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Soldier suicides reach record level, study shows.

msnbc.msn.com — Vets ’ battle with depression reveals effects of long tours, lack of resources.

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  • cashman57, on 02/01/2008, -14/+54That's why the majority of contributions from active duty military and veterans like me go to the only candidate who will end our involvement in Iraq.
    If you think we should continue these undeclared and unending wars vote for someone other than Ron Paul .
    • jenniferstruth, on 02/01/2008, -8/+30Also, Kucinich was a great candidate and so is Gravel. There are anti-war candidates, it is just that those who control the media are pro-war. Not because they believe in the mission, they are pro-war because they are making rediculous profits from the deaths of brown people. Follow the money and all is understood, like 911.
      Now though Ron Paul is the only candidate to vote for, I hope that everyone realizes that.
      jen
      • pintomp3, on 02/01/2008, -1/+5gravel is still in the race.
        • SouthsideIrish, on 02/01/2008, -4/+3Sigh! Kucinich was not anti-war, he was Pro-UN Peacekeeper. How many countries do you think would send in Peacekeepers? Probably only a few third world countries, and the rest would be our boys. Little would have changed except our troops would be under UN control.

          Oh, and would Gravel even be able to win? Does he have delegates? I know RP does because I early voted and voted for myself since I am one of his delegates.
          • pintomp3, on 02/01/2008, -3/+3"Oh, and would Gravel even be able to win?" wait, aren't ron paul supporters like you the ones who get mad when people say he doesn't have a chance and that you should vote for who you think is right, not just who you think is "electable" or "realistic"?
          • BobOki, on 02/01/2008, -3/+3Yeah, if RP was not around, we would say vote for the next best candidate..
            RP is the best candidate around, on all fronts possible. We are not saying "do not vote" for gravel, but trying to be realistic at the same time. Pretty hard when people that do not know RPs politics try to hold him in the same light as gravel.
        • BobOki, on 02/01/2008, -0/+3I prefer Gravel more than the other two front runners, but being honest, hes just too "out there" to be electable.
      • LokitheComplex, on 02/01/2008, -2/+7Are you really saying 911 was an inside job?
      • BobOki, on 02/01/2008, -1/+1Knew someone would say something. No, actually he said follow the money and then you should be able to make your own educated decision. Right now, people either blindly say it is or not.
        • LokitheComplex, on 02/01/2008, -1/+1Come on then let's hear it.
        • BobOki, on 02/01/2008, -0/+1I am sorry, I am not going to hold your hand and do the work for you just to have you ridicule and try to denounce anything that I post anyways. No, get off your fat ***** lazy American ass and go ***** read on your own you loser.
          • LokitheComplex, on 02/02/2008, -0/+1Thats not a great start. I'm not American. I'm not fat. I could be a loser I hope not but I'm still waiting in this killer evidence that the Bush government could organise the most amazing black flag operation ever. Then demonstrate textbook incompetence at every chance, Iraq, Katrina, Afghanistan, diplomacy.

            So was W Bush behind the previous WTC attack?

            If they're so clever why not fake WMDs surely it would be easy to fake finding a clapped out weapons in a war in a desert?

            Please you're probably good people so don't waste your time tilting at windmills there's plenty of injustices that need fighting without inventing more.
      • mcsith, on 02/01/2008, -0/+1Meh, I don't agree that it was an "inside job" but I do believe that it could've been prevented. It is more a long the lines of "let happen" because the Bush Admin knew they were a threat and did nothing so they could have a reason to get into another war. Just like Pearl Harbor it was more of a "let happen" deal because the President knew it was coming but let it happen to get into the war that was going on at the time.
      • BobOki, on 02/01/2008, -0/+2While I will not be baited into a no winning argument about 9/11, I will say that Dick and pres bush both made it very clear multiple times before the presidency that they had every intention of attacking Iraq, it was "on their agenda."
        I will also say another proven fact you can easily look up. The pilots that flew the planes into the towers were located alive and well two months after the incident.
        After that, everything else is conjecture, lies, or up to your own discretion.
    • zjordan04, on 02/01/2008, -23/+18Seriously. Enough with the ***** "Ron Paul is our only hope" *****.
      • tommy7154, on 02/01/2008, -10/+17He's the only one running that will stop the crash of the dollar, among a thousand other things nobody else cares about until it's too late. Do you even really understand what that means for us and the country? Hate Ron Paul all you want but open your eyes and educate yourself on all their policies and look at where everyone stands and the direction they're going to take this country in. Our country is ***** unless we get someone that's ACTUALLY going to make some changes into office, and quick.
        Where do you think the government is getting all this money they're going to hand out to us to "stimulate" the economy? We sure as ***** don't have it. Just more debt
        ...ugh I wish people would wake up.
        • TritonX, on 02/01/2008, -7/+1You are *****, Paul was a good idea. But for some reason he is portrayed as a lunatic by everyone else... go figure.
        • solarsavior, on 02/01/2008, -1/+10@TritonX

