Iraq Coalition Casualty Statistics/Soldier Suicides

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The following is a chronological listing of articles regarding Iraq Coalition Casualty Statistics/Soldier Suicides.

Also see:

One "clue" to both the reported and unreported U.S. soldier suicides during this, the second Gulf War, comes from the October 3, 2003 UPI news

"Nearly 4,000 U.S. troops have been medically evacuated from Operation Iraqi Freedom for non-combat reasons -- with more than one in five of those for psychiatric or neurological problems, according to Pentagon data.
"A total of 3,915 evacuations from the region have been for non-combat medical problems. A combination of what the Pentagon is calling evacuations for 'psychiatric' and 'neurological' problems make up 22 percent of the total, with 478 and 387 evacuations, respectively."

If we have approximately 800 identified soldiers who have been medically evacuated from Iraq with psychiatric/neurological problems, this raises a number of questions, many of which should be obvious.

  • US Occupation of Iraq: Depression, Suicide & Chaos by ConspiracyPlanet.
  • 3 June 2003: "Ex-Army Boss: Pentagon Won't Admit Reality in Iraq" by Dave Moniz, USA Today: Former Army secretary Thomas White "said Monday it is time for the Pentagon to admit that the military is in for a long occupation of Iraq that will require a major commitment of American troops. ... [and] that senior Defense officials 'are unwilling to come to grips' with the scale of the postwar U.S. obligation in Iraq. The Pentagon has about 150,000 troops in Iraq and recently announced that the Army's 3rd Infantry Division's stay there has been extended indefinitely."
  • 20 June 2003: "U.S. Troops Frustrated With Role In Iraq. Soldiers Say They Are Ill-Equipped For Peacekeeping" by Daniel Williams and Rajiv Chandrasekaran, Washington Post.
  • 28 June 2003: "Once Hailed, Soldiers in Iraq Now Feel Blame at Each Step" by Edmund L. Andrews, New York Times.
  • 7 July 2003: "Troop Morale in Iraq Hits 'Rock Bottom'. Soldiers stress is a key concern as the Army ponders whether to send more forces" by Ann Scott Tyson, Christian Science Monitor.
  • 12 July 2003: "Attacks kill 2 U.S. soldiers in Iraq" by Jamie Tarabay, AP.
  • 19 July 2003: "Extension of Stay in Iraq Takes Toll on Morale of G.I.'s" by Robert F. Worth, New York Times: "Earlier this week ... soldiers in the Army's Third Infantry Division learned that their tour of duty in Iraq had been extended indefinitely. ... For the division, which engaged in some of the war's heaviest fighting when its tanks rolled into Baghdad in April, the news was almost too bitter to believe. Originally scheduled to be home by early June, they have been in the Persian Gulf region continuously since November and have had their return deferred three times."
  • 16 July 2003: "U.S. Soldiers Complain of Low Morale in Iraq" by Sue Pleming, Reuters.
  • 20 July 2003: "Military Investigates 7 Suspected Suicides. Soldiers Deployed for War in Iraq" by Vernon Loeb, Washington Post.
  • 4 September 2003: "Toll on Body and Soul. U.S. Soldiers in Iraq Battle Combat Stress as Well as Guerrillas" by Jim Sciutto, ABCNews.
  • 15 September 2003: "A Discussion on US Military Suicides In Iraq", Pacifica's Peacewatch.
  • 23 September 2003: "Sgt. Leanne Duffy: With no plan apparent, GIs in Iraq slowly becoming frantic" by Sgt. Leanne Duffy, Madison CapitalTimes.
  • 24 September 2003: "Military Suicide in Iraq", ThirdPartyWatch.
  • 12 October 2003: "Soldier's suicide shocks Pa. town" by Gregg Zoroya, USAToday.
  • 13 October 2003: "Army probes soldier suicides" by Gregg Zoroya, USAToday.
  • 16 October 2003: "Army Concerned About Suicides of U.S. Troops in Iraq" by Will Dunham, Reuters.
  • 16 October 2003: "Suicide Rates in Iraq" (Summarized from USAToday).
  • 21 October 2003: "Soldier Blues", MotherJones.
  • 21 October 2003: "U.S. Soldiers Miss Their Flights Back To Iraq", IslamOnline.net.
  • 23 October 2003: "Frequent cases of suicide seen in US troops in Iraq", peopledaily (China).
  • 23 October 2003: "Homesickness Leads US Troops In Iraq To Suicide" by Fiona O'Brien, Reuters; copy #2 here; and copy #3 here (links to this article appear to be disappearing).
  • 24 October 2003: "'Non-Hostile' Fire. The rate of U.S. military suicides is rising in Iraq. The Army needs to tell us more about the numbers and the causes" by T. Trent Gegax, NEWSWEEK.
  • 30 December 2003: "Army's Suicide Rate has Outside Experts Alarmed. Most died serving in Iraq after major combat phase" by Michael Martinez, Baltimore Sun: "The Army is concerned about the deaths. Outside experts have said the rate is alarmingly high compared with the military's average suicide rates. A report by a 12-member team of military and civilian mental health professionals dispatched to Iraq in October to evaluate mental health of soldiers is expected to be released after the holidays, officials said."
  • 14 January 2004: "Pentagon: Suicides of U.S. Troops Rising in Iraq" by Charles Aldinger, Reuters: "At least 21 U.S. troops have committed suicide in Iraq, a growing toll that represents one of every seven American 'non-hostile' deaths since the war began last March, the Pentagon said on Wednesday."
  • 25 January 2004: "Stress epidemic strikes American forces in Iraq" by Peter Beaumont, Guardian/UK: "Up to one in five of the American military personnel in Iraq will suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, say senior forces' medical staff dealing with the psychiatric fallout of the war. ... This revelation follows the disclosure last month that more than 600 US servicemen and women have been evacuated from the country for psychiatric reasons since the conflict started last March. ... At least 22 US soldiers have killed themselves - a rate considered abnormally high - mostly since President George Bush declared an end to major combat on 1 May last year, These suicides have led to a high-level Department of Defence investigation, details of which will be disclosed in the next few weeks."
  • 29 January 2004: "High Suicide Rate For Iraq War GIs," CBS News.com: "As CBS News Correspondent Bob McNamara reports, since the war in Iraq began, 519 American soldiers have died in the line of duty. But there are questions about how many soldiers were suicides. ... The Army has not released the findings of a mental-health team that went to Iraq last fall. And some charge the Pentagon is not telling the whole story. ... The Pentagon counts at least 22 GI suicides in the Iraq conflict -- 19 of those Army troops -- most after major combat was declared over last May."
  • 19 February 2004: "Suicides in Iraq, Questions at Home. Pentagon Tight-Lipped as Self-Inflicted Deaths Mount in Military" by Theola Labbé, Washington Post: "The Pentagon does not publicly identify a soldier's death as a suicide but may classify it as a 'non-hostile gunshot wound,' or death from 'non-hostile injuries,' which can also include accidents such as negligent discharge of a weapon. In comparison, the Pentagon will release a description of the cause of death -- enemy fire, a land mine, a car crash -- for a soldier killed in action or as a result of an accident."

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