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NEW YORK — At least 121 Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans have committed a killing or been charged in one in the United States after returning from combat, The New York Times reported Sunday.
The newspaper said it also logged 349 homicides involving all active-duty military personnel and new veterans in the six years since military action began in Afghanistan, and later Iraq. That represents an 89-percent increase over the previous six-year period, the newspaper said.
About three-quarters of those homicides involved Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans, the newspaper said. The report did not illuminate the exact relationship between those cases and the 121 killings also mentioned in the report.
The newspaper said its research involved searching local news reports, examining police, court and military records and interviewing defendants, their lawyers and families, victims' families and military and law enforcement officials.
Defense Department representatives did not immediately respond to a telephone message early Sunday. The Times said the military agency declined to comment, saying it could not reproduce the paper's research.
A military spokesman, Lt. Col. Les Melnyk, questioned the report's premise and research methods, the newspaper said. He said it aggregated crimes ranging from involuntary manslaughter to murder, and he suggested the apparent increase in homicides involving military personnel and veterans in the wartime period might reflect only "an increase in awareness of military service by reporters since 9/11."
Neither the Pentagon nor the federal Justice Department track such killings, generally prosecuted in state civilian courts, according to the Times.
The 121 killings ranged from shootings and stabbings to bathtub drownings and fatal car crashes resulting from drunken driving, the newspaper said. All but one of those implicated was male.
About a third of the victims were girlfriends or relatives, including a 2-year-old girl slain by her 20-year-old father while he was recovering from wounds sustained in Iraq.
A quarter of the victims were military personnel. One was stabbed and set afire by fellow soldiers a day after they all returned from Iraq.
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Information from: The New York Times, http://www.nytimes.com
© 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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 | Across America, Deadly Echoes of Foreign Battles | The New York Times | Sun Jan 13 | 3 |
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{"commentId":1358022,"authorDomain":"replytoj001"}
"The report did not illuminate the exact relationship between those cases and the 121 killings also mentioned in the report."
If the NYT cannot establish a relationship, even in their own article, then what are we to conclude?
The newspaper said its research involved searching local news reports, examining police, court and military records and interviewing defendants, their lawyers and families, victims' families and military and law enforcement officials.
Was/is there an agenda here? The NYT most likely assigned a team of researchers to discover this topic and to support a theory of the out of control returning veteran. Crazed Vietnam veteran theory anyone?
replytoj001
{"commentId":1358022,"threadId":"202228","contentId":"1223592","authorDomain":"replytoj001"}
#1 - Sun Jan 13, 2008 5:47 AM EST{"commentId":1358058,"authorDomain":"keld"}
The 121 killings ranged from shootings and stabbings to bathtub drownings and fatal car crashes resulting from drunken driving, the newspaper said.
That's what war makes of you. No mention of the suicide rate, though.
{"commentId":1358058,"threadId":"202228","contentId":"1223592","authorDomain":"keld"}
- 3 votes
#2 - Sun Jan 13, 2008 7:08 AM EST{"commentId":1358105,"authorDomain":"AsymptoticToZero"}
I think journalists need to get real jobs.
{"commentId":1358105,"threadId":"202228","contentId":"1223592","authorDomain":"AsymptoticToZero"}
#3 - Sun Jan 13, 2008 7:55 AM EST{"commentId":1358167,"authorDomain":"Wheel"}
{"commentId":1358167,"threadId":"202228","contentId":"1223592","authorDomain":"Wheel"}
#4 - Sun Jan 13, 2008 8:32 AM EST{"commentId":1358398,"authorDomain":"drudge"}
Bush Time Bombs.
{"commentId":1358398,"threadId":"202228","contentId":"1223592","authorDomain":"drudge"}
#5 - Sun Jan 13, 2008 10:42 AM EST{"commentId":1359385,"authorDomain":"TNTalk"}
Could this have something to do with the recently REVEALED lowering of standards for new recruits within the armed forces? Soldiers are being recruited from the ranks of the mentally ill and disadvantaged in order to meet quotas. Could these killings be linked to meeting recruiting quotas? That is food for thought.
{"commentId":1359385,"threadId":"202228","contentId":"1223592","authorDomain":"TNTalk"}
#6 - Sun Jan 13, 2008 4:46 PM EST{"commentId":1360020,"authorDomain":"replytoj001"}
TNTalk,
I have to disagree with you.
recruited from the ranks of the mentally ill and disadvantaged
Saying that (to me) disrespects the military, and those who serve. You make it seem like recruiters are scouring the mentally ill and the welfare/unemployment offices to meet quotas, and I believe you to be wrong.
I do not see it as food for thought.
These are people who have issues and as the NYT say in the article; they cannot link the crimes.
I do wish people would give the benefit of doubt to the professionals serving.
replytoj001
{"commentId":1360020,"threadId":"202228","contentId":"1223592","authorDomain":"replytoj001"}
- 1 vote
{"commentId":1361917,"authorDomain":"TNTalk"}
No disrespect is intended. Respect for the military does not mean that I must admit that all their conduct is sparkly clean and that methods used are somehow beyond reproach. In the last few weeks, I have managed to catch two mainstream television programs that documented this very practice by recruiters. Numbers of recruiters, in order to meet quotas either falsified or had the applicants falsify medical information mostly regarding to mental illness and stress. This was done with the recruits that came into the offices to inquire or complete applications. The problem with this is that obtaining medication became difficult during boot camp, training and service or was discontinued altogether. The pressure brought to bear during the course of military service is difficult enough without dealing with the issue of medications or the untreated behaviors. The evidence of quotas was beyond refute, although the programs were laden with personal interviews that were not entirely "balanced". Obviously, the military was saying as little as possible to the camera. That having been said, there is more than a little evidence available to the chagrin of military recruiters. I have no doubt that since this affair has seen the light of day, changes are being made for the better.
{"commentId":1361917,"threadId":"202228","contentId":"1223592","authorDomain":"TNTalk"}
- 1 vote
#7 - Mon Jan 14, 2008 1:37 PM EST{"commentId":1362325,"authorDomain":"Wheel"}
tnt is correct that the military has lowered the admission standard to a disturbing degree. Gang members, felons, and undereducated are definitely being recruited. In addition the max age for enlisting has been raise to 42,(I think, I know it's in the 40's)
{"commentId":1362325,"threadId":"202228","contentId":"1223592","authorDomain":"Wheel"}
- 1 vote
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