          "During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act."
          -George Orwell
          • TritonX, on 02/01/2008, -4/+1Still, you are *****. Nowhere in the msm do you see any wills to stop war mongering. I'm not saying the msm are the one that decides, but we all know how they influence and manipulate popular thinking.
          • BobOki, on 02/01/2008, -0/+3I would like everyone to stop and read both of Tritonx's posts.
            Read them, think for a moment, and you will SEE why Ron Paul is not a front runner yet.
          • phazon88, on 02/01/2008, -0/+2That kind of thinking TritonX is the only thing standing in the peoples way of voting in a candidate that honestly wants to change the country with your best interests in mind.
          • TritonX, on 02/01/2008, -0/+3I'm just an observer from the north. I don't like being pessimist about our future, because my country's (Canada) future is closely tied with US. If you see something positive about the current presidential race, please tell me. Paul might not be the only options for a brighter future, but for now he was the one that made the most sense in his comments and opinions.
          • BobOki, on 02/01/2008, -0/+2I think you are missing the point.
            Part of the problem in this country with corruption are the news sites you are reading to base your opinions off of.
        • gypsi, on 02/01/2008, -0/+3"everyone who disagrees with me should wake up". how cute - billy has an opinion.
    • BobOki, on 02/01/2008, -3/+6Well, I would be happy to look at another candidate, however, there ARE NONE others that are covering the issues. The front runners only seem to care about the iraq war, and in a past point of view. "We need to stop the war" yet defining no real strategy to do so, and always falling back when confronted with real questions to either finger pointing or if they voted for the war or not in the first place.
      Has anyone asked if they think Iraq will crumble, be attacked, or absorbed should we suddenly pull out ALL our troops? Has anyone asked if it is even our damn worry?
      What about our economy? Our failing dollar? Do you think a $120 billion stimulus package will fix that? Hey, how do YOU get out of debt? I doubt its by taking out another loan.
      Immigration seems to settle on these candidates with a "protect our borders" defense. NO *****, but what are you going to DO about it? Half of them, will offer current illegals immunity and citizenship, yet say no incentives? My ass.
      No other candidate is offering to rid our country of the PRIVATELY HELD federal reserve which EXTORTS money by the pound, getting rid of the IRS and its mob mentality.
      No one else wants to close the thousands of bases we have scattered throughout the world causing tensions worldwide and costing us a absurd amount of money to keep open.
      NO ONE, and I mean NO ONE ELSE actually seems to want to support our troops. They all say it, just liek they say God Bless America as they drop another bomb. They ALL voted "Yea" to have our troops disabilities cut, to have our troops not get thier current disabilities raised with the national average, to NOT provide them with body armor (yeah they have to buy it themselves), and the lemon juice on the cut, to any soldier that got a sign on bonus have it REVOKED if they were injured in battle and could not serve out their term. Add that with "mental ilnesses: NOT existing and WTF HAVE you done for our troops? KILLED THEM... THATS IT.
      You say don't vote for Ron Paul, I say who the HELL else can you possibly say to vote for?
      Obama? He likes the patriot act, preemptive war doctrine, has a weak immigration plan, is inexperienced, is not changing tax laws, is not closeing federal reserve, is not backing our currency with something that holds its worth, is not repealing the IRS, is keeping all bases open, is setting up a permanent base in Iraq, and will increase our debt to stimulate the economy which will just lower the dollar and end up worse off than before.
      Clinton? Shes for all war, blatantly takes cuts under the table, is fully funded by corporations, has none of Americas interests in mind at all, is an idiot, and looks like Jaba the Hut and is a liar.
