America Putting Troops in Harms Way...AGAIN!

Recent information obtained partly through Freedom of Information Act requests reveals that the U.S. Military is putting our troops in harms way again. This is not the first time the U.S. has done this during this war in Iraq. First was sending the troops into combat without necessary body armor and other safety measures.

It turns out that facing severe troop shortage, the military is sending soldiers to Iraq that are either mentally unstable or have severe psychological problems to serve in combat. Many of these soldiers are the same ones that are committing suicide there. These deaths are commonly reported as non-combat deaths by the military. This is nothing short of criminal negligence resulting in death. Since 1997 the military has been required to asses the mental health of all troops being deployed. Records indicate that to date less than 1 in about 300 troops have been assessed before being sent into combat. This is clearly a vast problem and not the failure of a select few individuals.

Other troops in Iraq are also being put in danger by having these soldiers working with them on life threatening missions every day. It will be interesting to see if the fact that this has been released to the American public, will result in any meaningful consequences for the individuals that are ultimately responsible for many many deaths.