war is hell, war is suicide.

[mccutcheon]

WASHINGTON - U.S. soldiers in Iraq (news - web sites) are killing themselves at a high rate despite the work of special teams sent to help troops deal with combat stress, the Pentagon (news - web sites)'s top doctor said Wednesday.

Meanwhile, about 2,500 soldiers who have returned from the war on terrorism are having to wait for medical care at bases in the United States, said Dr. William Winkenwerder, (why do all the guys have weirdo names? I guess I have to ask Shwarsletsgotowar.) assistant secretary of defense for health affairs. The problem of troops on "medical extension" is likely to get worse as the Pentagon rotates hundreds of thousands of troops into and out of Iraq this spring, he said.

Both situations illustrate the stresses placed on the troops and the military's health system by the war in Iraq.

Suicide has become such a pressing issue that the Army sent an assessment team to Iraq late last year to see if anything more could be done to prevent troops from killing themselves. The Army also began offering more counseling to returning troops after several soldiers at Fort Bragg, N.C., killed their wives and themselves after returning home from the war.

But the war is over. Bush declared it. 'Bring them on' he said, safely sitting behind a desk.

And those with emotional slash/psycho problems are not weak. And also the weak become heroes. Donnie Darko and hobbits.

[bfj]

Ah yes, on those soldiers killing their wives... what happened was that those soldiers were given those "go" pills. Which really is like some super tripped out crystal meth. And anyone whose ever dealt with spun-out meth head knows they are quite an unstable group. So these soldier would wake up in the middle of the night. Tripping hard from coming off these "go" pills, hallucinate and kill their wives.
Time and time again U.S. soldiers are given experimental drugs. refusal to take these drugs can lead to dishonorable discharge. A lot of the kosovo pilots got really sick or died from unapproved (by the FDA) antrax vaccines. You sign away alot when you join the military.