      McCain? A proven liar, has very little SET stances on anything other than war, which he wishes to continue, admittedly knows less about economics than foreign policy and his foreign policy is shoot first ask questions later. His immigration plan consists of just recognizing the issues, and no plans to do anything about them. His health care is to try and give people money back for healthcare... which will come out of their taxes instead so no difference. He will keep all the bloated govt organizations open, yet says he will do nothing but cut taxes, HOW? Whos going to pay for everything?
      Romney? Hes for the war, for keeping all bases open, for the patriot act, for spying on America, he wants more immigrants (legal ones) and less illegal ones with no plans to make this happen, wants to lower taxes without explaining how we will pay for the lower, and his healthcare plan is a joke. He even outright plays the Repub blame Democrat ***** game on his campaign website. I already can see him pointing the finger of blame, AND HES NOT EVEN ELECTED!
      You tell me JUST WHO ELSE I can VOTE for and come out ok on this then.
  • medalian1, on 02/01/2008, -13/+41Yeah I like how everyone wears shirts and stickers on their car that says they 'support the troops' or some bull like that. Then they vote for someone other than Ron Paul, so we can stay in Iraq for 100 years and have more wars. Great job Amerika!
    • Observant1, on 02/01/2008, -4/+9most of that junk made in china and sold thru hillary's pet WalMart, funneling money and jobs out of the US for years.
    • ronpaul20008, on 02/01/2008, -7/+2i guess supporting the troops means keeping them in business... a soldier layoff would be terrible for them, right?
      • BobOki, on 02/01/2008, -0/+3HAHAH It seems people do not understand sarcasm,... next time try putting "< /sarcasm.>" at the end of your post.
  • jenniferstruth, on 02/01/2008, -2/+50Too many of our soldiers are coming home not only physically scarred but emotionally, they are battered and bloodied. The reality of war has devastated our soldiers. We sent them to Iraq with orders to shoot on sight anything that moves. We turned our young men and women into killers and then pay private armies five times more. Support the troops; the irony of that statement. *shaking head* True support of our troops is demanding they be brought home. True support of our troops is impeaching the bastards who sent them there to die for a lie. The think tanks have all bought and paid for plenty of commercials and ads to make you feel like unless you support the war, you do not support the troops; as if supporting their death is some noble cause. Understand the only reason this war is happening is because there are many individuals whom have vested financial interest in maintaining this war. Follow the money. Have you ever heard of the saying "order from chaos"? The ruling elite or the Council on Foreign Relations/Bilderberg/Club of Rome elite have stated that there goal is the depopulation of our earth and to restore order after they create the chaos. In other words, break the country with our bombs and guns (who gets paid for supplying those guns and bombs?) then come in and re-build the country in our own image, to "bring democracy" to the region. (who gets paid for the re-building of all those buildings?) The absolute truth is we here in America are guilty of war-crimes. At this point we have allowed war criminals and war profiteers to set our countries mentality and objective toward this war, which has made us just as guilty. We are endorsing their policies with our silence. The troops are the first victims on our side, we will be next.
    Peace, Love and Respect,
    Jen
    • raada, on 02/01/2008, -0/+13Reality of war will devastate anyone with a conscience...
      • Erich100, on 02/01/2008, -0/+3The reality of war should stop anyone with a conscience from actively starting one or two or three.
  • missingalaska, on 02/01/2008, -2/+14Look around. You will find the number of suicides upon return is closer to 15,000! Never reaches the news.
    • gypsi, on 02/01/2008, -0/+3people get the news they deserve - careful where you're pointing fingers.
  • sherrife, on 02/01/2008, -2/+39The American ruling class cares for the average American about as much as they care for the average Iraqis who they have been slaughtering for the past few years. Soldiers, workers, students, we're all the same thing to the ruling class capitalists; people to be exploited for profit and power.
  • sherrife, on 02/01/2008, -2/+34"The biggest killer of US soldiers serving in Iraq is not the resistance - it's suicide. While in 2005 825 soldiers died in active duty in Iraq, CBS recently revealed that a staggering 6,256 returned soldiers - over seven times as many - took their own lives.

