16 US troops commit suicide in Iraq

Well, I had been avoiding this thread.

If we agree that there is a definite palpable antagonism between the US (and her interests) and Iran, then, by definition, this is propaganda... even if it were true.

The Iranian people who have read this report surely are meant to infer that American's have a conscience, see their complicity in the ostensible "Evil American imperialist Agenda" and ended it all, en masse.

Most people would agree that suicides that take the form of group undertakings are distinctly different in nature from the mindset implied by the reporter.

But remember, effective propaganda is usually pegged by a underlying truth. What are the statistics of suicides taking place 'in theater?" Perhaps this story is an exaggeration of a true story. Who knows? Since our government routinely shields us from embarrassing truths, it empowers the 'propaganda.'

Time will tell. Propaganda is an art. Some are very good at it. Some aren't. I would categorize this as a bit ham-handed, and generally intended for the local audience, who is unlikely to see contradictory reports in the media that is available to them.

reply to post by MarkAkaSilent


I must say as a military wife myself with a 8 month old son, im feeling very worried about my husbands future deployment.

what is affecting these men so badly that the strength and will to go on in life just evaporates from their soul??

i will admit i am new to this site and still very confused as to what i personally belive in, but i have enjoyed reading all the threads.

tori

Maybe its not true but i think there maybe some truth in there somewhere. If you think about it why would the Iranian source not check on the existance of this "a division of the 57th airbourne" it seems odd that they would use false info on an actual news feed.

Whether the Iranian articles are accurate or not, there is a high suicide rate among active duty military personnel serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. There is also an extremely high rate of PTSD among active military personnel and Veterans. Suicides have also increased dramatically among Veterans of the conflicts, but the Bush Regime cares little about them.

Is the Denver Post an Iranian propaganda tool?

Barrett had been cleared for a third combat tour in Iraq despite a recent suicide attempt, crushing headaches and a mental illness treated with medication for anxiety and depression. Two months after he arrived, he killed himself by swallowing an unknown number of pills.

He was the sixth soldier from Fort Carson to commit suicide in Iraq. At least 10 others have killed themselves in the U.S., nine after returning from the war.
www.denverpost.com...

Medscape Medical News - New York, New York

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
Evan Kanter, MD, PhD, staff psychiatrist in the PTSD Outpatient Clinic of the VA Puget Sound Health Care System, said that estimates are for a minimum of 300,000 psychiatric casualties from service in Iraq, to this point, with an estimated lifetime cost of treatment of $660 billion. That is more than the actual cost of the war to date ($500 billion).

"A study of the first 100,000 [Iraq and Afghanistan] veterans seen at VA facilities showed that 25% of them received mental health diagnoses. Of these, 56% had 2 or more mental health diagnoses. The most common were PTSD, substance abuse, and depression," Dr. Kanter said. "The younger the veterans are, the more likely they are to have mental health conditions."

Evaluation immediately on return from deployment suggested that 5% of active duty and 6% of reserve personnel had a significant mental health problem. When reassessed 3 to 6 months later, 27% of active duty and 42% of reserve personnel received that evaluation.

Dr. Kanter said there are 2 reasons for that difference. "At the time of return, people want to get home and get to their families. They perceive that if they answer yes to the question, it is going to take time [and delay their return home]. So, there is tremendous underreporting. The other is that PTSD and other mental health conditions have an insidious and delayed onset."
www.medscape.com...

SFGate - Home of the San Francisco Chronicle

Department of Veterans Affairs Analysis
According to the VA's research, 144 veterans committed suicide from the start of the war in Afghanistan on Oct. 7, 2001, through the end of 2005. Of those, 35 veterans, or 24 percent, served in the Reserves and 41, or 29 percent, served in the National Guard. Sixty-eight - or 47 percent - had been in the regular military. Statistics from 2006 and 2007 were not yet available, the VA said.

Last year, the Army said its suicide rate in 2006 rose to 17.3 per 100,000 troops, the highest level in 26 years of record keeping. The Army said recently that as many as 121 soldiers committed suicide last year (2007). If all are confirmed, the number would be more than double the number reported in 2001.
www.sfgate.com.../c/a/2008/02/13/MNPSV110J.DTL

[edit on 9/9/08 by SPreston]

reply to post by SPreston


What we are doing to our troops is unreal. How can the neo-cons keep supporting this war when our troops are forced into doing such horrific things that they cannot live with themselves anymore?

Don't say war is hell...or this is the way it is in combat. No one attacked us in this Iraq war so we should never have been there in the first place.

I cannot forgive you people, I hope your God can.

God does not bless just America but the entire world....NO exceptions.

Except one. The aggressors, God does not bless them and we are the aggressors in the Iraq war.

There is no way that 16 soldiers will just kill themselves. There is alot more to it than that.

Testing or poison.

reply to post by Mach Shadows

The story is false bro, we proved it so last night no 16 people did not kill them selfs. I know for a fact that story is false. please refer to the past posts of my self and outhers. there is no 57th airborne in iraq there is no such unit as a matter of factthe 57th air DIV

the 57th has not been active since 1991.
and it is a airforce unit or rather was.

this story = false I would ask the mods to move it to the skunk works because well is not news at all is it.

reply to post by SPC_D


Cheers fella, i only read this first couple of posts then came back to it.

Cheers for the update.

reply to post by MarkAkaSilent


That doesn't make any sense," the 57th unit of the Airborne division", that's not used in the military... it would sound like this... "1st Battalion 3rd Brigade 57th Infantry Regiment 82nd Airborne Division", that's the proper way to address a "unit" in the U.S. Army. Educate yourself about the military next time you decide to post an article about the military.

