Though the story says there is no direct evidence that links the suicides to deployment into the Middle East, or exposer to fighting, it is hard to believe deployment to areas in the Middle East hampered with violence wouldn’t cause any long lasting affects on the mental health of the soldiers.
Even if the reason for their deaths were not limited to their deployment over seas, it is hard to imagine the war has not played a part in their untimely demise.
Though I have never gone to war myself, I can only imagine it to be a nightmare you wake up to each and everyday. You’re in an unfamiliar, foreign country, you’re homesick, and people are getting randomly killed each day.
One-third of the suicides were committed while serving in the Middle East of Iraq and Afghanistan. These numbers may look subjective overall but there were also 948 attempted suicides. That’s 948 times soldiers have tried to commit suicide but failed. 948 times these soldiers may have taken one look around and said, “There is no way I’m staying here another day.”
There have been so many press conferences where I have seen the President and his many advisors rally that the War on Terror is meant to secure our freedom, so we may be safe from of those who wish to do us harm. But what about the soldiers risking their necks everyday? What sort of safety and security are they receiving? If 948 of them have attempted to commit suicide because of their experience overseas and 99 have succeeded, shouldn’t there be a committee that insecure the physical and mental health of these brave individuals – or if anything getting these people back home so they can get proper treatment.
There are red flags all over this story. If people are killing themselves because of their present living conditions, this is a sign to start bringing the troops home on a more rapid scale. No more dragging feet through the mud. Just do it. We owe them that much. -- Eming Piansay
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