    The toll outside 2005 is unknown - the government refuses to keep a tally. CBS's conservative estimate is that 12,000 have taken their lives. If 2005 is representative of the whole period of the Iraq war, 25,000 is a more realistic assumption"

    http://www.sa.org.au/index.php?option=com_content& ...
    • BohicaTwentyTwo, on 02/01/2008, -4/+5That 6,256 number was for veterans of ALL wars, not just Iraq and Afghanistan. But I am sure your Socialist Alternative website does not have an agenda.
    • BobOki, on 02/01/2008, -4/+4This is also QUITE misleading.
      The number of deaths are quite a bit higher, but they can get away saying 825 active duty soldiers becuase only 825 died, IN Iraq. The other 3-4k died after they were transported out of Iraq, but as they were no longer in the combat zone, they can be taken off of active duty (injured) and they die then. Disney also employs this strategy to continue to say they have never had a death at Disney. maybe not in Disney grounds, but 2 ft outside those grounds from being carried... yeah.
      • BohicaTwentyTwo, on 02/01/2008, -3/+2LIAR! Peddle your terrorist propaganda elsewhere.
      • BobOki, on 02/01/2008, -1/+1I've been found out! DERKA DERKA JIHAD!!!!!!
      • BohicaTwentyTwo, on 02/02/2008, -0/+3Do your parents know you're on their computer?
  • Bagos1, on 02/01/2008, -1/+21Support our troops. Get them home and get them back into the world intact. Stop using our soldiers for economic gain.They swore an oath to protect us and to do that with the only thing they own, their lives. Stop wasting their lives.
  • Rotzooi, on 02/01/2008, -0/+15But the world is safer! ...
  • lnf69, on 02/01/2008, -4/+13So who is really [morally] supporting our troops?
    a) pro-war advocates, who support sending them there and keeping them there
    b) anti-war advocates, who support getting them out of there asap.
    c) no one, really.
  • TritonX, on 02/01/2008, -2/+25I guess fighting an illegal war is not very good for the moral.
  • lazerus9, on 02/01/2008, -3/+11Do you think that being showered with depleted uranium may have something to do with it?
    • gypsi, on 02/01/2008, -0/+2what kind of garbage is this? who let the ditto-heads in here?
      • lazerus9, on 02/01/2008, -1/+1Are you directing a question to me?
  • usgovterrorists, on 02/01/2008, -15/+13Tell the soldier the truth about Depleted Uranium, and the soldier won't go to war.

    It's too bad the soldier doesn't know, Depleted Uranium kills, and the soldier is expendable.

    350 tons used in the first Gulf War, and the current Iraq war has expended an estimated 5 times more tonnage of DU than was used in the first Gulf War.

    The U.S. has used more depleted uranium since 1991 than the atomicity equivalent of 400,000 Nagasaki bombs.

    Since 1943 the military has been aware of the extreme toxicity of uranium as a gas.

    Of the veterans who served in Desert Shield and Desert Storm, more than 300,000 have sought VA healthcare, and more than 200,000 have filed VA disability claims.

    518,000 Gulf-era vets in 2004 are now on medical disability.

    Four reasons why using depleted uranium weapons violates the UN Convention on Human Rights:

    The United States Government are horrific liars!

    LEGALITY TEST FOR WEAPONS UNDER INTERNATIONAL LAW

    Four reasons why using depleted uranium weapons violates the UN Convention on Human Rights:

    TEMPORAL TEST – Weapons must not continue to act after the battle is over.

    ENVIRONMENTAL TEST – Weapons must not be unduly harmful to the environment.

    TERRITORIAL TEST – Weapons must not act off of the battlefield.

    HUMANENESS TEST – Weapons must not kill or wound inhumanly.

    BTW: 9-11 Was An Inside Job!
    • nastronomical, on 02/01/2008, -12/+4By far the dumbest antiwar, liberal ***** infested post ever...good moron! Can you possibly top this?
      • CrazedLeper, on 02/01/2008, -2/+5Mindless drone. Next time you feel the need to comment, write it on a piece of tissue and tie it to a baloon--during a storm.
      • hajamieli, on 02/01/2008, -1/+2You just did it yourself.
    • strafefire, on 02/01/2008, -10/+5I hate to agree with nastro, but depleted uranium does not continue to act after fired. It does not continue to act, period.

      Uranium is an alpha emitter. That means that the radiation it releases does not harm skin and clothing -- AT ALL

      However, if ingested, the alpha particles will go to work destroying your internals.

      But, it is called DEPLETED URANIUM for a reason!

      Also, depleted uranium is about as hazardous to the environment as lead and tungsten, so...

