January 31, 2008 (LPAC) Despite all of the attention that has been focused on suicides and mental health problems in the U.S. military, the suicide rate continues to climb. The Army reported today that 121 soldiers committed suicide in 2007, a 20-percent increase over 2006. Of these, 89 are confirmed suicides, and 32 more are suspected, and still under investigation. Suicide attempts numbered 2,100 in 2007, compared to about 1,500 in 2006.

The Army report came on the heels of a front-page story in this morning's Washington Post reporting on the attempted suicide, on Jan. 28, of Lt. Elizabeth Whiteside. Whiteside is a psychiatric outpatient at Walter Reed Army Medical Center who was facing a possible court martial for attempted suicide, and endangering another soldier while on duty in Iraq in 2007.

According to Army investigations, Whiteside had a mental breakdown after helping to quell riots in the aftermath of the execution of Saddam Hussein; pointed a gun at a superior officer; fired two shots into the ceiling, and then shot herself, piercing several organs. Her commanding officer subsequently filed charges against her, but the Army had yet to decide whether to court martial her. The Army finally dropped the charges after her suicide attempt on Monday, but a source familiar with her case told EIR that that happened only after Sen. Kit Bond (R-Mo.) intervened directly with the Secretary of the Army.

While the Army has the highest rate of suicide among all the services, the problem isn't confined to the Army. A veterans' advocate in San Diego told EIR yesterday that two Marines--one at Camp Pendleton, and the other at the Twentynine Palms Marine Corps base--have committed suicide in the last two weeks. In the Pendleton case, the Marines have tried to explain it away as an accidental weapons discharge, but as the source explained, the Marines involved were combat trained; had served a tour in Iraq, and knew which end of the gun was the dangerous end.