You can't handle the truth...

Ok, I don't post much, just lurk, but I need to clarify some info.
This might be propaganda, but with the way our news is being censored and how bad this would be to show on the news here in the states, I can see this being hushed across the board.
There is a ( AA ) unit attached to the 82nd airborne and its the 57th Air Ambulance for all those who are debunking what was stated in the report.
Media makes mistakes all the time, and a foreign media agency can make even worse mistakes.

So there IS technically a unit in the AIRBORNE that has the designation 57th, their just not Airborne Troops, their the medics that pull'em out of hell when the time comes....

Peace

Originally posted by inthefront
Ok, I don't post much, just lurk, but I need to clarify some info.
This might be propaganda, but with the way our news is being censored and how bad this would be to show on the news here in the states, I can see this being hushed across the board.
There is a ( AA ) unit attached to the 82nd airborne and its the 57th Air Ambulance for all those who are debunking what was stated in the report.
Media makes mistakes all the time, and a foreign media agency can make even worse mistakes.

So there IS technically a unit in the AIRBORNE that has the designation 57th, their just not Airborne Troops, their the medics that pull'em out of hell when the time comes....

Peace

just so you know that the 57th air Ambulance has had no suicides becuase they don't exist any more
57th med co air dissbands
57th decativation

In January 2007, the 57th Medical Company was officially inactivated. The keynote speaker was Charles Kelly Jr., son of Major Charles Kelly wiki about the Company

Next time please do research in to the unit before you state that there is such a unit.


[edit on 9-9-2008 by SPC_D]

reply to post by dragonridr

And ill even go one better its usually over some girl wife cheating girlfriend cheating etc. Its hard for people in the military to maintain relationships

Amen to that brother......and then add on to your wife cheating...and have your son or your daughter in the mix with some stranger and you have event.

Fudge your smile up real quick. Then one of your buddies gets popped and all you can think about is shooting somebody to revenge your buddy, and at night you can't quit thinking about "wtf is going on back home"...and soon you are bonified, boque, section 8.

edit looks like the headline is Iranian prop. lol


[edit on 9-9-2008 by whiteraven]

"Demoralize the enemy from within by surprise, terror, sabotage, assassination. This is the war of the future." -Adolf Hitler-

Do you not see the irony of your signature? Is this not exactly what our Government is doing to us? That makes us the Governments enemy...so ask yourself who is the Government if we are there enemy?

reply to post by LoneGunMan


Of course I get it and we should stay on topic not point out my sig which I know to be ironic, it’s like they guy off full metal jacket with the borne to kill and the peace sign button. Now back to the topic at hand.

Yes, this could be propaganda and it possibly could not be.

Looking at the stats pertaining to Iraq Veteran suicides as well as an increase of suicides by those deployed in combat rules out the implausibility of this information. Suicides amongst the troops as well as veterans are on the rise.

The MSM....from what I recall from the onset of the war, were instructed to not display the flag draped caskets returning stateside ?

How soon we forget the incident with the former NFL star, Pat Tillman and how long that incident was covered up until his family, dissatisfied with the crap they were being fed by the Army of how he galliant was killed in battle finally uncovered the truth that he was instead killed as a direct result of a error made by his CO splitting the platoon which lead to Tillman being mistaken as enemy and subsequently killed by his own.

So all in all , I seriously doubt we'd hear much about this mass suicide if it did occur, especially through the media. Theres a remote chance that due to the nature and significance that a comment from troops might better confirm or disprove this event as having occured or not of which we've heard neither.

reply to post by nh_ee

If you will look at my SN it says SPC for a reason that is my rank and I can tell you that no mass suicide happened. If it did I would be the first to admit it and try to find out why. But this news if you can still call it that is false and there fore irrelevant.

Now what is relevant so the fact that I CAN'T get any Newport’s here in GITMO!!! Wtf NEX where is the justice for the lonely soldier where is my news story? Sad but any way have a great day!

reply to post by ppskylight

You haven't heard any of this on mainstream news channels because its blatant anti-American propaganda coming out of an Iranian government run news agency. This is about as legitimate of a news source as that Weekly World News magazine with batboy. Don't post enemy propaganda here, you'll make a lot of enemies here quickly that way.

Incredulous. And this kind of story demonstrates the unbelievable credulity of all too many. I’m not even sure I can attribute this to the Iranians. I do not think they would really think anyone in America would believe this story.

WTF,

My godeness,
who knows whot realy happend i must say i realy f**king hate war i dont understand why people fight for a goverment that lies to us and pritty much does everything else u can think of (whot s**ts )

but i do commend the poor troops who fight for our goverment they realy have no idea until they get thier then it hits home in thier minds they must be trapped bless them all they are only trying to help,

wish we would all know the truth, then mybe we would all stand together to make this stuff stop

Originally posted by annalisse1981
WTF,

My godeness,
who knows whot realy happend i must say i realy f**king hate war i dont understand why people fight for a goverment that lies to us and pritty much does everything else u can think of (whot s**ts )

but i do commend the poor troops who fight for our goverment they realy have no idea until they get thier then it hits home in thier minds they must be trapped bless them all they are only trying to help,

wish we would all know the truth, then mybe we would all stand together to make this stuff stop

I will tell you why I do it... you ready? The money I do it because I get paid and I get free housing and medical and free college and what not. I don't do this for your freedoms or because I think its right or wrong I fight because I get paid to. I know im a sad sob or what ever but that is my reason but now back to the topic at hand it would seam that this is sprouting up ells ware on ats I do not understand why it is still around it was proven false. So why has a MOD not moved it? Or closed it? That is my question now.