      But what, it has a nu-kle-yer sounding word in it, so zOMG it is teh superBAD!
    • lazerus9, on 02/01/2008, -3/+2Here is a link to support your arguement, technical enough to suffice dealing with Digg discussions;http://www.cadu.org.uk/intro.htm
    • BobOki, on 02/01/2008, -1/+4The typical Digg user is, as usual, as uninformed as can possibly be while still wanting to spout their OPINIONS as facts.
      You will be dugg down, and nothing short of Pres ***** himself going on TV saying "wull, sorry about the deleted urplanian, turns out it can get kinda sticky if you eat it. We would never have to use it in the first place if it wasn;'t for terrorists, so its there fault." will change their minds on this issue.
      Thanks for posting some good facts, I fear it WILL fall on deaf and dumb ears.
    • CrazedLeper, on 02/01/2008, -2/+3I don't know a whole lot about depleted uranium but I do know that 47-story tall buildings don't symmetrically collapse at free-fall speed because they were "pelted by debris". 9/11 was an inside job.
      • BobOki, on 02/01/2008, -1/+1HEY BUDDY... Don't go spreading around your lies here! This is Digg, we are all well informed and base all our statements solely on facts sourcing everything!
        We all know 9/11 was NOT an inside job! The reports Bush got were on paper, and he cannot read, so basically he was conspired against and never given the news. The planes deviated from their original flight paths hours before they hit a trade center, but becuase terrorists sabotaged radars and radios nothing was done, its not our fault! The terrorists were nice enough to clear all air traffic in New York for a ENTIRE hour before the planes hit though, that was nice of them.
        When buildings fall they always fall down into itself, and never over to the side like every other structure in the world. We know the tower was built for any one floor to be able to hold the weight of 30 floors above it, but it was built by the most inovative and successful builder in the last 200 years, which emans he totally screwed it up. Those support beams were actually just for show, they really didn't support anything. We all know that jet fuel, while not hot enough at its hottest to melt steel like the core of the towers, didn't make the fall, but do not forget there was paper there burning too, and that extra heat raised burning temperatures by at least the 2000 extra needed to melt the steel. Forget what you know about the heat of a fire by looking at the smoke, black being oxygen starved fire which makes it less hot.... those are just terrorist lies.
        Anything you heard about those pilots that crashed the planes being found alive 2 months later, were terrorist lies. We know their names becuase we recovered the black box on board the flights and those indian guys, from iraq, wait,.. iran... maybe china.. who do we need to bomb next? *cough* uhmm.. we now who they were becuase we had audio of them speaking perfect english accents and they put up a webcam too. No you can't have that footage.

        Ok I am done.... *pukes on his own sarcasm*
  • simplicityiskey, on 02/01/2008, -0/+10This is a good story, and an important one. Thank you for posting it. While this is important, it is also very important to put this in perspective and investigate how the Army's suicide rate compares to the suicide rate of the rest of the country. The only stats I could find were for 2004, and the article didn't have comparable stats for that year, but it put total suicides at 12.5 per 100,000. Nevertheless, 17.5 is 17.5 too much and we need to do something to help these people.
    • TritonX, on 02/01/2008, -1/+3How about not sending them in a hellhole ?
    • greevar, on 02/01/2008, -0/+5Anything above zero is too much.
  • Plinkotic, on 02/01/2008, -1/+10The people you kill or see die stay in your head until you pass. If you're a sociopath then it usually isn't an issue; normal men and women end up with trouble sleeping and worse. These soldiers under a lot of stress. Maybe no more so than any other soldier in any other army, but we now recognize it better. I'm not saying I know the answer or a fix, but for their sakes don't let it be ignored by the gov't. Keep it in the media, make it something the politicians have no choice but to talk about.
  • pintomp3, on 02/01/2008, -4/+12i'm so glad we keep going to war on behalf of israel.
  • wufoo, on 02/01/2008, -0/+13Did we still need more reasons to bring them home?
    • h3lx, on 02/01/2008, -0/+6Apparently.
    • BobOki, on 02/01/2008, -1/+4But... if we leave that place... they will have to fight for themselves...... not like they are not already doing that... against us.
    • mcsith, on 02/01/2008, -0/+1If we leave the terrorist will win! They will invade our lands when we know we can handle it if we brought them back. No, we must stay over there and find these Assassins that the fallen dictator sent after my fa- I mean is trying to kill the Generals yea thats it. Oh and the oil MmMmmMmMMmMM.
      ~President Bush
  • nogahide, on 02/01/2008, -16/+2Yes, is this another BS story like the one where they said returning soldiers were commiting horrible crimes at an excelerated rate. You cant just buy this as fact anymore as the left has already shown it will distort facts to suit its agenda. Grain of Salt here until we see some stats about the normal population
    • Phrag, on 02/01/2008, -1/+5Yeah. Damn you 'lefties'. Why can you be completely honest like those on the 'right'... partisan crap FLT!

