September 24, 2003
Military Suicide in Iraq
The signs of low morale are everywhere. Embedded reporters tell about longer deployments and troops who are confused and upset when told they will not come home until December or later. The daily drumbeat of casualties and deaths must have a chilling effect on these brave men who have been put in harm’s way. There are increasing reports of soldiers becoming frantic in their desire to return home. The recent discrepancy between what is reported and what is kept close to the Pentagon causes one to wonder if there is a growing cause for alarm. Alarm that our troops may be so desperate, they are willing to injure themselves (malingering), or commit suicide.
The facts that have come out are themselves scary and revealing. This is a story of American kids who have chosen to end their lives. It's the story of a concerted effort to keep the folks at home thinking that everything is going okay, and that it's normal that a some soldiers will fall asleep and then never wake up. It's normal and positively expected that soldiers "fall" from roofs while on patrol, or that there are an unusually high number of deaths related to "non-combat related weapons discharge". It's about suicide, and it's staring us in the face.
The evidence is everywhere, read the news. Read between the lines, then read candid tales from soldiers of actual suicide:
"An American soldier attached to the 101st Airborne Division died Monday in another non-hostile gunshot incident near Balad, 55 miles north of the capital. Soldiers at an air base near Balad said on condition of anonymity that the soldier had taken his own life."
The question is not: is it true? No, the real question is: How big? That's one question this writer doesn't know. In researching this piece, there were large pieces of the puzzle that began to come together. One article notes that entire units have been put on suicide watches because they are so disheartened. Another, older article, outlines 7 suspected suicides that the Pentagon is investigating:
Overall, the military has not released an official count of possible suicides under investigation, and the total could be higher than seven, given a number of unexplained deaths included in the Pentagon's casualty statistics. The military has reported nine cases of accidental death that could include suicides, most of which were from "noncombat weapons discharges."In 12 other cases, the cause of death has been officially listed as "other" and described only as "noncombat injuries."
There is a large, inexplicable, number of non-combat related deaths and injuries. It would be fallacy to say they are all suicides, but there are indications that there is a growing number of soldiers who are willing to kill themselves, or at the very least malinger in order to be transferred out of Iraq. What percentage this constitutes is unknown, but the facts speak for themselves, this is a cause for concern for the Pentagon and for the morale of our military and soldiers.
Stephen,
Another well put together article, but I must take exception to one point: the men and women serving in Iraq and else where, are not children despite their young age, they are men and women! I chaff every time I hear military personnel referred to as “kids,” they are not.
As to the central point of your article: these are all symptoms of the ill-advised practice of down-sizing the Army. The Army, any Army is supposed to be big to fulfill its mission of occupation of foreign lands. A light agile Army is called the U.S. Marines! Rumsfeld is a fool, and should, in this, his hour of disgrace, step down and spare us any more of his bombastic rhetoric tinged with sarcasm and arrogance.
Mr. Martin, the problem is with the President in office. Under Clinton’s foreign policy our manned forces were sufficient, since, nation building and premeptory strikes were not part of his plan for our military, working with the U.N was.
Under Bush, global dispersion of our military, nation building and a design upon entering office to take out Iraq, required a much larger force. Bush failed either, 1) to build the larger force required by his foreign policy, or 2) to accurately assess his man power needs accurately.
Posted by: David R. Remer at September 24, 2003 02:08 PMI apologize for calling them kids, but they are someone’s sons or daughters. I wasn’t trying to disparage them based on age (even though recruiters practically set up offices in high schools).
Posted by: Stephen VanDyke at September 24, 2003 02:18 PMMr. Remer, I will agree that the problem lies with the current occupant of the White House; he is no President I would be inclined to call leader. However, the drawdown of America’s military commenced with the first Bush Administration not too long after the first Gulf War. And it continued throughout the early years of the first Clinton Administration, with some military personnel in “non-critical” ratings/MOS’s actually being offered early outs in the early 1990’s.
The force never recovered from that tomfoolery, and the current administration with its ill-considered push to privatize every aspect of the military except the infantry, has only exasperated the situation. Some times it’s not always a good thing to have civilians in charge of military affairs, especially those who know not what they are doing, or who do not understand even the basic tenant’s of combat and what it takes to field an effective fighting force, be it Army, Navy, Air Force or Marines.
