[R-P] Inglés se suicida para no ir a Iraq

Vie Ago 25 11:32:35 MDT 2006

Gentileza de la lista Marxmail

Traducción parcial de Néstor Gorojovsky.  Versión completa, en 
inglés, al pie.

The Independent, 25 de agosto, 2006
'No puedo ir a Iraq.  No puedo matar a esos chicos.': últimas 
palabras del soldado suicida a su madree soldier's
Por Cahal Milmo
> 
Mientras el resto de su promoción, del colegio católico de San 
Agustín, pensaba en carreras universitarias o en un primer trabajo, 
Jason Chelsea tenía un futuro distinto en su mente:  el primer viaje 
de servicio a Iraq.

La preocupación por lo que le esperaba el día que el Regmiento Real 
de Lancaster llegara a Iraq, donde 115 soldados británicos murieron 
desde 2003, atormentaba a este infante de 19 años de Wigan, Gran 
Manchester.

Le había comentado a sus padres que sus comandantes le habían 
advertido que podría recibir la orden de tirar sobre niños que eran 
bombarderos suicidas.

Nunca se enfrentó con ese temor.  A los dos días de confesar sus 
preocupaciones a la familia, el cabo Chelsea estaba muerto;  había 
tomado una sobredosis de analgésicos y se había cortado las venas de 
las muñecas.

Texto original en inglés:

Date: Fri, 25 Aug 2006 09:41:50 -0400
From: Louis Proyect <lnp3 en panix.com>
Subject: [Marxism] British soldier kills himself to avoid Iraq
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The Independent, 25 August 2006 09:40
'I can't go to Iraq. I can't kill those children' - Suicide soldier's
dying 
words to his mother
By Cahal Milmo

While his peers from St Augustine's Catholic school were this month 
contemplating university careers or first jobs, Jason Chelsea was 
preoccupied with a different future: his first tour of duty in Iraq.

The 19-year-old infantryman, from Wigan, Greater Manchester, was 
tormented
by concern about what awaited him when the King's Lancaster Regiment 
reached Iraq, where 115 British soldiers have been killed since 2003.

He had even told his parents that he had been warned by his 
commanders
that 
he could be ordered to fire on child suicide bombers.

It was a fear that he never confronted. Within 48 hours of confessing 
his
concerns to his family, Pte Chelsea was dead after taking an overdose 
of
painkillers and slashing his wrists.

On his death bed, he told his mother, Kerry: "I can't go out there 
and 
shoot at young children. I just can't go to Iraq. I don't care what 
side
they are on. I can't do it."

Today, mourners including comrades from his unit will attend Pte 
Chelsea's
funeral, wearing the colours of his two favourite football teams, 
Chelsea
and Wigan. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) is to begin an investigation 
into
his death, including allegations that the teenager was bullied. In a 
suicide note, the young soldier had said that he was "just a waste".

His parents said yesterday that their son's ordeal had convinced them 
of
the need for an urgent review of the pre-deployment training given to 

British soldiers bound for Iraq.

Tony Chelsea, 58, a factory production supervisor, said: "My son was 
made
very, very lonely by what was happening to him. He was very sad 
inside and
he bottled up what was causing it. It was only after the overdose 
that he
told us about his fears over what might happen in Iraq.

"In training, they were made to wrestle with dummies. Jason said they 
were
also told they might have to fight kids and that they might have to 
shoot
them because they were carrying suicide bombs. He said the policy 
[where
there was a suspected suicide bomber] was to shoot first and ask 
questions
later."

His mother added: "Jason said that during the training for Iraq he 
had
been 
told that children as young as two carry bombs and the time may come 
when
he would have to shoot one to save himself and his friends. I think 
they
need to think again about the training they give to young soldiers 
before
Iraq."

It is understood guidelines on training for British troops heading 
for
Iraq 
offer no warning on child suicide bombers. But defence sources 
confirmed
that the details of the advice given to soldiers are decided by each 
regiment. There have been no known cases of suicide attacks in Iraq 
committed by young children.

The death of Pte Chelsea, who had served in Germany and Cyprus, will 
renew
concern about the psychological pressures faced by British troops as 
they
deal with deployment to Iraq. Four days before the infantryman 
attempted
to 
take his life, the MoD released figures showing that 1,541 soldiers 
who 
served in Iraq are suffering from psychiatric illness. Last year, 727
cases 
were recorded, amounting to nearly 10 per cent of the British 
deployment.
Special units have now been set up in the country to help soldiers 
deal 
with combat stress. While services were also available in Britain to 
Pte
Chelsea to discuss his concerns within the Army, it seems he felt 
unable
to 
disclose them.

He had joined the Army at 16 after a visit to his school, St 
Augustine's,
telling his family the Army was to be his life. He was at home on 
leave 
when his fears came to a head this month.

After watching a football match on the night of 10 August, he calmly 
wrote
the suicide note, telling his father it was a letter to a relative, 
took
60 
painkillers then slashed his wrists. As he lay bleeding, the soldier 
dialled 999, telling the operator: "I have done something stupid."

In normal circumstances, Pte Chelsea, who suffered from dyslexia, may 
have
recovered from his injuries. But when doctors began tests to assess 
the 
damage caused to his liver by the drugs, it was found that the organ 
had
been irreparably damaged by alcohol. His family were told his liver 
was 
similar to that of someone who had been an alcoholic for 20 years and 
he
would not survive a transplant. He died on 14 August at St James's
Hospital 
in Leeds after his family gave consent for his other organs to be 
used for
transplants.

His father said he believed t he reasons behind his son's drinking 
had 
provoked a previous suicide attempt in 2004, when he cut his wrists 
in his
barracks. After this incident, Pte Chelsea was treated by an Army 
psychiatrist which the family said had restored his confidence.

Mr Chelsea said: "My son started drinking 18 months ago. He destroyed 
his
liver in less than a year and a half. I believe that is because he 
was 
being bullied again. He did not want to make anything of it. He was 
in the
Army, he knew he had to be tough. But it only takes a few words. He 
said
he 
would hear comments aimed at him because of his dyslexia. He was told 
he
would get his colleagues killed because he was stupid.

"I support the British Army and what it does. But I would like to 
stand 
before my son's unit with a picture of him in uniform and ask those 
who 
made these comments to him time after time to think about the effect 
they
had."

The young soldier's despair was displayed in the note he wrote to his 

parents before his overdose. He said: "Really sorry, mum and dad. I'm 
just
no good for you. I have got to finish it. I am just a waste."

The MoD said it was "greatly saddened" by the death but the details 
of his
treatment remained the subject of an inquiry. A spokesman said: "We 
send
our heartfelt sympathies to the family of Pte Chelsea. It is our 
intention
to convene a board of inquiry which will examine the circumstances 
around
his death."

Five other suicides since Iraq invasion

* JULY 2004

Pte Gary Boswell, 20, of the Royal Welch Fusiliers, hanged 
himselfnear his
home in Milford Haven. He was on leave from Iraq

* 31 OCTOBER 2004

Staff Sgt Denise Rose, 34, who served in the Special Investigation 
Branch
of the Royal Military Police, was found dead from a gunshot wound at 
a 
British Army base in Basra

* 26 DECEMBER 2004

Sgt Paul Connolly, 33, of the 21st Engineer Regiment of the Royal
Engineers 
was found dead from a gunshot wound at Shaibah Logistic Base, south-
west
of 
Basra

* 15 OCTOBER 2005

Capt Ken Masters, 40, of the Special Investigation Branch of the 
Royal 
Military Police, hanged himself in his office in Basra, just five 
days 
before the end of a tour

* 22 MARCH 2006