      If you want information, don't sit there waiting for someone to hand it to you. Go get it. From what I can find, there are about 500,000 active duty Army soldiers in Iraq. 121 suicides means equals 0.025% of those troops in one year. There are about 300,000,000 people in America and about 30,000 commit suicide every year. That means the average suicide rate in Americans is 0.01%. That shows that the suicide rate in the Army is two and a half times higher than the national average. Its even worse when you consider that the national average takes into account people who have mental and behavior problems and are at a higher risk of suicide. I'm assuming that we don't let clinically depressed people into the army (I could be completely wrong on that one) so I think the ratio would be even higher is we compared the suicide rate of people in the army to the suicide rate of civilians who are capable of serving in the army.
    • lnf69, on 02/01/2008, -0/+5So every piece of news you don't like must be some "leftest fact distortion"?
      Are you saying that going to war has no negative affects on a person?
      Are you saying that any complaining about the war is just some more "Leftist Propaganda"?
      Can we expect the truth only from the right?
    • BobOki, on 02/01/2008, -1/+3Last I checked, the Right and the left shake hands quite often..... so much so theres almost no distinguishing between the two anymore.
      • Phrag, on 02/01/2008, -1/+2Wouldn't a right hand shaking a left hand be kind of awkward? I mean one would have to flip all the way around for it to work.
      • BobOki, on 02/01/2008, -0/+1Well yeah of course it would.... they both do so while blaming the other for not stoping the handshake.
        "My hand was already moving to that direction.. you had to come in and ruin my prefect plans!"
  • Khannea, on 02/01/2008, -8/+6So? The US has voted for this and is responsible - and hence the US civilians shouldn't whine. If you want an accountable democracy, make sure you get one, instead of moaning and bitching, and being divideth and ruleth. You dumb americans are played like a harp from hell, and you whimper now your soldiers are being ground into pulp by a merciless Ueber Corporate Class?
    Sod off, you all profited from the last eras of oil hegemony. Americans all prospered when the Korporate element went out and subjugated the blackies in south america, africa, asia, for profit and oil. You americans didn't complain one second when you became richer through systematic exploitation and looting. But now the party is royally over, the system is crashing like a mountain of turds and NOW we start whining.
    Bleeding time is coming for America. And people are so spoiled rotten they will sit staring at the pretty prozac lights when US cities burn. Civil war pals, that's what you are going to get, one way or another.
    • thefandango, on 02/01/2008, -2/+4umm, The dutch colonized in africa, so don't get on a high horse about subjugating the "blackies" when your government is just as guilty of it at one point or another.
      Second of all, most of us didn't vote for the idiots in charge, they basically stole the election in 2000, and then sold their horrible ideals to middle america under false pretenses and using one of the most heinous assaults in American history to push thier agenda.
      If you look back, alot of us have been speaking out SINCE 2000. Don't judge all Americans based on our thieves of leaders.
      And I sure as hell didn't profit from any oil hegemony. Way to go thinking all Americans are Oil Tycoons.
      • Khannea, on 02/02/2008, -0/+1Sure these fundamentalist protestants did... though it WAS a few centuries ago, and the stuff I did refer to is still happening as we speak.
        And that excuse the revolution was *stolen*, just can't be true. If it had been , where was the revolt? Millions marching angrily in the streets? I am not buying that.
    • Phrag, on 02/01/2008, -0/+4Where are you from?
    • BobOki, on 02/01/2008, -1/+6WE, the Americans have not profited from a single day of this illegal war.
      While is pretty ***** easy for a douchebag like yourself to say "get an accountable democracy" i think you fail to realize that the country has been HIJACKED essentially from the masses, and to "take it back" would be the same as going to war against Americas military. I don't see you jumping up and down volunteering.
    • gypsi, on 02/01/2008, -0/+1well since no one is volunteering - i guess everyone's game for the status quo. good luck.
  • tgc1, on 02/01/2008, -1/+7Somehow, I doubt the numbers of suicides post-deployment are listed among the casualty figures. This 3,000 soldiers killed b.s. is vastly under reported. I bet if you were to look at those suffering from PTSD and other ailments related directly to war, you'd come up with a hell of a lot bigger a figure. More like multiply the above by about 50 and you'd get a more realistic number.
  • andergriff, on 02/01/2008, -3/+5A. The government is criminal for putting them into this position and expecting them to perform miracles.
    B. The soldiers who volunteered for this madness need their heads examined anyway.
    C. The US government is becoming parasitical. Wake up and smell the coffee.
    • BobOki, on 02/01/2008, -3/+3This.. is madness!
      Madness? THIS IS WAR.... *kick*
    • CrazedLeper, on 02/01/2008, -0/+2A. The government expected them to kill and die. They only told *you* to expect a miracle.
      B. The soldiers who volunteered for this madness are getting what they volunteered for
      C. The US Government is the Queen of England's attack dog. Attack dogs don't think, they just take orders.
  • CuddyBuddy, on 02/01/2008, -0/+4Most of us see and read only the statistics about war in newspapers...these are real people who have been through traumatic stuff, I mean, lived through it...some of them simply snap...perhaps wars are necessary evils, but there should be some way to comfort those who have been in the thick of it all!
  • uker, on 02/01/2008, -1/+3American army and Uk army are in deep iraq trouble, unless they could conquer iraq country, change muslims into christians. and it would not happen. This is an invasion, ended by either side's failure. http://www.chineselives.info/2008/02/01/faux-pass- ...
    • greevar, on 02/01/2008, -0/+6Why in the hell do they need to convert to Christianity? I thought America believed in freedom of religion? I will not stand for any such hypocrisy. This is an occupation, plain and simple. Our government loves occupations. Remember WWI and WWII? After WWI concluded the allied nations divided Germany into American, French, and Russian sectors. After WWII America occupied Japan. The ruling class LOVE occupations, because it makes them filthy stinking RICH!
    • BobOki, on 02/01/2008, -0/+1Hey, thats all we need, another religious war!
      WE KILL YOU IN THE NAME OF OUR LORD AND SAVIOR, YOUR DEATH AND SUFFERING WILL PROVE HOW MERCIFUL AND PEACELOVING OUR GOD IS..... O_O wHAT!?!?!?
  • manicallday, on 02/01/2008, -0/+5I wonder if this will lead to the enactment of legislation, which provides veterans with the physiological help they need.
    • greevar, on 02/01/2008, -0/+7You have hope in one hand and ***** in the other. Which will fill up first by the end of the day?
    • GRTWHT, on 02/01/2008, -0/+1In a word: no.