Mr. VanDyke, I was someone’s son when I entered the Navy at the age of 17.5, that did not make me any less of a man. And at nineteen when I went to sea on my first submarine run I no longer felt like a child, but a man doing his duty for his country. I am sure all the men and women in the Armed Force feel the same.
Posted by: V. Edward Martin at September 24, 2003 02:44 PMI am well aware that sometimes soldiers become war weary and/or try to commit suicide. Hell, when I was in basic training 4 soldiers tried to commit suicide by hanging themselves off of the balcony at the barracks. Two from my unit and 2 from the units next to me. This happened in a space of 3 months. We were not in Iraq. We were in Georgia at Fort Benning being treated like sh*t by the drill Sergeants.
To me this reeks of sensationalism. What you have written has a tone of urgency to it that is almost comical, if it weren’t so sad.
Noone is going to sit here and say that conditions are fantastic but this is a war. You have chosen a topic to exploit as if the 150,000 troops are all on suicide watch, or at least a fair number of them.
From the article:
“E-mails and phone calls received by The Post from troops in the 2nd Brigade as well as their wives tell of whole units being put on suicide watch.”
hearsay…where is this evidence to support this statement?
I find this to be especially ridiculous…
“Yes, without a doubt my duty is to serve my country despite her faults. I have learned I will not be able to get education and training services while I am here and I am accepting that.”
Well that is mighty big of you soldier. If this guy were in my squad I would have him standing at parade rest in the hot sun until his attitude changed or I got tired of looking at his sorry ass. College? Give me a friggin break. This is a G*DDAMN WAR and this pogue is talking about educational services!!!!
INCREDIBLE! I am getting more angry by the second when I read this tripe.
A personal message.
Sgt. Leanne Duffy
E-mail: leanne.duffy@us.army.mil.
Sgt Duffy…you don’t deserve to be an N.C.O., you are a leader of troops and it is a disgrace to your uniform and the United States Army to publicly ridicule yourself and your subordinates. If you wanted to go to college perhaps you should not have joined the Army National Guard. You are doing your duty, true, but you are also going to the press and complaining about it. When I complain, I do so to my superiors. I do not write letters to the press that will only further demoralize my men. It is my responsibility as thier leader to show strength and integrity. Especially when there is noone watching and times are hard. It is your job to be the rock that your soldiers rely on as a foundation. Your behavior is totally out of line and is a violation of the Unmiform Code of Military Justice.
So Steven, have you come up with a final and factual account of suicides in this conflict? If you have then what is that number? Is it under 20? Is the number higher than 50? Is this supposed to be “investigative journalism”?
Is this really any different than any other conflict where some soldiers are disgruntled and depressed, or is this just more sensationalism. I think it is.
So what is your point?
It happens everywhere soldiers are deployed. Some just can’t hack it, Period. Some try to kill thier commanders. Some get involved in drugs. Will that be the next expose that you write about?
I believe that this point needs to be made clear as well…
The U.S. Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine and the American Association of Suicidology have reported that suicide has been the second leading cause of deaths in the Army in the last 10 years and that 10 times more soldiers have committed suicide than have died in hostile fire during the same period.
But it is all Bush’s fault right Mr. Martin?
Mr. Martin, thank you for the information on the downsizing. I was not aware that it began after the Gulf War under Bush1. One of the wonderful things about following topics here, one learns something new every day. Many thanks.
Good points Pete. This feature article is making conclusions based on half the information.
Stephen writes: “One article notes that entire units have been put on suicide watches.” But pete correctly points out that this is just talk on anonymous e-mails sent to the newspaper. Hardly evidence that it is actually occuring.
Stephen writes: “but the facts speak for themselves, this is a cause for concern for the Pentagon and for the morale of our military and soldiers.” Is that what the facts say? That these deats are cause for concern? The same article Stephen links to says, “As yet there is no evidence indicating that the cases represent a spike in the rate of military suicides or any kind of pattern that can be linked to the battlefield environment or poor morale in Iraq, defense officials said.” Is there any evidence of a spike?
