I saw the headline this morning "Army suicides highest in 26 years" from the AP on Yahoo News.

I feel a lot of things reading this article... obviously, I feel incredibly depressed for the families who have to deal with this kind of loss. I imagine the last weeks of the soldier's life... wonder what aspects of this war drove them over the edge. Was it being away from their families for multiple back-to-back tours? Was it the memory of witnessing a suicide bomber take the lives of women and children on a busy street? Did they take the life of an innocent person on accident? Did they feel guilt or stress for being part of an illegal occupation... of watching an entire country rot and collapse from the outside-in?

Here's a few clips for the story:

WASHINGTON - Army soldiers committed suicide last year at the highest rate in 26 years, and more than a quarter did so while serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to a new military report.

The increases for 2006 came as Army officials worked to set up a number of new and stronger programs for providing mental health care to a force strained by the longer-than-expected war in Iraq and the global counterterrorism war entering its sixth year.

If had more time, I'm curious as to what the suicide rate is for Iraqis - I can't believe the mess we've made. And for what?