THE GOP DOESN'T CARE ABOUT THE TROOPS

The GOP is content to send and re-send troops to Iraq and doesn't care about the consequences. All that matters is WAR.

Army Suicides, Attempts Rise Again
By PAULINE JELINEK – 1 day ago

WASHINGTON (AP) — Multiple new efforts aimed at stemming suicides in the Army are falling short of their goal: The service anticipates another jump in the annual number of soldiers who killed themselves or tried to, including in the Iraq and Afghanistan war zones.

As many as 121 soldiers committed suicide in 2007, an increase of some 20 percent over 2006, according to preliminary figures released Thursday.

The number who tried to commit suicide or injured themselves for some other reason jumped six-fold in the last several years — from 350 in 2002 to about 2,100 incidents last year.

The 2006 toll of 102 translated to a rate of 17.5 per 100,000, the highest since the Army started counting in 1980, officials said. Officials said the rate of suicides per 100,000 active duty soldiers has not yet been calculated for 2007.

"We have been perturbed by the rise despite all of our efforts," said Col. Elspeth Ritchie, psychiatry consultant to the Army surgeon general. ... Ritchie said Thursday, as she did last year, that officials are finding that failed personal relationships are the main motive for the suicides, followed by legal and financial problems as well as job-related difficulties.

Long and repeated tours of duty away from home contribute significantly in that they weigh heavily on family relations and compound the other problems, officials said.

"People don't tend to suicide as a direct result of combat," Ritchie said. "But the frequent deployments strain relationships. And strained relations and divorce are definitely related to increased suicide."