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.
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.
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OMG! That is absolutely horrible!
ReplyDeleteDamn good point NTB, and a sad case overall.
ReplyDeleteOur great govt seems mostly concerned with dropping soldiers off in the desert with not much follow-up on their condition. Any sane person would know that war is a stressful situation, war for years, could be a debilitating condition. If something isn't done to lessen the time spent on tours, I suspect we will see the suicide numbers increase, sadly.
ReplyDeleteI'm not understanding why something like this isn't topping the news headlines, instead, I get to hear about a chimp attacking a lady. Go figure...
ReplyDeleteIt's really sad how we treat our men and women serving in the military as well as how we treat our veterans.
ReplyDeleteYeah. I have heard about this and every time I hear things about the military it amazes me. You would think that they would be taken care of but they are not, mentally or physically.
ReplyDelete