Soldier Suicide as Political Statement Essay -- Politics Army War Essa

Soldier Suicide as Political Statement At least twenty-nine U.S. soldiers stationed in Iraq and Kuwait committed suicide surrounded by March 2003 and March 2004. Even the Pentagon considers this an alarmingly high suicide rate. It tame the military to commission a morale poll to be absolute by Stars & Stripes (August 2003) and to send in a special psychological health advisory team to assess the situation. In April 2004, military officials describe the teams conclusion while the suicide rate for soldiers overseas is almost stunt man that of the civilian population, is no considered a crisis. (1) Perhaps these suicides tell us more(prenominal)(prenominal) about how the implementation of democracy and freedom in Iraq is going than we realise from other (government sanctioned) reports. What might we gain if we considered suicide, however tentatively, as a diverseness of an achievement, even... as a kind of gift... not the one we might ache wished for, but the o ne they give us when they do not have anything to give, writes Peggy Phelan, A more expansive consideration of suicide might help make an interpolation into the usual story of shame, failure, and anguish that all too frequently dominates the family relationship of the living with those who kill themselves. (2) Let us listen to the self-inflicted deaths of U.S. soldiers in Iraq as statements of resistance that highlight problems with the United States all volunteer military system. galore(postnominal) soldiers (particularly members of the Reserves and National Guard) are driven to outline for financial/ scotch reasons. Faced with limited options, they may have purposefully kept at bay any serious consideration of the possibilities of combat so that they would be able to sign on. These soldier... ...nic dimensions of those inequities. When one considers that for many members of our volunteer army, their decision to enlist was made because it was one of their only options for stability, employment, college funding, citizenship... supporting our troops takes on divergent meaning. Soldiers in Iraq who took their own lives are calling out to the wider community to canvass why so many find themselves in a situation where death is their most empowered choice. Works Cited1 Statistics compiled from multiple intelligence agency sources listed in the Media Analysis section that follows.2 p.6-7, 24, Peggy Phelan, Francesca Woodmans Photography Death and the photo One More Time, Signs Journal of Women in Culture and Society , vol. 27, no. 4, The University of Chicago, 2002. 3 Stanley Aronowitz, Curb Your Enthusiasm, First of the Month , Winter 2004.