A sad, sad news story:


May 12, 2009
U.S. Soldier Kills 5 Comrades in Iraq, Military Says
By TIMOTHY WILLIAMS
NY Times

BAGHDAD — The United States military said Monday that five American
soldiers had been shot to death by a fellow soldier who opened fire on
them at one of the biggest American bases in Baghdad, and that the
suspected shooter was in custody.

The killings appeared to be the worst case of lethal non-combat
casualties for the American forces in Iraq since the invasion more than
six years ago.

The shooting took place at around 2 p.m. local time at Camp Liberty, a
sprawling base next to Baghdad airport, the military said in a
statement. The names of the dead soldiers were being withheld pending
family notification, the statement said.

“Anytime we lose one of our own, it affects us all,” Col. John Robinson,
a spokesman for the U.S. military in Iraq, said in the statement.

CNN, citing unnamed officials, said that at least three others were
wounded in the attack, which it said had taken place at a clinic for
soldiers suffering from war stress.

- - -

It's still not clear the military establishment is taking seriously the
mental health problems of service personnel serving ever-extended tours
in Iraq and of service personnel not getting the help they need when
they return home. *The military still attaches a stigma to those who
seek help.* That has to stop, and until it does, whatever efforts the
military establishment takes to help these service personnel will not be
as effective as they need to be.

I think I mentioned here a couple of weeks ago the military and the VA
were engaging in a massive recruitment drive to get mental health
professionals to enlist, and to find more civilians with whom contract
arrangements can be established. Both, obviously, are needed.