The article also says this: “Furthermore, soldiers in combat, including those in Iraq, typically are not consuming alcohol, Orman said, which impairs judgment and contributes to an increase in the suicide rate.”
Soldiers killing themselves is obviously a tragedy. But to imply that there is a rise in the number of suicides and to further imply that low morale is the cause is a little irresponsible.
Posted by: CJ at September 24, 2003 05:42 PMTo paraphrase CJ and pete:
Soldiers are killing themselves? Who cares?
The government says everything is hokey-dorey? Then this article must be sensationalism and full of hooey.
—
ps- The question I posed was “How big”. Did you miss that? You don’t seem to refute the validity, just the magnitude. 4800 noncombat injury evacuations raises my eyebrows. How about you?
Posted by: Stephen VanDyke at September 24, 2003 06:28 PMLiberals, liberals,
How did you think you could make such a interesting point in defiance of pete? Didn’t you read the PETE-FAQ? I’ve been lurking here, and even I saw it.
“Do not disagree with pete on the military - he was in the military, so he knows better than you, even if you were in the military, too”
“Do not disagree with pete on what’s happening in Iraq - he has friends there, so he knows everything that happens there”
“Do not disagree with pete on liberal media bias - he watches tv, so none of those pesky scientific studies mean anything”
“Do not disagree with pete about the facts of the administration’s deceptions - he knows they were all made up”
“Do not disagree with pete about Gen. Clark’s motivations - pete gets to read Hillary’s diary”
“Do not bring up any reported events that contradict pete’s worldview - pete know’s it’s all just a liberal conspiracy”
“Do not tell pete his points are irrelevant or nonsensical - he made the points, so they must be perfect”
“Do not make any predictions about the 2004 race - pete knows the future”
If we all follow these rules, then everything will be happy here, ok?
Posted by: Larry at September 24, 2003 08:22 PMMy words:
“Soldiers killing themselves is obviously a tragedy. But to imply that there is a rise in the number of suicides and to further imply that low morale is the cause is a little irresponsible.”
Your words:
“To paraphrase CJ and pete:
Soldiers are killing themselves? Who cares?
The government says everything is hokey-dorey? Then this article must be sensationalism and full of hooey.”
How you get from point A to point B is beyond me, but judging from your flawed logic in this post, it’s completely in your character.
Posted by: CJ at September 24, 2003 08:25 PMHey Larry,
you forgot to mention the fact that I have a super-duper attitude, a perfect smile and a startling ability to piss off liberals. The next time you comment, perhaps you should say something of substance instead of just attacking me and flailing wildly into the air like a badger on mind-altering medication. I know who you are.
Larry and pete: I don’t want to have to turn comments off, keep your comments on-topic and out of personal attack territory. Thanks.
Posted by: Stephen VanDyke at September 24, 2003 11:06 PM“badger on mind-altering medication” - that’s an interesting mental image you conjured. I’d like to see it.
On topic:
It’s interesting to see the signs of low morale in Iraq, but I don’t know if we can yet take any conclusions from it. For one thing, the stories are anecdotal at this point. For another, we don’t have a good control to know if morale is significantly lower than in other times of stress or even in training.
I think the media should keep an eye on the story, but I don’t know if stateside civilians will ever really be able to know the whole story.
However, a critique of our policies in Iraq already has enough damning evidence that I think we can wait for this to be more clear.
Posted by: Larry at September 25, 2003 07:58 AMThe lot of you are comical. I would say Pete probably has the best grasp on things as he implied he was a foot soldier. I was in Desert Storm AND Desert Shield in the U.S. Navy so I cannot speak from the point of view of a foot soldier; however, standing watch on the forecastle of a ship for 6 hours on-6 hours off on decks literally hot enough to sizzle eggs gives me a little more understanding than most, what the living conditions are over there.
Two people died in my boot camp division: one hanged by his own webbed belt and the other managed to mutilate his thigh bad enough with the blade out of a disposable shaving razor that the corpsmen couldn’t stop the bleeding in time to save his life. We had people jump off the side of the ship, we had one guy cram his hand behind the fuses of a 440V breaker panel and then flip the main breaker and electrocute himself, and we even had one guy go on a mixed beverage binge out of the hazmat locker.
