PressTV
11, the U.S. military lost 165 soldiers to suicide, a record that narrowly beat the 2009 level of 160. This year things have gotten much, much worse, and up to the end of November the suicide deaths are up to 303.
Putting this in
perspective, that’s actually quite a bit more than the number of U.S. troops
slain in combat so far in 2012. That figure is 212, though the overall U.S.
death toll in Afghanistan is 307, including non-combat
deaths.
The military has
been desperate to get a handle on the rising suicide rate, making several very
public efforts, none of which seems to have accomplished much of
anything.
The latest on
that is a number of Congressmen pushing for a new law allowing the military to
ask “unstable” troops whether they own any personal guns, though as with most of
the legislative “solutions” to this problem it seems focused more on adding to
the stigma of being considered “at risk” than actually encouraging people to
seek help. Antiwar
FACTS & FIGURES
The U.S.
military has been struggling to deal with the suicide crisis since numbers began
rising in 2004. This year, the average is nearly one soldier suicide a day.
NPR
Military and
medical leaders have been searching for answers to what Defense Secretary Leon
Panetta describes as an "epidemic" of suicides ever since the numbers began
increasing among soldiers and Marines. USA Today
As many as 12
active-duty soldiers committed suicide in November, pushing the Army above last
year’s record number of suicides, military officials said in December. Army
Times
The Army has now
had 177 suspected suicides among active-duty soldiers this year. Last year’s
total of confirmed suicides was 165. Army Times
Earlier this
year, a high-ranking army official wrote, “Suicide is the toughest enemy I have
faced in my 37 years in the Army.” Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta has
described suicide in the army as “one of the most frustrating problems.” Think
Progress
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