Army suicide rate headed for new record!
WASHINGTON - November 17, 2009 - Suicides in the U.S. Army are headed to a new record, with 140 suspected cases reported since the start of the year, a top general said on Tuesday.
The cause of the rising suicide rate remained unclear and varied from base to base, with about one-third of the suicides among soldiers who had not yet deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan, General Peter Chiarelli, Army vice chief of staff, told reporters.
The number of suicides was already at last year's record level, Chiarelli said.
"We are almost certainly going to end the year higher than last year," he said.
As of Monday, the Army had registered 140 suspected cases among active duty soldiers and 71 suspected suicides by service members no longer on active duty, he said.
But Chiarelli said the Army had launched promising initiatives to try to prevent suicide and teach soldiers how to be more resilient.
"We believe, despite these numbers, that we are making some progress," he said.
"Obviously, we would prefer not to have another suicide this year or in the years that follow, but we know that will not be the case. This is horrible, and I do not want to downplay the significance of these numbers in any way."
In January and February alone, the Army had 40 suicides, he said.
Ed. Note: Has anyone addressed WHY Amerikan military personnel are killing themselves? Could it be because they are being ordered to commit unconscionable acts against their fellow humans? Is it possibly due to there being no legitimate military objectives for the atrocities they are being ordered to perpetrate against innocent civilians around the world? I wonder.
The cause of the rising suicide rate remained unclear and varied from base to base, with about one-third of the suicides among soldiers who had not yet deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan, General Peter Chiarelli, Army vice chief of staff, told reporters.
The number of suicides was already at last year's record level, Chiarelli said.
"We are almost certainly going to end the year higher than last year," he said.
As of Monday, the Army had registered 140 suspected cases among active duty soldiers and 71 suspected suicides by service members no longer on active duty, he said.
But Chiarelli said the Army had launched promising initiatives to try to prevent suicide and teach soldiers how to be more resilient.
"We believe, despite these numbers, that we are making some progress," he said.
"Obviously, we would prefer not to have another suicide this year or in the years that follow, but we know that will not be the case. This is horrible, and I do not want to downplay the significance of these numbers in any way."
In January and February alone, the Army had 40 suicides, he said.
Ed. Note: Has anyone addressed WHY Amerikan military personnel are killing themselves? Could it be because they are being ordered to commit unconscionable acts against their fellow humans? Is it possibly due to there being no legitimate military objectives for the atrocities they are being ordered to perpetrate against innocent civilians around the world? I wonder.