War and conflict suck. It sucks not knowing when you get to see your family again, and it sucks not knowing if the next liberty boat will be loaded with explosives. I was also 17.5 when I joined the Navy and while I WAS just a kid, I didn’t for one minute feel like I was doing the job/duty of a kid… OR that my family still thought of me as a boy.
The suicides that I guarantee ARE happening in Iraq, in my humble opinion, are not the fault of the President or his policies. They are a measure of the character and stamina of each individual troop, and though tragic, are indicative of a problem with the individual. I do not believe any blame can be placed on our President(for this), and I argue that the constant finger-poking at our presence and policies in that part of the world are themselves indicative of the finger-pokers lack of commitment to the cause for which our troops fight daily.
Posted by: Yukon Jake at September 25, 2003 01:52 PMYukon, I appreciate and respect your service to the country but I must take aim at your logic. Although a certain number of service people may or may not be prone to suicide no matter where they are stationed, I feel the total lack of support by the Bush administration for our troups in Iraq and Afghanistan IS to blame for low morale and the effects that brings.
With all of the so called military experts in Washington, it’s hard for me to understand how we can deny our people the basics of hot showers, decent food, while giving them no idea of when they are coming home. It’s also important to remember that many are in National Guard units who have the added worries of major loss of income back home. I would think that veterans would be more upset about how things are being run then I am, but maybe you are just used to it.
My opinion is that this administration has shown no long term planning and as a result we lack the money, people, and support of local governments needed for victory. Political soundbites are not going to win this war for Bush. Not here, and certainly not over there.
I am a Gulf War veteran and I am concerned. No one in my unit or even in my building tried to committ suicide when I was in Basic Training. I worked in communications electronics for six years and nobody threw intentionally themselves on a 440 volt circuit. If someone was working on high voltage equipment alone without at least a safety monitor, I would be very concerned. That is a gross violation of Air Force policy. Not to mention, a very good way to end up dead if you make even the slightest error.
I do not blame the President directly for this situation. I can believe moral is low. Everyday we read in the news about another suicide bomber and more deaths. It must be very wearing and upseting to be in the military in this situation. Unlike Vietnam or most of the other wars, if they are running this one like they did the first Gulf War, there is no alchol allowed over there, therefore, we are not hearing about, nor do we ever hear about, alcholism in the military. But believe me, it is there.
Whether this story is true or not, it needs to be investigated by the military. I don’t think it would hurt to send a few more chaplins over there so the men and women would have someone they could talk their problems out with instead of injuring themselves so they can go home or due inattention to detail because they are so distracted by what is going on around them.
Posted by: Lenora at October 17, 2003 01:15 PMStop your whining. You volunteered for this, if you regret your decision, maybe you should’ve put a little more thought into it in when you made it.
Missing out on college? Taking a pay cut while called to active duty? Wake up. How can you complain about living the life you volunteered for when it’s the same life lived NONSTOP by full-time soldiers?
I’m a Desert Shield/Storm vet, as well as Operation Just Cause, all in the mighty 82nd Airborne Division as an airborne infantryman. I have since become a warrant officer and aviator. Since I entered the Army in ‘87, I’ve seen that there will always be whiners in the service. It’s unavoidable because it’s a tough, sh*tty job and it’s hard to get people to volunteer to do it, so you’re going to get all kinds. Not many appreciate it, either in the service, or out. If you find that you don’t fit in, do yourself and all of us a favor- stop whining and remember the guys who’ve gone before us- WWII is a good example. They knew for sure when they were coming home- when the war was over!
Take a little pride, know that you’ll be stronger for it when it’s over. That way when you DO go home, you can do so proudly.
Posted by: CW2 Sherman at October 23, 2003 01:01 PMI think the above comments are harsh; you should replace the term “jews” with “zionists”. Many jews (even Israelis) are good people. But it IS obvious this war is for Sharon. I have pasted a link for some info on this:
http://www.geocities.com/vialls/
Back to topic……everyone seems to think that ex-soldiers are the best authority on these topics. I totally disagree because people who have been through the army are generally brainwashed and have their “spirit” broken, in order to be slaves for the elite. So, they believe what they are doing is “right” or “necessary”. The poor soldiers who suicide are likely to be ones who cannot accept the assimilation. I know this is gonna piss off some crazy US crusaders/expansionists; but they should really just open their eyes. And they ridicule soldiers who seek an education! My country is an ally of the US, but I don’t really care when “our” soldiers (invaders) are killed; I have more sympathy for the defenders. I find it hard to admire any of “our” fighters; they are traitors to human decency.
