IAVA Responds To Alarming Report U.S. Army Suicides Surpassed Combat Deaths in January 2009

NEW YORK - Today, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA), the nation's first and largest nonpartisan organization for veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, issued the following statement in response to new military data obtained by the Associated Press revealing U.S. Army suicides surpassed all combat deaths in January 2009:

"The suicide numbers released today highlight just how staggering the trend is. In January, we lost more soldiers to suicide than to Al Qaeda.  And since the Iraq war began, suicide rates and other signs of psychological injury, like marital strain and substance abuse, have been increasing every  single year," said IAVA Executive Director Paul Rieckhoff. "If we lost this many soldiers to an enemy weapon, the entire country would know about it and we would demand defensive measures. The DOD and the VA must take bold and immediate action.”