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Soldiers could be be taught stress-handling skills from first day

FORT JACKSON, S.C. – To battle a growing suicide rate, the Army may have to start teaching soldiers how to handle stress from the first day they take their entry oath, the service’s top trainer said Friday.

“The new idea I suppose I would offer is getting at it right from the beginning of the career,” said Gen. Martin Dempsey, the new four-star commander of the Army’s Training and Doctrine Command, which operates 33 schools and training centers at 16 Army installations.

Dempsey, who led soldiers during two combat tours in Iraq, was questioned about the issue after addressing 1,150 soldiers who graduated from basic training at Fort Jackson, the Army’s largest training installation.

According to figures obtained by The Associated Press, there were seven confirmed suicides last month, compared with five a year earlier. An additional 17 cases from January are under investigation.

Army Secretary Pete Geren acknowledged last week that officials have been stumped by the spiraling number of cases.

Dempsey said the issue was vital to an Army that has been at war for seven years and may well be at war for several more.

“I think we need to take a look at a comprehensive fitness program … that right from the beginning of a young man or woman’s experience in the Army, we begin building coping skills before the stress comes. Because once the stress hits, then you are really into last-minute intervention,” Dempsey said.

The general said the Army is working with the Department of Defense on new approaches, and he hoped some action might be taken “within the next year.”

Increasing stress

Dempsey said the new training could include elemental things, such as learning to balance a checkbook so a soldier with a young family doesn’t fall into debt and open the way to further stress.

“What we are trying to do is identify skills we can give our soldiers, whether they are intellectual skills, physical skills, spiritual skills … so that when the stress hits, you are armed to deal with it,” Dempsey said.

The Army has already added suicide prevention training, more psychiatrists and other mental health staff, and programs both at home and at the battlefront for troops and their families.

Suicides have risen steadily since 2004 amid increasing stress on the force from long and repeated tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The service has rarely, if ever, released a month-by-month update on suicides. But officials said Thursday they wanted to re-emphasize “the urgency and seriousness necessary for preventive action at all levels” of the force.

In October, the Army and the National Institute of Mental Health signed an agreement to do a five-year study to identify factors affecting the mental and behavioral health of soldiers and come up with intervention strategies at intervals along the way.

Dempsey took over his new post after serving as acting commander of the U.S. Central Command, which is responsible for all military operations in the Middle East.

Dempsey commanded the 1st Armored Division in Iraq in 2003-04, and later served in Baghdad for nearly two years in charge of the training and equipping of the Iraqi security forces.

Cyprus is awaiting UN guidance on what to do with a Cypriot-flagged ship that is docked off Limassol, amid Israeli and US charges it is carrying illegal Iranian weapons for Hamas.

“Due to the origin of the cargo it needs to be examined whether this specific shipment falls within any specific (UN) resolution ban, and it’s from here we expect UN guidance,” Foreign Minister Marcos Kyprianou told reporters. “Depending on the UN reaction, we shall take decisions and act accordingly,” he added.

The government announced it has twice inspected the Russian-owned cargo ship Monchegorsk on January 29 and February 2. A report on those findings was submitted to the “competent UN Security Council sanctions committee” on Iranian weapons exports. The Committee is examining the report and a response could be issued to Nicosia as early as today.

Cyprus has released few details of its investigation into what it has called a “sensitive and delicate” affair after the ship entered Cypriot waters last week. The Foreign Minister denied that Cyprus had come under any pressure from Israel to seize the cargo from the ship or the Russians to do the opposite.

“No government has told Cyprus what to do or request Cyprus do more than follow international law…there has been no pressure or intervention.” He also said that “almost everything written or published was wrong.”

Last week, President Christofias said the island was obliged to accept the boat as the shipment was in “contravention of (UN) Security Council resolutions,” although Nicosia has tried to soften this categorical stance. However, Christofias seemed to contradict his minister yesterday when conceding he had been “annoyed” by the “interference from some country” which he did not name.

The US Navy reportedly forced the ship to dock off Limassol over suspicions that it was carrying Iranian arms. The US military said it boarded the ship more than two weeks ago in the Red Sea and discovered Iranian munitions, then alerted the Cypriot authorities to search it after the cargo ship entered Cyprus waters.

Washington cited “legal reasons” for not confiscating the suspect shipment in open waters. Israeli news reports, said the Monchegorsk was carrying a shipment of Iranian arms for Gaza and was detained in Cyprus following a request by the US and Israeli authorities.

Some reports suggested that the Russian-owned ship was travelling from Iran to Syria with weapons destined for Hamas. There has been no official confirmation on what exactly is on the boat. Cyprus enjoys close ties with Syria and Iran but reportedly agreed to search the ship as a “favour” to newly elected US President Barack Obama.

WAITING GAME: The ship with a hot cargo remains moored off Limassol while diplomacy unfolds

QUETTA, Pakistan – Authorities searched for an American U.N. worker kidnapped Monday in southwestern Pakistan in an attack that underscored the security threats in the country as it battles al-Qaida militants.

