At least 128 American soldiers committed suicide last year, bringing the rate up to the highest level in nearly three decades. About a third killed themselves during deployment, a third after, and a third not having been deployed. The rate of military suicides is higher than civilian for the first time since Vietnam.
The endless wars abroad in Afghanistan and Iraq and the advent of 15-month deployments would seem to be the best explanation. Many servicemen and women face major life problems after coming back.
Some proponents of staying the course suggest that dissenting civilians here at home will lose the war, just as they allegedly lost Vietnam. Yet we are at peace now with Vietnam. Yes, horrors were unleashed when the U.S. withdrew, but much of that was exacerbated in its ferocity by U.S. intervention in the first place (such as with U.S. bombing in Cambodia warming the people up to the Khmer Rouge).
These interventions in Afghanistan and Iraq have lasted longer than World War II, at a tremendous cost with no end in sight. Some close to Obama suggest the new administration might see the Afghanistan engagement lasting as long as Vietnam. The objective is very unclear.
Some conservatives seem to see the futility in trying to nation build in Afghanistan, now that Obama wants to do it. Some liberals saw the futility in the Iraq war. But nothing can be gained by continuing the occupations of either one.
Many in the military want to come home. For three years, troops in Iraq have overwhelmingly supported withdrawing within a year. By a wide margin, Ron Paul, the one candidate clearly advocating as rapid a withdrawal as manageable, was the favorite Republican of the men and women of the Armed Forces, in terms of campaign donations. Obama, percieved as favoring a drawdown, also fared well in this regard.
Difficulty meeting recruitment goals have led to dubious practices, the use of stop-loss orders, the signing up of convicts and illegal aliens and worse. Morale is down and has been for years. Some politicos are even agitating for conscription, but the bipartisan consensus in any event is we need a bigger military.
The military does not need more troops. It has enough and too many are fighting and dying where they shouldn't be.
Americans and foreigners continue to die in these wars. The foreign dead and American wounded are hardly counted. Young Americans suffer unspeakable physical and psychological injuries. And it continues every day, so far with little indication from Obama that he will effect a real break from the pattern.
We must not let this issue fall off our radar. Some will quiet down now that there is a Democratic president, but America needs peace as it needs liberty more than ever
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