The unspoken cost of War

Nanfeishen

Nanfeishen

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More US military personnel have taken their OWN lives than have died in action

Military suicides or related have risen to shocking levels, from 128 in 2008 to over 330 in 2009, and that is not including the amount of veterans who have done so as well.

Jan. 29, 2009
U.S. Army Suicides Highest In 3 Decades
At Least 128 Soldiers Took Their Own Lives In 2008

The new figure of more than 128 compares to 115 in 2007 and 102 in 2006 - and is the highest since record keeping began in 1980.
Click to expand...
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/01/29/national/main4762268.shtml?source=related_story

Here is a shocking statistic that you won't hear in most western news media: over the past nine years, more US military personnel have taken their own lives than have died in action in either the wars in Iraq or Afghanistan. These are official figures from the US Department of Defence, yet somehow they have not been deemed newsworthy to report. Last year alone, more than 330 serving members of the US armed forces committed suicide - more than the 320 killed in Afghanistan and the 150 who fell in Iraq (see wsws.org).

Since 2001, when Washington launched its so-called war on terror, there has been a dramatic year-on-year increase in US military suicides, particularly in the army, which has borne the brunt of fighting abroad. Last year saw the highest total number since such records began in 1980. Prior to 2001, the suicide rate in the US military was lower than that for the general US population; now, it is nearly double the national average.

A growing number of these victims have been deployed in Iraq or Afghanistan. What these figures should tell us is that there is something fundamentally deranged about Washington's "war on terror" - which is probably why western news media prefer to ignore the issue. How damning is it about such military campaigns that the number of US soldiers who take their own lives outnumber those killed by enemy combatants.

What is even more disturbing is that the official figures only count victims of suicide among serving personnel. Not included are the many more veterans - officially classed a civilians - who take their own lives.

Most likely, these deaths are reported in some small-town newspaper in "a brief" news item with no context or background as to what drove these individuals to take their own lives. It is estimated that the suicide rate among veterans demobbed from fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq is as high as four times the national average. The US Department of Veteran Affairs calculates that over 6,000 former service personnel commit suicide every year.

Many of these men have come home to a country they have fought for only to find no jobs, their homes repossessed by banks that have enjoyed trillion-dollar bailouts and broken relationships.
Click to expand...
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=16916

This article only shows the rate until 2007, nothing for 2008 or 2009, so who knows how much more these stats has actually climbed by.
WASHINGTON, Jan. 11, 2010
Suicide Rate of Young Veterans Soars
Suicide Rate for 18- to 29-Year-Old Men Who've Left Military Went Up 26% from 2005 to 2007, Data Shows
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http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/01/11/national/main6083072.shtml

Unbelievable :eek:
 
haven't read the article, but do they show how that compares to the national average?
 
Morgoth said:
and we thought only muslims do suicide things.
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Didn't read anything in the report about any of them doing the suicide thing while attempting to kill innocent civilians, like the Islamists are renown for.
 
haha.. Frankie... Have you ever heard of the LRA of Uganda?

Sectarian Christians that are killing tribal people in Southern Sudan. They are killing innocents along with Arabs and Black Africans.

All humans are very capable of killing people, and some even enjoy it.
 
Fieldy said:
haha.. Frankie... Have you ever heard of the LRA of Uganda?

Sectarian Christians that are killing tribal people in Southern Sudan. They are killing innocents along with Arabs and Black Africans.

All humans are very capable of killing people, and some even enjoy it.
Click to expand...
One sure gets the impression that the Islamists enjoy the killing, and it's most likely the expectation of "rewards" in the "life hereafter" that's an irresistible lure for them.
 
Why would this be a shock. Geez, anyone know the psychological toll when you see people, women, children getting blown to bits while body parts of warm flesh slaps across your face?
 
There are soldiers blogs in abundance about their daily activities on the web and you'll see what kind of hell they go through. There was one incident where 2 off duty soldiers was talking face to face up close with their guards down. Out of no where one of them was shot in the head by a sniper during a middle of a conversation. Can you imagin the other guys reaction.
 
Support for veterans is severely lacking
 
ponder said:
Nothing new, lots of SADF okes also offed themselves.
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Those sort of incidents were actually very very rare in the SADF.

Of the 2117 casualties of the 1976 - 1991 Border War quite a number of them perished in transport related accidents, you can read about a lot of them here:
http://justdone.co.za/ROH/List_Stories.php

All 2117 R.I.P.
http://justdone.co.za/ROH/List_People.php?War=BORDER

Another list of casualties for the following conflicts, many siting cause of death and many of those are transport accidents accidents, from horse to aircraft, not many suicides listed at all

Bambatha Rebellion / Rand Revolt / Korea / Border War / Non World War / Police Casualties
http://www.southafricawargraves.org/lists/SAborderwar.htm
 
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