Shooting at Camp Liberty in Iraq: U.S. Soldier Kills 5

A statement from the military indicated that the Camp Liberty shootings occurred about 2 PM local time. Three others were wounded in the incident. It is unclear at this time if all were members of the Army, as other U.S. military services use the base, but the reports do indicate they were all U.S. service members.

The U.S. has been criticized over its lack of psychological support for members of the military returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and there have been reports, including interviews with service members, that indicate U.S. military commanders have in the past placed a stigma upon any military personnel who claimed they were suffering from PTSD.

However, the situation in this area has been improving as the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have continued, so it is particularly tragic that this would occur in a "stress clinic" in Camp Liberty itself.

As a reference, Camp Liberty is a large coalition military installation located northeast of the Baghdad International Airport (BIAP) and is part of the U.S. military's Victory Base Complex (VBC). It was formerly known as Camp Victory North and renamed in mid-September 2004, as part of an effort to give U.S. facilities around Baghdad friendlier connotations, and to try to resolve the issue of constantly-changing facility names, Camp Victory North was renamed Camp Liberty, with its Arabic translation "Camp Al-Tahreer".