Who's Killing Our Soldiers

Whose killing our soldiers? I can hear the answers coming in, “Iraq, Afghanistan”, just about any Middle Eastern country might be blurted out as the answer. Now for the shocking revelation, our soldiers are killing themselves.
The United States Army confirmed seven suicides in the month of January and has 17 suicide cases pending, bringing a possible total of 24 military suicides in a single month. If the numbers prove to be accurate, this will mean that more soldiers killed themselves in January than died in combat last month. Pentagon statistics show that there were 16 U.S. combat deaths in Afghanistan and Iraq in January.
What’s wrong with this picture? If Soldiers’ emotional states are such that they are killing themselves, are we really doing any good in these countries? I hardly doubt that a person with suicidal thoughts is any shape to be protecting themselves, let alone a country!
I listen to debates on whether we should pull troops out of Iraq or deploy troops to Afghanistan, and most of the debates center around the cost of keeping the troops abroad and the trillions of dollars we are spending on war; maybe it’s time to discuss the cost of a soldiers emotional well-being, and in the end, their life. Yes, I know they signed up on their own and were not forced into the military, I’m not arguing that point, however I do think the length of time abroad in war-torn countries is a point that needs to be discussed.
With suicide rates as they currently are within the military, somebody should be asking the WTF question and making some decisions/modifications. We are bailing out the auto industry, the banks, and the economy as a whole, how about a bailout for the men and women abroad.

Obamanomics Position on Afghanistan

Ponders, a decision is expected "shortly" (this could be days in political talk) on whether

President Obama will increase the number of troops in Afghanistan. Obama's Republican Defense Secretary Robert Gates made a statement that decisions have to be made on this matter. A strategic review is being conducted to help determine the best course of action.

Now I know what you are thinking, "Is this the change we can believe in?", It sounds vaguely familiar to the Iraq situation and the trillions of dollars spent on our activities there.

Obama stated many times during his campaign for presidency that he was in favor of withdrawing troops from Iraq, so far, there is no reason to think that he won't stand by that conviction, the bigger question to ponder is whether those troops will be diverted to Afghanistan.

Unnamed pentagon officials relayed that thousands of ground combat Marines, a marine aviation unit and Army Special Forces could be sent to southern Afghanistan in the weeks ahead.

Money spent on war is money spent on war, regardless of the location. I will be anxious to see how Obamanomics plays this out.

Due to the amount of press the Stimulus bill has gotten, this item has almost been left in the shadows; keep your eyes on it Ponderers, this decision will have a large impact on the American dollar.