We knew it would happen ...

Having been on that edge (though at the time, the only person I wanted to kill was myself), it sickens me to hear this:

BAGHDAD – An American soldier opened fire at a counseling center on a military base Monday, killing five fellow soldiers before being taken into custody, the U.S. command and Pentagon officials said.

Although it was unclear what prompted the shooting, the incident draws attention to the issue of combat stress and morale after six years of war as the mission of the 130,000-strong force transforms to one of training and mentoring the Iraqis.

...

After repeated deployments and iffy mental health care (a lot of our guys are on anti-depressants to get them through), these incidents will become more frequent, either by GIs in-theater or when they get back stateside. A couple months ago, our pal and regular commenter WKMaier informed us of an example that hit close to home:

... Fixer, just heard from a friend in the midwest, her granddaughter's husband just got back from Iraq, started drinking, and killed himself last night. He leaves behind a wife, baby boy, and extended family ...

It is a shame these boys and girls, who are willing to give their lives for us, are being used until they lose their grip. I spent 5 years of my life in a Jack Daniels' bottle with a coke spoon up my nose, and I didn't see anywhere near the action these folks have. We'd better buck up and get our guys the help they need before we have a large scale problem on our hands.

Update:

Our friend Lisa of RangerAgainstWar brings up a point in 'comments' I should have touched on:

Many soldiers are loathe to admit the need for psychiatric treatment, added to a system which looks askance at any possible PTSD case. It is a bad combination.

There should be a proactive effort on the part of the military to identify soldiers at risk of breaking and get them help instead of said soldier knowing when to seek treatment. Even when some do understand how close to the edge they are, there are plenty of reasons not to seek help (I'm not leaving my mates behind on the battlefield - I don't want to be labeled as 'crazy' - I can handle it until I get home and everything will be all right).

As I stated above, we're using these people up; their bodies, minds, and souls, and we owe it to them to make sure they're taken care of. It's already set in stone (mostly) that we're leaving Iraq by 2011 but we have to start helping these folks today, not when the war's over. We cannot wait until one of them has a pistol at his temple (or someone else's) because by then it'll far too late.