Thursday, May 30, 2013

U.S. military committing suicide

Pfc. Sandoval, Pat Macpherson, Wisdom Quarterly; Dr. Margaret C. Harrell and Nancy Berglass, "Losing the Battle: The Challenge of Military Suicide," (Policy Briefs, CNAS.org)
Fifty-yard stare. V.A. won't provide a diagnosis. "What's the use?" wonders Pfc. Simpson.




  
Suicide among service members and veterans challenges the health of America’s all "volunteer" force.
While any loss of military personnel weakens the U.S. armed forces, the rapid upswing in suicides among service members and veterans during the wars [o]n Iraq and Afghanistan [and Yemen, Bahrain, Libya, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Somalia, Iran, China, and the homeland] threatens to inflict more lasting harm.
He killed himself to kill us, so I'll go kill myself. Makes sense. Or does it?
 
I didn't join to be raped; I joined to kill (SH)
If military service becomes associated with suicide, will it be possible to recruit bright and promising young men and women at current rates?
 
Will parents and teachers encourage young people to join the military when veterans from their own communities have died [by] suicide? 
 
Can the all-volunteer force be viable if veterans come to be seen as broken individuals? And how might climbing rates of suicide affect how Americans view active-duty service members and veterans -- and indeed, how service members and veterans see themselves?

Feeling stressed? Why not join the police and beat, rape, and punish Americans? (CP)
   
This policy brief has four objectives. First, it examines the phenomenon of suicide within the U.S. military community, including both the frequency of suicide and the extent to which suicide is related to military service.

It outlines steps taken by the Department of Defense (DOD), the armed services and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to reduce suicide in the armed forces and among veterans. It then identifies obstacles to reducing suicides further and makes recommendations to address each of those obstacles.
 
I can't take this... I don't want to kill. Weakling! Shape up; you're not shipping out! (scoop.it)
 
What We Know About Military Suicide
THE NUMBERS ARE STARK
Sometimes big boys cry (slate.com)
From 2005 to 2010, service members took their own lives at a rate of approximately one every 36 hours. While suicides in the Air Force, Navy, and Coast Guard have been relatively stable and lower than those of the ground forces, U.S. Army suicides have climbed steadily since 2004.
 
The Army reported a record-high number of suicides in July 2011 with the deaths of 33 active and reserve component service members reported as suicides. Suicides in the Marine Corps increased steadily from 2006 to 2009, dipping slightly in 2010. It is impossible, given the paucity of current data, to determine the suicide rate among veterans with any accuracy. However, the VA estimates that a veteran dies by suicide every 80 minutes.
Moreover, although only 1 percent of Americans have served in the military, former service members represent 20 percent of suicides in the United States. More

2013: The suicide rate among active military and veterans of war crimes within the ranks of American imperial forces is increasing. Why? War is a lie.

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