Dead Drop: September 9

THESE KIDS ARE DYING:  There was a stunning story published recently in Rolling Stone noting that “109 soldiers assigned to Fort Bragg died in 2020 and 2021.”  According to the report, fewer than 20 died of natural causes. Only four of the deaths occurred in overseas combat operations.  The rest? Drug overdoses, suicide – the Army doesn’t seem anxious to spell out the causes. Whatever they are – it is truly troubling. While the death toll is (mercifully) not has high, there was an equally troubling story in the New York Timesabout the death of a sailor undergoing SEAL training. The Times says that their investigation exposes “a culture of brutality, cheating and drugs” used by those trying to get through “Hell week.”

FALL GUYS:  One of Mikhail Gorbachev’s greatest achievements may have been staying away from open windows for his 91 years on the planet – especially during the last decade or so when people who have annoyed his successor, Vladimir Putin, seem to have a penchant for falling out of them. Last week’s Dead Drop had an item about Putin critic Dan Rapoport, who may or may not have jumped to his death in Washington, DC.  And just as we were going to press (or whatever you call what digital publications do)…there were reports that Russian energy giant Lukoil’s chairman, Ravil Maganov, died after “falling out of the window” of a Moscow hospital.  His company had expressed concern about the wisdom of Putin’s “special military operation” (AKA “war”) in Ukraine.  If you are keeping score at home, there are at least 8 prominent Russian businessmen who have died in the past six months due to “apparent suicide.”  Going back over the past few years, many more high-profile Russians seem to have had a propensity for defenestration. The Daily Starhas compiled a lengthy list.