Army:  Suicides higher than combat deaths

Kansas City Star

February 5, 2009

The Army is reporting a stunning rise in suicides for last month, with the number likely to surpass combat deaths.

According to figures obtained by The Associated Press, there were 24 suspected suicides in January, compared with just four in January of 2008.

If all 24 are confirmed, that would be higher than the 16 combat deaths reported in all branches of the armed forces in Iraq and Afghanistan last month.

Officials said Army leaders are alarmed by the monthly figure, and they took the unusual step of briefing congressional leaders on the information this morning.

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George W. Bush, you are personally responsible for the deaths of these soldiers.

You sent them on a mission that lacked honor or principle and now that their nation is repudiating what you, their commander-in-chief, forced them to do, they cannot live with themselves and their memories.

You left Washington January 20 proclaiming that your head was held high.  If that is actually the case, such is a telling commentary on your moral idiocy.