General: Wash. base deals with PTSD sufficiently

KNKX Public Radio | By The Associated Press

Published March 16, 2012 at 12:43 PM PDT

JOINT BASE LEWIS-McCHORD, Wash. — A top military commander speaking at the base of the soldier suspected of killing 16 Afghan civilians says the Army is adequately dealing with mental health and other issues related to multiple deployments.

General David M. Rodriguez, commanding general of U.S. Army Forces Command, said at Joint Base Lewis-McChord on Friday the massacre was a "tragedy" and the military would hold people accountable. A Seattle lawyer for the suspect has said his client had been injured twice during his three previous deployments to Iraq and didn't want to go to Afghanistan.

Rodriguez said there was "sufficient screening" for post-traumatic stress disorders at Lewis-McChord, which has been in the news because of repeated violent incidents.

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