Who is the Enemy in Iraq?

While five Americans were recently shot to death by a PTSD stricken soldier, four other deaths have taken place that were not combat related.

Army Sergeant John M. Russell is charged with the deaths of five other military members in Iraq, but it is clear that he was having serious problems and was actually trying to receive help when he, for a lack of better terms, 'snapped', and went on a friendly fire shooting spree.

(SALEM, Ore.) - The same story plays out day after day, year after year and war after war. Governments that possess great intelligence and review endless amounts of data, still place human beings in situations that the most basic assessments should have prevented.

In this case we aren't in a bitter conflict to save the world or our people; it isn't World War Two.

For many years now, we have been fighting a conflict without a basis. We live with the fallout of a war that should have never been fought, by a country whose leaders blatantly lied in order to wage the campaign. I should say, those most fortunate "live" with it, as all too many won't have the chance.

The ambitions of the last U.S. President have left up to a million Iraqi's dead, as well as an escalating number of our own. They were sent to war in woefully inadequate vehicles, without a real plan.

The latest tragedy is the death of five service members, and the wounding of three others at Camp Victory in Baghdad.

Army Sergeant John M. Russell was reportedly in trouble with his commanding officer, and had been ordered to turn in his weapon. Russel's CO apparently sent him to undergo psychological counseling, and while the story isn't clear, reports indicate that Russel had an argument at a clinic on the base. As he was being escorted back to his unit, Russel allegedly grabbed the weapon of his escort, returned to the clinic, and opened fire.

The father of this three tour combat veteran sergeant believes military psychiatrists "broke" his son and in turn, triggered a breakdown. Russel was just weeks away from completing his third tour of duty. His father told reporters that his son is a career Army man who enlisted in order to have a steady job.

Russel had apparently fallen into debt while trying to manage a $1,500-a-month mortgage, and his story of financial worry is anything but unique in Iraq.

The Department of Defense has identified the five individuals were were killed in the clinic shooting. They died May 11th in Camp Liberty, Baghdad of wounds suffered in the deadly incident.

We initially reported that a Naval officer, Commander Charles K. Springle who was 52, years old, was among the list of those killed that day during the shooting at Camp Liberty, Iraq. He was from Wilmington, North Carolina.

Salem-News.com has now learned through the Defense Department, that Navy Cmdr. Charles K. Springle died at Camp Liberty, not Camp Victory.

The military reports that the circumstances surrounding the incident are under investigation.

Investigations are also underway in the shooting deaths that specifically happened at Camp Victory.

Those killed include another field grade military officer, Army Major Matthew P. Houseal, 54, of Amarillo, Texas. He was assigned to the 55th Medical Company, Indianapolis, Indiana.

Sergeant Christian E. Bueno-Galdos, 25, of Paterson, New Jersey also died in the shooting. He was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 66th Armor Regiment, 172nd Infantry Brigade, Grafenwoehr, Germany.

Another victim from the May 11th incident is Specialist Jacob D. Barton, 20, of Lenox, Missouri. He was assigned to the 277th Engineer Company, 420th Engineer Brigade, Waco, Texas.

The youngest to die that day in Baghdad was Private first class Michael E. Yates Jr., 19, of Federalsburg, Maryland. He was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 66th Armor Regiment, 172nd Infantry Brigade, Grafenwoehr, Germany.

A recent loss in Afghanistan was also not combat-related, the military reports. Specialist Lukasz D. Saczek, 23, of Lake in the Hills, Illinois, died May 10th in Nangarhar Province, Afghanistan, of injuries sustained from a non-combat related incident.

He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 178th Infantry Regiment, Illinois Army National Guard, Woodstock, Illinois.

The Department of Defense reports that the circumstances surrounding the incident are under investigation.

Another soldier, Specialist Omar M. Albrak, 21, of Chicago, Illinois, died May 9th, in Baghdad, of injuries sustained during a motor vehicle accident.

Specialist Albrak was an Individual Ready Reserve soldier assigned to the Headquarters, Multi-National Forces Iraq.

The circumstances surrounding his death are under investigation, the military reports.

Private Justin P. Hartford, 21, of Elmira, N.Y., died May 8th at Joint Base Balad, Iraq, of injuries sustained from a non-combat related incident. He was assigned to the 699th Maintenance Company, Corps Support Battalion, 916th Support Brigade, Fort Irwin, Calif.

Staff Sergeant Randy S. Agno, 29, of Pearl City, Hawaii, died May 8th at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, of wounds sustained April 27th from a non-combat related incident at Forward Operating Base Olsen in Samarra, Iraq.

He was assigned to the 325th Brigade Support Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, Schofield Barracks, Hawaii.

The circumstances surrounding the incident are under investigation.

Somehow, the enemy killing Americans has changed greatly overseas. A person can only imagine what other nations are thinking as they watch this U.S. disaster unfold. We have to remember that the human being can only take so much and that soldiers like Russell have clearly been pushed beyond the line. Even if they pull the trigger, it seems that the enemy is a poorly guided government policy and a vast underfunding of programs that help and treat people suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Dr. Phillip Leveque who writes for Salem-News.com, served in combat in WWII before becoming a Forensic Toxicologist, Pharmacologist and Physician. He believes that soldiers and Marines who kill their own in ways like these are suffering from psychosis and not necessarily in control of what they are doing.

Here are other Salem-News.com reports on the tragedy at Camp Victory in Baghdad, Iraq:

PTSD Vet Hits the Wall: Goes Berserk and Kills Five - Dr. Phil Leveque Salem-News.com

Soldiers Killing Soldiers in Iraq: an Established Problem - Political Perspective by Tim King Salem-News.com

Gates Updates Press on Afghanistan while Discussing Today's Tragedy in Iraq - Salem-News.com

Five Americans Killed in Baghdad by Fellow U.S. Army Soldier - Salem-News.com

This is an AP report from YouTube that was cut before names had been released:

Video

This is a video posted online of a chaotic fire fight in Ramadi, Iraq, that raises the possibility that 21-year old Pfc. Roger Suarez-Gonzalez and 31-year old Pfc. Albert Nelson died not by enemy fire, but by U.S. tank rounds in a 'friendly fire' incident. (Dec. 7) It is included to educate viewers about what situations are like in Iraq when soldiers are under fire:

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Tim King is a former U.S. Marine with twenty years of experience on the west coast as a television news producer, photojournalist, reporter and assignment editor. In addition to his role as a war correspondent, this Los Angeles native serves as Salem-News.com's Executive News Editor.
Tim spent the winter of 2006/07 covering the war in Afghanistan, and he was in Iraq over the summer of 2008, reporting from the war while embedded with both the U.S. Army and the Marines. Tim holds numerous awards for reporting, photography, writing and editing, including the Oregon AP Award for Spot News Photographer of the Year (2004), the first place Electronic Media Award in Spot News, Las Vegas, (1998), Oregon AP Cooperation Award (1991); and several other awards including the 2005 Red Cross Good Neighborhood Award for reporting. Serving the community in very real terms, Salem-News.com is the nation's only truly independent high traffic news Website, affiliated with Google News and several other major search engines and news aggregators.
You can send Tim an email at this address: newsroom@salem-news.com