PeaceShalomSalaam.
A.
I recall our Rural Pacification Program in the northern part of South Vietnam in ‘66, ‘67 and ‘68. Marines distributed food, clothing and medicine in the villages throughout I Corps immediately south of the DMZ. A few days or weeks after they left, the NVA and VC used the same villages for “truck parks.” Before Khe Sanh and the Tet Offensive, truck parks in the middle of villages were generally off limits for aerial bombardment. After Khe Sanh and Tet, we were “street-sweeping” the villages with 20 millimeter (big stuff) and twin mini (gattling) guns in eschelons four Spads wide: that’s 16 20mm’s and eight mini’s pretty much obliterating an area the size of four or five football fields laid side to side. When I was in av ground school at Pensecola in ‘65 was even considering erasing whole villages… because the VC was troublesome but they weren’t whacking U. S. troops in the dozens or scores… . By the time I got into action, they .
I feel like I reliving the escalation in Vietnam as I watch what’s evolving in Iraq. Will we finally begin to respond by hosing down villages or neighborhoods of cities with Warthogs and Apache gunships? And will we continue to expect the Iraquis to work with us just as we did in Indochine? Will someone in DC get a grip… or do we have to watch this turn into another SE Asia? When I heard that the Iraqui Army was “disappearing” while the “official” war was still in progress, I remembered exactly how the VC did the same thing in ‘Nam in the mid- and late ’60s.
I hate to be negative, but I don’t see a culture that’s attepted to turn back every Christian occupation for the past 1250 years suddenly welcoming us. The Turks weren’t always very “nice” about it, but the Islamic Ottoman Empire flourished for centuries and gave the region vastly more stability than it has had in the past century since the OE came unglued in the First World War… and immeasurably more stability than any “infidel” armies (including the British and French) have or will ever be able to provide. Politically difficult as it may be for some, handing the mess over to the Turks looks like an idea that should be given serious consideration and with the generally worse alternatives.
Posted by: Rodger Garrett at November 3, 2003 03:39 AMGod bless all the U.S. military victims of suicide. Depression is a disease that should be thought of no differently than terminal cancer and if soldier’s are unable to get treatment the result is fatal. They should be honored for their courage in serving our country and doing more than most ordinary citizens do including our nation’s leaders. They should be remembered as victims of a disease who may have been saved under different circumstances.
Posted by: G.I. Joe at January 15, 2004 07:33 PMHas anybody stopped to consider that there may be a very logical reason that so many suicides are taking place among our military in the middle east—-one that may not be caused ‘morale problems’?
These men and women are all innoculated against malaria before they go overseas with a drug called Mefloquine (Larium) which is known to be neurotoxic, and has a well documented clinical record for causing neuropsychiatric reactions in a percentage of its recipients.
It is a sad commentary that our brave men and women can be put into a double jeopardy of this sort and have knowledge of only one of the threats involved.
The Pentagon documented 21 suicides in Iraq in 2003. The real number could be higher. That 21 translates into a suicide rate of 13.5 per 100,000. The Army’s overall rate in 2002 was 10.9, and the nation’s overall suicide rate in 2001 was 10.7 per 100,000. Last year’s rate in Iraq didn’t set a record. The Marines’ suicide rate in 1993 was 20.9 per 100,000. That year, U.S. troops saw action in Somalia and Haiti.
Summary: Rate in America (2001) was 10.7 per 100,000.
Rate in Army (2002) was 10.9 per 100,000.
Rate in last military action (Marines, 1993) was 20.9 per 100,000
Rate in Army (combat in Iraq, 2003) was 13.5 per 100,000.
So, NBC, ABC, CBS, and other news media are highly concerned about a 26% increase in suicides now, but never mentioned it when the Marines experienced a 195% increase in 1993. Hmmmm………….. Could this concern now be politically related?!!
