US army suicide rates highest on record

From the Melbourne Herald-Sun:

The US army said suicides among active duty troops in 2007 had reached the highest level on record, due partly to the stress caused by deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. The army announced that 115 soldiers, including 22 National Guard and Army Reserve troops, killed themselves last year. That marked a 12.7 percent rise from the 102 suicides recorded in 2006. There were 85 army suicides in 2005. Thirty-two suicides, or more than one-quarter of the actual 2007 total, occurred in Iraq as President George W. Bush poured extra forces into the country in an effort to quell sectarian violence. Another four occurred in Afghanistan.

Army officials said statistics did not show a direct link between repeated deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan and the rise in suicides. But officials acknowledged that stresses caused by wartime army operations were taking their toll on soldiers including in their personal relationships, the breakup of which was cited as a catalyst in 50 percent of cases.

How many lives will be ruined by the Iraq War before it's over?

(via appletree, cross posted at liberal avenger)