WelcomeThe South Dakota Peace and Justice Center is a non-profit, interfaith, grassroots membership network of around 1,000 South Dakota households, institutions, denominations, and congregations. We cross lines of denomination and faith, income and race, working together from a foundation of shared values imparted to us through our spiritual traditions. The SD Peace and Justice Center has a record of working for and achieving social reform since 1979.
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Based upon the work of Nobel Prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz and his colleague Linda Bilmes, the per day cost of the Iraq War for the first 4 years was $720 million. A Place Apart - Suicides In 2008, the suicide rate among active members of the U.S. army eclipsed the comparable civilian rate for the first time. As a result, the U.S. veterans affairs committee has asked Defense Secretary Robert Gates to convene a joint oversight committee to address military suicides. The army's 2008 suicide toll -- 128 confirmed cases and 15 pending investigation -- marks an all-time high and the fourth consecutive year of increases. Twenty of every 100,000 soldiers killed themselves last year, doubling the army's figures from just five years ago. U.S. army officials have said they believe the suicide rate has jumped because tours of duty have jumped to 15 months. Last month, the number of U.S. soldier suicides reached 24, well ahead of the number of combat deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan, recorded at 16. For information on fatalities among U.S. military, Iraqi civilians, & coalition forces, go to www.iraqcasualties.org |
