Author
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Topic: "Suicide Epidemic" -- our Armed Forces!
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BiBi DeAngelo Knowflake Posts: 372 From: Los Angeles, CA, USA Registered: Jun 2007
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posted November 26, 2007 10:17 PM
I could barely believe my eyes when I read this article... make up your own mind... I"m just sharing... From: FORUM_FOR_DISCLOSURES Pentagon Cover Up: 15,000 or more US casualties in Iraq War By Mike Whitney 11/17/07 " ICH" -- --
The Pentagon has been concealing the true number of American casualties in the Iraq War. The real number exceeds 15,000 and CBS News can prove it. CBS's Investigative Unit wanted to do a report on the number of suicides in the military and "submitted a Freedom of Information Act request to the Department of Defense". After 4 months they received a document which showed--that between 1995 and 2007--there were 2,200 suicides among "active duty" soldiers. Baloney. The Pentagon was covering up the real magnitude of the "suicide epidemic". Following an exhaustive investigation of veterans' suicide data collected from 45 states; CBS discovered that in 2005 alone "THERE WERE AT LEAST 6,256 AMONG THOSE WHO SERVED IN THE ARMED FORCES. THAT'S 120 EACH AND EVERY WEEK IN JUST ONE YEAR." That is not a typo. Active and retired military personnel, mostly young veterans between the ages of 20 to 24, are returning from combat and killing themselves in record numbers. We can assume that "multiple-tours of duty" in a war-zone have precipitated a mental health crisis of which the public is entirely unaware and which the Pentagon is in total denial. If we add the 6,256 suicide victims from 2005 to the "official" 3,865 reported combat casualties; we get a sum of 10,121. Even a low-ball estimate of similar 2004 and 2006 suicide figures, would mean that the total number of US casualties from the Iraq war now exceed 15,000. That's right; 15,000 dead US servicemen and women in a war that--as yet--has no legal or moral justification. CBS interviewed Dr. Ira Katz, the head of mental health at the Department of Veteran Affairs. Katz attempted to minimize the surge in veteran suicides saying, "There is no epidemic of suicide in the VA, but suicide is a major problem." Maybe Katz right. Maybe there is no epidemic. Maybe it's perfectly normal for young men and women to return from combat, sink into inconsolable depression, and kill themselves at greater rates than they were dying on the battlefield. Maybe it's normal for the Pentagon to abandon them as soon as soon they return from their mission so they can blow their brains out or hang themselves with a garden hose in their basement. Maybe it's normal for politicians to keep funding wholesale slaughter while they brush aside the casualties they have produced by their callousness and lack of courage. Maybe it is normal for the president to persist with the same, bland lies that perpetuate the occupation and continue to kill scores of young soldiers who put themselves in harm's-way for their country. It's not normal; it's is a pandemic---an outbreak of despair which is the natural corollary of living in constant fear; of seeing one's friends being dismembered by roadside bombs or children being blasted to bits at military checkpoints or finding battered bodies dumped on the side of a riverbed like a bag of garbage. The rash of suicides is the logical upshot of Bush's war. Returning soldiers are traumatized by their experience and now they are killing themselves in droves. Maybe we should have thought about that before we invaded. Check it out the video at: CBS News "Suicide Epidemic among Veterans" http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/11/13/cbsnews_investigates/main3496471.shtml IP: Logged |
BiBi DeAngelo Knowflake Posts: 372 From: Los Angeles, CA, USA Registered: Jun 2007
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posted November 27, 2007 02:21 PM
Could we all say extra prayers for our men and women away in the Armed forces for the holidays... I write to about 5 of these soliders.. they all are missing their families... their loved ones.. many of them have been away from home for almost a year or way over a year... Could we please pray for their safety and sanity... during these holiday's... This article above shocked me.. and perhaps if we all on the site could co-create more prayers of safety, peace, and what ever else your guided to pray for.. this article will no longer ring true...
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BiBi DeAngelo Knowflake Posts: 372 From: Los Angeles, CA, USA Registered: Jun 2007
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posted November 27, 2007 02:30 PM
THIS IS AN EXCELLENT IDEA... Please think about it and buy an extra card.When you're making out your Christmas card list this year, please include the following: A Recovering American soldier c/o Walter Reed Army Medical Center 6900 Georgia Avenue,NW Washington, D.C. 20307-5001 If you agree, please pass it on to your e-mail list. These guys need all of the good cheers and will that we can give them. IP: Logged |
Astralmuse Knowflake Posts: 140 From: Registered: Sep 2007
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posted November 27, 2007 05:43 PM
BiBi - You are very kind, but people can't send cards to soldiers at Walter Reed like your message above states. I posted this a while back to warn people about that false email that has been going around lately: http://www.linda-goodman.com/ubb/Forum7/HTML/009233.html I listed a few alternatives for those who wish to spread some holiday cheer, too.IP: Logged | |