Casualties of War

[Kevin_Kennedy]

At least 128 American soldiers committed suicide last year, bringing the rate up to the highest level in nearly three decades. About a third killed themselves during deployment, a third after, and a third not having been deployed. The rate of military suicides is higher than civilian for the first time since Vietnam.

The endless wars abroad in Afghanistan and Iraq and the advent of 15-month deployments would seem to be the best explanation. Many servicemen and women face major life problems after coming back.

Some proponents of staying the course suggest that dissenting civilians here at home will lose the war, just as they allegedly lost Vietnam. Yet we are at peace now with Vietnam. Yes, horrors were unleashed when the U.S. withdrew, but much of that was exacerbated in its ferocity by U.S. intervention in the first place (such as with U.S. bombing in Cambodia warming the people up to the Khmer Rouge).

Campaign For Liberty — Casualties of War

 

[doeton]

good post...

course it over looks the slut factor...

 

[garyd]

Seen it before it compares apples and oranges. And the math is a bit funny too.

For instance Given an armed forces of roughly 1 million men that would be 12.8 per hundred thousand.

In the military and in civilian life suicides are men by a wide margin. Women are still a minority among military personell while they are a majority of the nations population. Suicide rates Among American males are 17.1 per 100,000.

 

[PeterS]

Seen it before it compares apples and oranges. And the math is a bit funny too.

For instance Given an armed forces of roughly 1 million men that would be 12.8 per hundred thousand.

In the military and in civilian life suicides are men by a wide margin. Women are still a minority among military personell while they are a majority of the nations population. Suicide rates Among American males are 17.1 per 100,000.

So your contention is that the US Army intentionally construed a statistical fallacy? For what purpose? How does misinforming the public about suicide rates in the Army benefit the military?

 

[garyd]

The only thing the army contributed to this paper was the number of military suicides.

The rest of it is an add on from other parties.

 

[editec]

Veterans are applauded going to war and an inconvenience after it.

Happened after the Revolutionary war and been happening every war since.

 

[rayboyusmc]

War is still a racket and the currency is blood and wounded vets.

Here is another example of how well we treat our troops. Hire only the best.

WASHINGTON – A third U.S. service member has been determined to have been electrocuted in a shower in Iraq, and Navy criminal investigators are investigating, The Associated Press has learned.

Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class David A. Cedergren, 25, of South St. Paul, Minn., died Sept. 11, 2004, while showering. His family was told he died of natural causes.

Late last year, the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology changed the manner of Cedergren's death to "accidental," caused by electrocution and inflammation of the heart. The Naval Criminal Investigative Service has reopened an investigation into his death, Ed Buice, a NCIS spokesman, said Monday.

Cedergren's death is among 18 electrocution deaths — 16 U.S. service members and two military contractors — under review as part of a Department of Defense Inspector General inquiry. Improperly installed or maintained electrical devices have been blamed in some of the deaths, while accidental contact with power lines caused others.

I don't remember incidents like this when we had military people doing this work.

 

[garyd]

Blame Clinton. More shit get done by civilians now because of military cuts under Clinton. It was all about reducing the army's logistical tail while maintaining fighting trim...

by the way thanks for the old news.