As casualties in Afghanistan rise, Army suicides, drug use set new records

[Donnachaidh]

http://wsws.org/articles/2010/jul2010/army-j31.shtml

As US military fatalities in Afghanistan hit a new high in July, the US Army issued a report exposing record suicides, drug use and other signs of deep demoralization among its ranks after a decade of colonial-style wars.

Another six US troops were killed in a series of four separate attacks across southern Afghanistan on Thursday and Friday, bringing the total death toll for the month to at least 66. This follows the previous high set last month of 60. Both were at least double the average number of fatalities for the first five months of this year.

But even as the casualties in Afghanistan soar, the number of suicides and other violent non-combat deaths among US Army soldiers is rising even more steeply.

The Army’s 350-page report issued Thursday, titled “Health Promotion, Risk Reduction and Suicide Prevention,” placed the suicides in a broader context of dangerous behavior among soldiers, including rampant drug use, drunk driving and violent crime.

The report was commissioned after the rate of suicides among active duty Army personnel rose higher than that of the general population in 2008. While the civilian rate was 19.2 per 100,000 people that year, it was 20.2 per 100,000 for Army personnel. Traditionally, the suicide rate in the Army has been considerably lower than that in the general population, and the current rate is more than triple that which existed in the Army prior to 2001.


More at the link ---

[Blue Owl]

1. If you support the troops

THEN BRING THEM HOME.

Period.

[Tansy_Gold]

2. Recced for a reality check, but it's a sad rec indeed. n/t