      It won't lead to anything as the government sees us as expendable or worse and the American people talk a good story, but when it comes right down to it, they don't give a ***** about the military either.
  • dartmanx, on 02/01/2008, -2/+5But with such top-notch facilities such as Walter Reed, how can this happen???
  • NiX0n, on 02/01/2008, -10/+2Why is this in US Elections?

    Buried: Wrong Topic
  • 4LeggedtriPod, on 02/01/2008, -0/+3Take a hint Gov't.
  • AnimZero, on 02/01/2008, -3/+2In other news, Heath Ledger died! Oh noesz media!
  • JustJulieNC, on 02/01/2008, -3/+10Of course some one may write me off as another crazy person supporting a man "who can't win" for President; but I'll take that chance to point out a few things.

    1. Ron Paul is the ONLY candidate who supports bringing the troops home.
    2. He has voted CONSISTENTLY every time AGAINST our illegal occupation of Iraq.

    I will vote my beliefs this election year! And I am voting with my time & money, too. Thank you Ron Paul.
    Other points for me; eliminate Income Tax & the IRS; they are against the Constitution.

    Support our Troops;
    Bring them HOME from an illegal war they can't win.

    Don't take my word for it; but don't let the Media tell you who to vote for either.
    Check out http://www.ronpaul2008.com/issues/ to make an educated decision.
    • amirman, on 02/01/2008, -2/+1paulbot blah blah tin foil hat blah blah, BUSH / CHENEY 08 !!!!!
  • Thud, on 02/01/2008, -0/+2Hmmm.

    http://siadapp.dmdc.osd.mil/personnel/CASUALTY/Dea ...
    • lnf69, on 02/01/2008, -2/+2I could have used a pdf warning. Next time please.
      • amirman, on 02/01/2008, -0/+4don't you know how to do a mouseover?
      • lnf69, on 02/01/2008, -0/+3Wow, I'm getting on a lot of ppl's nerves today. Sorry. But mouseover only shows part of the link in my status bar. (Firefox with a bunch of extensions that take up slots on the status bar.)
        But I guess I'm just being cranky today. TGYF and all that.
        • amirman, on 02/01/2008, -0/+2understandable... what i do with my firefox which is also loaded up with extensions is to hide the buttons and toolbars from the browser totally. I access the ones i use less often from the tools menu.
  • ispellkonfusion, on 02/01/2008, -0/+7Bring our troops home!
  • justice7, on 02/01/2008, -6/+1in the joy of jokes in bad taste..

    damn emo's
  • markgl, on 02/01/2008, -1/+6Dang, look at all the psychologist here at digg. I feel honored to be here.
  • Midtowner, on 02/01/2008, -3/+5The suicide rate for males in the United States is 17.8 per 100,000. The suicide for soldiers in the United States is 17.0 per 100,000.

    So the suicide rate for soldiers is roughly equal to that of males? I don't really see news here. It's always tragic when people take their own lives, but it looks like MSNBC is trying to take a non-event and turn it into news.


