Morale drops among US troops in Afghanistan: army

[UpInArms]

Source: AFP via Yahoo!

WASHINGTON (AFP) – A survey of US soldiers in Afghanistan shows declining morale among army units and that troops facing three or more combat tours have higher rates of mental health and marital problems, the US Army said Friday.

A similar assessment of soldiers in Iraq this year showed a lower number of psychological problems compared to previous years, as violence levels there fall, the army said.

The findings came as President Barack Obama weighs whether to send additional forces to Afghanistan and amid a renewed focus on the mental fitness of troops after a deadly shooting rampage last week by an army psychiatrist at Fort Hood in Texas.

Only 5.7 percent of soldiers surveyed in Afghanistan rated morale for their units as high or very high, compared to 10.2 percent in 2007, according to the assessment.

But soldiers were more positive about their personal morale, with 17.6 percent saying their own morale was high or very high compared to 15.4 percent two years ago.

Soldiers in Afghanistan who had gone through three or more deployments were "significantly more likely to meet the criteria for a psychological problem" than those on their first and second deployment, the report said.

Among troops facing three or more deployments, 31 percent were suffering from mental health problems compared to 18.1 percent of soldiers on their second deployment and 13.6 percent on their first combat tour, it said.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20091114/wl_sthasia_afp/usmilitaryafghanistaniraqhealthstress

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can we please stop all this warring now?

[Buzz Clik]

1. If the survey indicated rising morale, would you support an escalation?

Or is this one of those selective postings...???

[orpupilofnature57]

2. When has that been the case from day one .Selective ? What Liberty ,WMD or

Cause that hasent been disproved, still keeps us there?

[Buzz Clik]

3. I was never a fan of our invasion of Aghanistan and a huge opponent of our crimes in Iraq.

But, DU has this magical history of being very selective in what they post and what they read when it comes to Afghanistan. The anti-war crowd will post anything that has a negative connotation -- death statistics, morale levels, costs, etc -- but will totally ignore any positive aspects of why we are there. So, yeah, I view the OP as ridiculously selective.

[orpupilofnature57]

4. I can see your point ,it is.

[rollingrock]

6. 'Positive aspects'

LMAO

[YouTakeTheSkyway]

14. When has rising morale been the case? It's the case right now in Iraq

That was the other half of this study's findings, which magically didn't make it to this board.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/11/13/afghanistan.army.morale/index.html

[ixion]

5. our hostile occupation of Afghanistan is selective

this post is not.

[rollingrock]

7. What alternate universe do you live in?

let's try to deal with the situation as it is, not hypotheticals that have no basis in reality.

[YouTakeTheSkyway]

15. If our decisions to continue fighting were based exclusively on troop morale

we'd still be a colony.

[excess_3]

8. time to get out .nt

[Life Long Dem]

9. I don't fall for it.

Not when you hear recruitment is up for military service. It's because of the economy and lack of jobs.

And won't fall for it not when it's said jobs don't exist.

[Name removed]

10. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Quantess]

16. Just because the economy is lousy does not mean they are gung-ho to be in Afghanistan.

That is a non-sequitur line of reasoning.

[rocktivity]

11. Candidate for this year's "You Call This NEWS?" award

Well, duh. All they have to figure out now is whether the cause is the repeated deployment in themselves, or the fact that the soliders realize they're not really accomplishing anything.

:eyes:
rocktivity

[Vidar]

12. Endless war with no victory possible will do that.

[saigon68]

13. Fighting for corporate profits and Halliburton will do that

Especially when you figure out that the ruling elite at home(Corporate Criminals like Madoff etc.) really don't give a fuck your buddy just got his brains blown out onto his feet.