Army suicides reported up again — at 115
By PAULINE JELINEK, Associated Press Writer1 hour, 14 minutes ago
The number of Army suicides increased again last year, amid the most violent year yet in both the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
An Army official said Thursday that 115 troops committed suicide in 2007, a nearly 13 percent increase over the previous year's 102. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because a full report on the deaths wasn't being released until later Thursday.
About a quarter of the deaths occurred in Iraq.
The 115 confirmed deaths among active duty soldiers and National Guard and Reserve troops that had been activated was a lower number than previously feared. Preliminary figures released in January showed as many as 121 troops might have killed themselves, but a number of the deaths were still being investigated then and have since been attributed to other causes, the officials said.
Suicides have been rising during the five-year-old war in Iraq and nearly seven years of war in Afghanistan.
The 115 deaths last year and 102 in 2006 followed 85 in 2005 and 67 in 2004. The only Army records immediately available go back to 1990, and show no year with a higher number of suicides than 2007. The figure in 1990 was 102.
More U.S. troops also died overall in hostilities in 2007 than in any of the previous years in Iraq and Afghanistan. Overall violence increased in Afghanistan with a Taliban resurgence and overall deaths increased in Iraq, even as violence there declined in the second half of the year.
Increasing the strain on the force last year was the extension of deployments to 15 months from 12 months, a practice ending this year.
The increases in suicides come despite a host of efforts to improve the mental health of a force stressed by the long and repeated tours of duty.
...
LINK TO REST OF THE ARTICLE
Full Version: ARMY SUICIDES GO UP AGAIN IN 2007 - 115, now
QUOTE (bushwa @ May 29 2008, 01:38 PM) 
Army suicides reported up again — at 115
By PAULINE JELINEK, Associated Press Writer1 hour, 14 minutes ago
The number of Army suicides increased again last year, amid the most violent year yet in both the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
An Army official said Thursday that 115 troops committed suicide in 2007, a nearly 13 percent increase over the previous year's 102. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because a full report on the deaths wasn't being released until later Thursday.
About a quarter of the deaths occurred in Iraq.
The 115 confirmed deaths among active duty soldiers and National Guard and Reserve troops that had been activated was a lower number than previously feared. Preliminary figures released in January showed as many as 121 troops might have killed themselves, but a number of the deaths were still being investigated then and have since been attributed to other causes, the officials said.
Suicides have been rising during the five-year-old war in Iraq and nearly seven years of war in Afghanistan.
The 115 deaths last year and 102 in 2006 followed 85 in 2005 and 67 in 2004. The only Army records immediately available go back to 1990, and show no year with a higher number of suicides than 2007. The figure in 1990 was 102.
More U.S. troops also died overall in hostilities in 2007 than in any of the previous years in Iraq and Afghanistan. Overall violence increased in Afghanistan with a Taliban resurgence and overall deaths increased in Iraq, even as violence there declined in the second half of the year.
Increasing the strain on the force last year was the extension of deployments to 15 months from 12 months, a practice ending this year.
The increases in suicides come despite a host of efforts to improve the mental health of a force stressed by the long and repeated tours of duty.
...
LINK TO REST OF THE ARTICLE
By PAULINE JELINEK, Associated Press Writer1 hour, 14 minutes ago
The number of Army suicides increased again last year, amid the most violent year yet in both the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
An Army official said Thursday that 115 troops committed suicide in 2007, a nearly 13 percent increase over the previous year's 102. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because a full report on the deaths wasn't being released until later Thursday.
About a quarter of the deaths occurred in Iraq.
The 115 confirmed deaths among active duty soldiers and National Guard and Reserve troops that had been activated was a lower number than previously feared. Preliminary figures released in January showed as many as 121 troops might have killed themselves, but a number of the deaths were still being investigated then and have since been attributed to other causes, the officials said.
Suicides have been rising during the five-year-old war in Iraq and nearly seven years of war in Afghanistan.
The 115 deaths last year and 102 in 2006 followed 85 in 2005 and 67 in 2004. The only Army records immediately available go back to 1990, and show no year with a higher number of suicides than 2007. The figure in 1990 was 102.
More U.S. troops also died overall in hostilities in 2007 than in any of the previous years in Iraq and Afghanistan. Overall violence increased in Afghanistan with a Taliban resurgence and overall deaths increased in Iraq, even as violence there declined in the second half of the year.
Increasing the strain on the force last year was the extension of deployments to 15 months from 12 months, a practice ending this year.
The increases in suicides come despite a host of efforts to improve the mental health of a force stressed by the long and repeated tours of duty.
...
LINK TO REST OF THE ARTICLE
do you know how this comares with the rest of the nation? Seems the rate is going up across board.
QUOTE (rowdyroddypiper @ May 29 2008, 11:49 AM)
do you know how this comares with the rest of the nation? Seems the rate is going up across board.
Oh, well then, never mind. Increasing numbers of suicides almost double recent years ISN'T an obvious cause for concern.
QUOTE (bushwa @ May 29 2008, 01:51 PM)
Oh, well then, never mind. Increasing numbers of suicides almost double recent years ISN'T an obvious cause for concern.
didnt mean it like that. just wondering.
I'm thinking, for the other suicides, the consumer TV life has hit it's ceiling and some people just don't know how to deal with it.
As for the military suicides, you know some pentagon whore is going to tell us it has no correlation to the war and it's just mystifying.
As for the military suicides, you know some pentagon whore is going to tell us it has no correlation to the war and it's just mystifying.
QUOTE (rowdyroddypiper @ May 29 2008, 11:54 AM)
...didnt mean it like that. just wondering.
Fair enough - I don't know. And it's a figure that SHOULD be in the story.
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