[antimedia] antimedia: Here we go again....

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Posted by antimedia:
Here we go again....
http://www.antimedia.us/posts/1201838743.shtml


   ....with more [1]despicable attacks against our military men and
   women. This time it's from the AP, but the theme is always the same.
   It's (supposedly) not possible to fight in a war and not be
   psychologically damaged.

     As many as 121 Army soldiers committed suicide in 2007, a jump of
     some 20 percent over the year before, officials said Thursday.
     The rise comes despite numerous efforts to improve the mental
     health of a force stressed by a longer-than-expected war in Iraq
     and the most deadly year yet in the now six-year-old conflict in
     Afghanistan.
     Internal briefing papers prepared by the Army's psychiatry
     consultant early this month show there were 89 confirmed suicides
     last year and 32 deaths that are suspected suicides and still under
     investigation.
     More than a quarter of those â about 34 â happened during
     deployments in Iraq, an increase from 27 in Iraq the previous year,
     according to the preliminary figures.
     The report also shows an increase in the number of attempted
     suicides and self-injuries â some 2,100 in 2007 compared to less
     than 1,500 the previous year and less than 500 in 2002.
     The total of 121 suicides last year, if all are confirmed, would be
     more than double the 52 reported in 2001, before the Sept. 11
     attacks prompted the Bush administration to launch its
     counter-terror war. The toll was 87 by 2005 and 102 in 2006.
     Officials said the rate of suicides per 100,000 active duty
     soldiers has not yet been calculated for 2007. But in a half
     million-person active duty Army, the 2006 toll of 102 translated to
     a rate of 17.5 per 100,000, the highest since the Army started
     counting in 1980, officials said. The rate has fluctuated over
     those years, with the low being 9.1 per 100,000 in 2001.
     That toll and rate for 2006 is a revision from figures released in
     August because a number of pending cases have since been concluded.
     Officials earlier had reported 99 soldiers killed themselves in
     2006 and two cases were pending â as opposed to the 102 now
     confirmed. It's common for investigations to take some time and for
     officials to study results at length before releasing them
     publicly.

   Now, it goes without saying that some who serve will struggle
   emotionally and mentally with the horrors of war and the stresses of
   long deployments. Some will even take their own lives as a result.
   However, the obvious reason we're reading this story now is because
   there's very little bad news coming out of Iraq these days, so liberal
   media jerks have to look elsewhere for bad news about our military.
   Of course it wouldn't do to provide their readers with [2]some context
   to the numbers, because it would destroy the point they're trying to
   make.

     During 1990-1994, suicide accounted for 23% of all deaths among
     active duty U.S. Air Force (USAF) personnel and was the second
     leading cause of death (after unintentional injuries) (Table 1).
     During those years, the annual suicide rate among active duty USAF
     personnel increased significantly (p less than 0.01) from 10.0 to
     16.4 suicides per 100,000 members (Figure 1).

   Oh my. That changes things, doesn't it? The peacetime suicide rate
   was, at one point, only slightly lower than the supposed terrible toll
   of this war prompted the present alarming increase.
   Maybe a little [3]more context (pdf) would help?

     More than 32,000 suicides occurred in the U.S. This is the
     equivalent of 89 suicides per day; one suicide every 16 minutes or
     11.05 suicides per 100,000 population (CDC 2005).

   So, the present military suicide rate is higher than the general
   population rate but not significantly higher than it has been during
   the period leading up to and following the Gulf War. And, just as it
   did during that period, the present rate has galvanized the Pentagon
   to work at resolving the issue.
   But [4]there's more. The rate for men (in the general population) is
   15.2 per 100,000 and for [5]men of military age it's (20-24) 20.22,
   (25-29) 19.29, (30-34) 20.61, (35-39) 21.40, etc. Compared to their
   age peers, military personnel are significantly less likely to commit
   suicide.
   In the Gulf War, [6]studies have shown "There was no observed excess
   of suicides". In fact, the military population, in general, enjoys
   lower mortality rates, in every category, than the general population.
   The AP won't be telling you any of this, however. It doesn't fit their
   story line.
   Tags: [7]AP [8]despicable [9]suicide [10]lies [11]context [12]military

References

   1. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,327048,00.html
   2. http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm4846a1.htm
   3. http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/dvp/suicide/SuicideDataSheet.pdf
   4. http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5526a1.htm
   5. http://webappa.cdc.gov/cgi-bin/broker.exe
   6. http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/335/20/1498
   7. http://technorati.com/tag/AP
   8. http://technorati.com/tag/despicable
   9. http://technorati.com/tag/suicide
  10. http://technorati.com/tag/lies
  11. http://technorati.com/tag/context
  12. http://technorati.com/tag/military