The government called the abduction a “dastardly terrorist act,” but police said it was not clear whether Islamist militants, criminals seeking a ransom payment or members of a regional separatist group were responsible.

Gunmen seized John Solecki, head of the U.N. refugee office in the city of Quetta, as he traveled to work Monday morning, and shot and killed his driver, U.N. and Pakistani officials said.

Quetta is the capital of Baluchistan province, which partly borders Afghanistan. The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees has worked for three decades in the region helping hundreds of thousands of Afghans fleeing violence in their homeland.

While a violent region, it has largely been spared the al-Qaida and Taliban insurgency wracking much of northwestern Pakistan, where several foreigners have been attacked or kidnapped in recent months.

In August, Lynne Tracy, the top U.S. diplomat in the northwest, narrowly survived an attack on her vehicle in Peshawar by suspected militants. In November, gunmen shot and killed American aid worker Stephen Vance in the same city.

Senior police officer Khalid Masood said Solecki has worked in Quetta for more than two years. Ron Redmond, a UNHCR spokesman in Geneva, confirmed he is an American citizen.

At the scene of the kidnapping in an upscale neighborhood, a UNHCR Land Cruiser with at least one bullet hole was rammed against a wall.

Soon after the attack, authorities sealed exit routes from the city, officers said. Police also beefed up patrols and security checks along roads leading to Afghanistan, fearing Solecki may be taken there.

Quetta has been mentioned by Afghan officials as a likely hiding place for Mullah Omar and other Taliban leaders who are thought to have fled Afghanistan after the U.S. invasion in 2001.

Baluchistan is also the scene of a low-level insurgency driven by nationalist groups wanting more regional autonomy. They are not known to target foreigners.

General crime has also been on the rise in many parts of Pakistan, including kidnappings for ransom. An Iranian diplomat was abducted in Peshawar last year, and other foreigners and Afghans also have been taken.

The United Nations expressed “extreme shock and dismay” at the kidnapping and the killing of the driver.

“We strongly condemn this attack on humanitarian workers in Pakistan who have been doing their utmost to deliver their humanitarian mission,” it said in a statement.

It was not clear whether the abduction would impact U.N. work in Pakistan. The bombing of Islamabad’s Marriott hotel in September prompted new U.N. rules prohibiting expatriate staff from living with their children in cities including Quetta.

Solecki did not have a police escort while he was traveling, Masood said. “We have learned that he usually did not like to have an escort with him on his way to the office,” he said.

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QUETTA, Pakistan – Gunmen kidnapped an American U.N. official and killed his driver in southwestern Pakistan on Monday, underscoring the security threat in a country wracked by al-Qaida violence and rising criminality.

The official was abducted in the morning on his way to his job as head of the U.N. refugee office in the city of Quetta, senior police official Khalid Masood said. He identified the kidnapped official as John Solecki of the United States.

“Solecki has been serving in Quetta for more than two years,” Masood told The Associated Press. “We cannot speculate on the motive behind the crime.”

Authorities sealed exit routes from the city, said Wazir Khan Nasir, another senior police official. Meanwhile, police in the border town of Chaman said they were checking vehicles to prevent the kidnappers from whisking the captive to Afghanistan.

It was not immediately clear what impact the kidnapping would have on U.N. staff. September’s bombing of Islamabad’s Marriott hotel has already prompted new U.N. rules prohibiting expatriate staff in Pakistan from living with their children in parts of the country, including Quetta.

Southwestern Pakistan is the scene of a low-level insurgency driven by nationalist groups wanting more autonomy for Baluchistan province. But, unlike Taliban and al-Qaida militants in the northwest, the Baluch groups are not known to target foreigners, and three police officials said they could not recall another foreigner being kidnapped in Quetta.

However, general crime also has been on the rise in many parts of the country, with kidnappings for ransom a favorite tactic. An Iranian diplomat was abducted in the northwestern city of Peshawar last year, and Afghans and other foreigners have also been nabbed.

Masood said he was told of Solecki’s nationality by a Pakistani official from the U.N. agency.

U.N. spokeswoman Amena Kamaal in Islamabad confirmed that a Pakistani driver was killed and a foreign national employee’s whereabouts were unknown but declined to release any other details pending notification of relatives. U.S. Embassy spokesman Lou Fintor said American officials were looking into the reports.

Quetta is the capital of Baluchistan province, which partly borders Afghanistan. The dusty, gritty city is rumored to be home to Taliban leader Mullah Omar, who is believed to have fled Afghanistan after the U.S. invasion in 2001.

The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees has worked for years in the region helping Afghans fleeing violence in their homeland.

At the scene of the kidnapping in the Chaman Housing Society neighborhood on Monday, a UNHCR Land Cruiser was rammed against a wall. At least one bullet hole was visible on the vehicle. Security officials were collecting evidence.

Solecki did not have a police escort while he was traveling, Masood said.

“We have learned that he usually did not like to have an escort with him on his way to the office,” Masood said.

Nasir said Solecki’s office and home had security, including police.

“We had given adequate security to him,” Nasir said. “We also had a meeting with him, and we had fulfilled all requirements he had discussed with us.” He did not give more details.

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