat, even when superiors have been aware of signs of mental illness, a newspaper reported for Sunday editions.

The Hartford Courant, citing records obtained under the federal Freedom of Information Act and more than 100 interviews of families and military personnel, reported numerous cases in which the military failed to follow its own regulations in screening, treating and evacuating mentally unfit troops from Iraq.

In 1997, Congress ordered the military to assess the mental health of all deploying troops. The newspaper, citing Pentagon statistics, said fewer than 1 in 300 service members were referred to a mental health professional before shipping out for Iraq as of October 2005.

Twenty-two U.S. troops committed suicide in Iraq last year, accounting for nearly one in five of all non-combat deaths and was the highest suicide rate since the war started, the newspaper said.

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OTOH, even some rudimentary if not rhetorical questions pose their own answers.

The whackos tell us to breed more... yet for us to be so readily disposed of, they want us to breed and become soldiers?!

They're the ones with the "Veterans against Kerry" and "Not Fonda Kerry" bumper stickers on their cars.

I'm so glad we've reinstated Project 100,000.

:sarcasm:

He was taken out of the ER after threatening suicide at his Marine base at 29 Palms and put on the transport for Iraq for his third rotation. He'd been in the original invasion, was sent back a year later and was wounded in the eye and leg. At 29 Palms last year he became depressed and suicidal at the news that his brigade would be returning to Iraq. His family got his Rep Patrick Kennedy involved, but all he could do was to have the Marines keep Kevin out of combat and on kitchen duty.Thankfully he returned safe after this last time, but this sort of stuff must be happening all the time.
Good old MSM ignoring it as per usual.

So it all works out.