Have I mentioned lately…

…that I hate what they're doing to my Army?

Military divorces edge up again in 9th year of war

Army suicides set to hit new high in 2009

Colonel Lang raises a good point...

There are a lot of village and towns in Afghanistan, even if one only considers Pushtun villages. The active army is stretched pretty thin. The suicide and attempted suicide rate is becoming a serious matter. People with families can not be pushed emotionally beyond a certain level of alienation from home and hearth. Perhaps it was not such a good idea to build the force around middle class married soldiers.

Perhaps, in fact, it was a terrible idea.