I couldn't believe the statistics at first and am still stunned by them but these articles should worry us all -

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/01/AR2007120101782.html?hpid=rightpromo1

Can the USA really be treating it's returned armed servicemen and women so badly? Is this woman being treated fairly?

According to the Times Online and other sources more USA returned servicemen and women have suicided than have died from injuries as a result of the war.

Allegedly veterans affairs in the USA don't keep records of returning soldiers who have suicided.

The CBS organisation found that in 2005 some 6,256 alleged suicides occurred among members who had served USA in the armed forces of their country.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article2873622.ece

or

http://news.yahoo.com/s/oneworld/20071212/wl_oneworld/45361561101197497450

If this is true shouldn't we be asking questions of our Government and our Defense Force Chiefs to see what effects serving in Iraq and Afghanistan may have had and be having on our returned servicemen & women and their families?

Is there any risk of these statistics being repeated amongst Australian troups? These statistics if true are mind boggling!

We all heard horror stories about the way the Vietnam veterans were treated. It took a long time for their contribution to that war to be fully acknowledged. The son of a friend who served in that particular war refuses to discuss it even today.

Yes, we should ask questions about the way our soldiers are treated.
We should ask questions about the suicide rate and why this is happening. However, getting information from any branch of the armed
forces is difficult. And usually happens thanks to an outcry in the media or pressure from politicians, or both.

It's a sad thing that those that dedicate their lives in serving their country, now feel that life is not worth living.

We need to ask the question -"Why?"

relax, guys. oz troops are professional killers, nobody in the sas went in to learn electrical trades. presumably, the sight of raghead blood doesn't bother them, and there have been very few casualties among their comrades.

in usa, even many regulars are there to learn a trade, and most of the reserves likewise. plus, they are doing the city patrols where women and children regularly meet the grinder, and their buddies daily find out yanks are mortal. this is depressing, especialy when it is widely believed they shouldn't be there in the first place. and of course, some will have accepted the argument they are participating in war crimes, even if they personally don't rape, frag, and shoot for sport.

little wonder some get quite down.

The traumatic experiences of the Iraq war are just a contemporary version of phenomena we have known about for a very long time.

The First World War, for example, resulted in many suicides, family breakdown, depression and other psychological conditions. The best known victim probably was Pompey Elliott, who like thousands of others, could find no peace of mind after the War even though he became a successful member of parliament.

Take my Grandfather, who survived. He hated talking about the so-called 'Great War'. He hated it with a frightening vehemence. He would shout uncontrollably and then weep rocking back and forth for hours like a baby. At 25, he was an old man.

Perhaps like many other innocent young men who sailed eagerly across the seas to fight for King and Country, Grandfather discovered a secret about himself, and it was not pleasant? He could kill and do it proficiently. If you want to live in war, the other man must die at your hand. If you are to survive, you must kill as many as you can. If you are to live, then others – even on your own side - must die instead of you.

Soldiers know it’s lottery where every winner owes his life to many losers. He didn't die because the men either side of him copped it instead.

Bodies healed after the War, but the infamy and suffering of war was distilled in soldiers’ souls. In a way my Grandfather died out there on the Western Front and his body came home as his living tomb.

Opinionated2

Look no further for causes to mental illness than the abominable chemical warfare perpetrated on civilians and the armed forces.

Author Chuck Dean claims that already there are over 150,000 suicides in America's Vietnam Vets. The illegal use of Agent Orange has had devastating effects. Children to this day are being born with hideous mutations and deformites from this chemical (dioxin).

http://www.suicidewall.com/SWStats.html

The children of Australia's Vietnam vets have a high rate of suicide.

Dioxin is also known for its effect on male sperm and pregnant women and its efficiency in "feminising" embryos.

And the governments responsible for these crimes against humanity continue with their cover-ups whilst the majority of civilians remain comfortable in their silence.

http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:YJlnt4gSlhgJ:www.aihw.gov.au/mediacentre/2000/mr20000807.cfm+suicides+vietnam+vets+australia&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=5&gl=au&lr=lang_en

The Gulf and Iraq war has seen these countries destroyed by the use of depleted uranium and serious illnesses and deaths occurring in these nations and in the American armed forces and veterans.

http://www.anawa.org.au/weapons/du.html

http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:MugVPycXozkJ:www.sfbayview.com/20061226198/News/Front_Page/From_Hiroshima_to_Iraq_61_years_of_uranium_wars_A_suicidal_genocidal_omnicidal_course.html+depleted+uranium+and+mental+health&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=9&gl=au&lr=lang_en

http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/0515/p01s02-woiq.html

http://dc.indymedia.org/newswire/display/116499/index.php

http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:0TY2uk106S8J:academic.evergreen.edu/g/grossmaz/anderkel.html+depleted+uranium+use+iraq&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=au&lr=lang_en

Both dioxin and depleted uranium affect the neurological activities of the brain. Depleted uranium dust is transboundary and is spread great distances.

My extensive research induces me to ask the question:

"How do we, who have been party to these atrocities, continue to sit back and permit the use of these chemicals in war - horrific chemicals which have and will continue to harm generations to come?"

I worked in a returned services hospital in a non-medical role. The help for these soldiers is there but getting past their own sense of pride and asking for help is part of the problem. The problem with war is that an individual is "trained" to ignore EVERY basic human instinct and go with orders. The mental stress of that is huge. There's also the horror of it all and I guess in some instances there is guilt as well. There are incidents of inept shrinks misdiagnosing individuals and the typical "she'll be right mate" attitude others put on the service men and women. Of course like you guys mentioned there's also chemical poisoning that is only just beginning when it comes to DU contamination and others.

These statistics mentioned are horrific, but sadly not surprising to me.