Show Military justice explored q The following editorial appeared in Sundays Sunday's Sundays Sunday's Sundays Sunday's Sun Sun- days day's Wasl Washington Post One of the Army Values is integrity which is defined as doing what is right legally and morally The moral thing to d do is dismiss these charges That recommendation of an Army investigator more than a month ago in the case of 1st Lt Elizabeth Whiteside was not acted on until after this vulnerable rable young woman attempted suicide a second time The delayed reaction offers another troubling glimpse into the military's attitude about mental health issues Lt Whiteside is the year 25 old Army reservist who faced a martial court-martial after she suffered a breakdown and tried to commit suicide in Iraq Post reporters D Dana na Priest and Anne Hull chronicled her story how she 1 1 1 a II now had been harassed by a superior and how she snapped one night in war torn Baghdad pulling agun a agun agun gun on a superior before shooting herself in the stomach The diagnosis of her psychiatrists that she suffered significant mental illness was brushed aside by her commanders who saw it as an excuse and pressed ahead with charges In December a hearing officer sided with the doctors and recommended against a court To do so he said would be inhumane but no action was taken Nor could Lt Whites Whiteside de and her attorneys get any any answers Distraught about her legal limbo she attempted suicide last Monday and with The Post again looking into the circumstances the charges were finally dropped The mishandling of this case is indicative of a military culture dismissive of psychiatric ills as real sickness Those who seek treatment are too often stigmatized and punished How else to explain the worry of service members who say they fear being labeled as weak Think of the message that was sent by the Army's pursuit of Lt Whiteside and its apparent reluctance to do the right thing The case is also a poignant illustration of the dramatic rise of suicides and attempted suicides in the Army A draft internal study obtained by The Post showed suicides among duty active-duty soldiers increased nearly 20 percent in 2007 to the highest level since the Army began keeping such records in 1980 The numbers of attempted suicides and self self-ir self inflicted injuries also are increasing Tt A u Ill J HUY LU us lIS crean is paying new attention to mental health issues including hiring more service providers and putting in place new assessments The Wounded Warrior legislation increases the coordination between the military and the Veterans Affairs Department for treating troops and veterans with mental health issues The Joshua Suicide Prevention Bill which improves the VAs VA's suicide prevention procedures was signed by by- President Bush in the fall None of those efforts will succeed though if not accompanied by bya a change in culture and leadership in the Defense Department Lt Whiteside in a desperate note put it this way Im very disappointed with the Army |