    • lnf69, on 02/01/2008, -0/+4Well I took about 5 minutes to search out the "male female ratio in us military". Since you try to compare suicide rate for males verses suicide rate in the military, I think you would need to show that the ratio of men to women is so small that would have no effect on your own calculations.
      I guess that's what the news is here.
  • CrazedLeper, on 02/01/2008, -3/+2Another reason to reinstate the draft...as if the nation weren't already teetering on the brink of revolution.
    • TritonX, on 02/01/2008, -0/+1"teetering on the brink of revolution."
      Not yet, I'm sure you can endure much worst before anything happens.
  • bcamp1973, on 02/01/2008, -2/+4Mission Accomplished ™
    Let's send our Monkey in Chief's kiddies to Iraq. Same with his handler, Dick. It's about time they feel this personally. Neocon *****.
  • jeexbit, on 02/01/2008, -0/+5More US soldiers died from suicide after Vietnam than in actual combat there. Terrible...
  • IdevInull, on 02/01/2008, -7/+1Soldiers that commit suicide are cowards and not fit to wear the uniform. Suicide is an ultimate act of selfishness and an extreme display of weakness. If they wanted to die they should have died in combat in the service of their country.

    I have no pity for them or any people of their ilk that commit such selfish and weak acts.
    • amirman, on 02/01/2008, -0/+6***** you! how is that selfish? if they had children i could see it as being selfish otherwise they own their own life. no one else has a right to their life.
    • TritonX, on 02/01/2008, -0/+1You are right, you should only send to war sociopaths that don't have any feelings.
  • amirman, on 02/01/2008, -0/+3BUSH / CHENEY 08 !!!
  • maxlightz, on 02/01/2008, -3/+2If they're going to commit suicide anyway they could at least strap themselves full of explosives and go to a military target to detonate at. Or what about jumping out of a plane as skydiving suicide bombers? Frankly i'm surprised the Bush administration hasn't thought of this already ...
  • schneid4323, on 02/01/2008, -3/+1Hillary Clinton cares....
  • gypsi, on 02/01/2008, -0/+1i love how the republicans campaign on "increasing deployments". where the hell is the manpower going to come from? trigger-happy mercenaries?
  • raymondgoho, on 02/01/2008, -0/+0Damn you Ritchie: "Ritchie's team conducted more than 200 interviews in the United States and overseas and found that the common factors in suicides and attempted suicides include failed personal relationships; legal, financial or occupational problems; and the frequency and length of overseas deployments."

    Thats not the problem why the soldiers are attempting suicides! Soldiers don't care about their financial plans. George bush is forcing the soldiers to go to Iraq and Afghanistan and have a war! This is not the soldiers' war, it is BUSH's war..

    I hate what is happening in our world right now... A while ago, i dugg the rhino shot by the pouchers... now i need to digg another article about the misery we are facing in earth..
  • jlc107, on 02/01/2008, -0/+0Is there ANYTHING this F-ing US government can get right -- other than obscene profits for the elite and politically connected? Democrat, Republican -- there ALL THE SAME. Crooks and liars, and now MURDERERS. And don't give me the BS about Iraq keeping us safe. Read the paper anyone????? --
    "The United States military is not prepared for a catastrophic attack on the country, and National Guard forces do not have the equipment or training they need for the job, according to a new report.
    The report was released Thursday by the Commission of the National Guard and Reserves, which is charged by Congress to recommend changes in law and policy concerning the those forces."
    What TOOLS!!!!!
  • motters, on 02/01/2008, -0/+1Fighting in wars can seriously damage your mental health.
  • Zlorp, on 02/01/2008, -0/+1we have the most troops in action since they started keeping record. OF COURSE its at its highest.
  • S2000, on 02/01/2008, -0/+1This really is ashame. Maybe someday we can look forward to a headline of "Politician suicides reach record level, study shows"
  • Erich100, on 02/01/2008, -0/+2Didn't the front runners in the Presidential race say last week that "Iraq was worth it?"
  • whoucares, on 02/02/2008, -0/+1I don't blame one particular party for what is happening to US soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines. I blame them all. I swear as a nation, we all have collective amnesia. Wars and conflicts have been going on in every decade since WWII. You mean to tell me that this is a new phenomenon, get real. If we can put a man on the moon, cure polio, than we can take care of the men and women who volunteer to serve their country.
  • AvangionQ, on 02/02/2008, -0/+1"Suicides among active-duty soldiers in 2007 reached their highest level since the Army began keeping such records in 1980, according to a draft internal study obtained by The Washington Post. Last year, 121 soldiers took their own lives, nearly 20 percent more than in 2006." ... by extending their tours of service and providing such poor medical support, we're pushing our troops beyond their breaking points -- the troops that we claim to support, while giving not much more than lip service to -- if this isn't a good enough reason to pull out of Iraq, I don't know what is ...
  • sa9e, on 02/05/2008, -0/+1Maybe some of them are depressed because they are being accused by the left of executing an illegal war, killing innocents by the hundreds of thousands, and dying for no other reason than than the incompetence of the president.

    Maybe the suicide rate is up because these soldiers are not getting unequivocal support from the country they volunteered to defend.
  •  

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