Newsgroup: it.politica.internazionale
Titolo: Army suicides up as much as 20 percent

Army suicides up as much as 20 percent
As Many As 121 Army Soldiers Committed Suicide in 2007, a Jump of Some 20
Percent Over 2006
PAULINE JELINEK
AP News
Jan 31, 2008 09:26 EST
As many as 121 Army soldiers committed suicide in 2007, a jump of some 20
percent over the year before, officials said Thursday.
The rise comes despite numerous efforts to improve the mental health of a
force stressed by a longer-than-expected war in Iraq and the most deadly
year yet in the now six-year-old conflict in Afghanistan.
Internal briefing papers prepared by the Army's psychiatry consultant
early this month show there were 89 confirmed suicides last year and 32
deaths that are suspected suicides and still under investigation.
More than a quarter of those — about 34 — happened during deployments in
Iraq, an increase from 27 in Iraq the previous year, according to the
preliminary figures.
The report also shows an increase in the number of attempted suicides and
self-injuries — some 2,100 in 2007 compared to less than 1,500 the
previous year and less than 500 in 2002.
The total of 121 suicides last year, if all are confirmed, would be more
than double the 52 reported in 2001, before the Sept. 11 attacks prompted
the Bush administration to launch its counter-terror war. The toll was 87
by 2005 and 102 in 2006.
Officials said the rate of suicides per 100,000 active duty soldiers has
not yet been calculated for 2007. But in a half million-person active duty
Army, 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. The rate
has fluctuated over those years, with the low being 9.1 per 100,000 in
2001.
That toll and rate for 2006 is a revision from figures released in August
because a number of pending cases have since been concluded. Officials
earlier had reported 99 soldiers killed themselves in 2006 and two cases
were pending — as opposed to the 102 now confirmed. It's common for
investigations to take some time and for officials to study results at
length before releasing them publicly.
Col. Elspeth Ritchie, the psychiatry consultant to the Army surgeon
general, has said that officials found failed personal relationships,
legal and financial problems and the stress of their jobs have been main
factors in soldiers' suicides. Officials also have found that the number
of days troops are deployed in Iraq, Afghanistan or nearby countries
contributes to that stress.
With the Army stretched thin by years of fighting the two wars, the
Pentagon last year extended normal tours of duty to 15 months from 12 and
has sent some troops back to the wars several times. The Army has been
hoping to reduce tour lengths this summer. But the prospect could depend
heavily on what Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq,
recommends when he gives his assessment of security in Iraq and troop
needs to Congress in April.
A succession of studies on mental health in the military have found a
system that might have been adequate for peacetime has been overwhelmed by
troops coming home from war. Some troop surveys in Iraq have shown that 20
percent of Army soldiers have signs and symptoms of post-traumatic stress,
which can cause flashbacks of traumatic combat experiences and other
severe reactions. About 35 percent of soldiers are seeking some kind of
mental health treatment a year after returning home under a program that
screens returning troops for physical and mental health problems,
officials have said.
Officials have worked to set up a number of new programs and strengthen
old ones for providing mental health care to the force. The Army also has
been working to stem the stigma associated with getting therapy for mental
problems, after officials found that troops are avoiding counseling out of
fear it could harm their careers.
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 suicidi all'anno nell'esercito sovietico.
fonte?
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

 suicidi all'anno nell'esercito sovietico.
La guerra in Cecenia è cominciata dopo la fine dell'URSS, ergo di che
esercito sovietico vai cianciando?

 trecento anni.
3000...gli ebrei dovevano ancora arrivare nella terra promessa e già i
russi massacravano ceceni. Sembra incredibile che dopo 3000 anni di
massacri ne esistano ancora...