U.S. Soldier Kills 5 In Iraq Base Rampage

An American soldier opened fire at a counseling center on a military base Monday, killing five fellow soldiers before being taken into custody, the U.S. command and Pentagon officials said.

Although it was unclear what prompted the shooting, the incident draws attention to the issue of combat stress and morale after six years of war as the mission of the 130,000-strong force transforms to one of training and mentoring the Iraqis.

Attacks on fellow soldiers, known as fraggings, were not uncommon during the Vietnam war but are believed to be rare in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"You can't protect against everything, especially your own. This is unusual … You're protecting usually from the outside in, not the inside out," CBS News military analyst David Granger said.

The stress center had been set up for the express purpose of dealing with the explosions of mental problems caused by the repeated deployments and close-quarters combat of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, reports CBS News national security correspondent David Martin.

President Barack Obama said in a statement that he was "shocked and deeply saddened" by the report, adding that "my heart goes out to the families and friends" of all those involved "in this horrible tragedy."

After a meeting with Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Mr. Obama said he would make sure "that we fully understand what led to this tragedy" and will do everything possible "to ensure that our men and women in uniform are protected as they serve our country so capably and courageously in harm's way."

A brief U.S. military statement said the assailant was taken into custody following the 2 p.m. shooting at Camp Liberty, a sprawling U.S. base on the western edge of Baghdad near the city's international airport. Mr. Obama visited an adjacent base last month.

The statement said nobody else was hurt, but a senior defense official in Washington said three people were wounded. The names of the victims and shooter were not released.

It was unclear whether the gunman and his victims were workers at the clinic or were there for counseling. Soldiers routinely carry weapons on Camp Liberty and other bases, but they are supposed to be unloaded.

At the Pentagon, Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the shooting occurred "in a place where individuals were seeking help."

"It does speak to me about the need for us to redouble our efforts in terms of dealing with the stress," Mullen said.

According to the most recent figures, 300,000 service members returning from Iraq and Afghanistan have reported a mental health problem, reports Martin.

"As long as the demand on forces stays what it is right now and the supply of forces remains the same, it will be very difficult for us to do anything with that stress. But we've got to help soldiers understand how they can cope with that stress," Army Vice Chief of Staff Pete Chiarelli told CBS News.

With violence declining, many soldiers face new challenges trying to shift from fighting a war to supporting the Iraqis - tasks that often require skills in which they have not been trained.

Adding to the stress, there have been several incidents recently when men dressed as Iraqi soldiers have opened fire on American troops, including an attack in the northern city of Mosul on May 2 when two soldiers and the gunman were killed.

Rep. Harry Mitchell, a member of the House Veterans' Affairs Committee, said the Camp Liberty shooting underscores the "critical need" to reach out to soldiers suffering from "the effects of combat stress and post-traumatic stress disorder."

"Many troops are under great psychological strain and are not receiving the treatment they need," said Paul Rieckhoff, founder and head of Iraq & Afghanistan Veterans of America. "Much more must be done to address troops' psychological injuries before they reach a crisis point."

The death toll from the shooting at the counseling center was the highest for U.S. personnel in a single attack since April 10, when a suicide truck driver killed five American soldiers with a blast near a police headquarters in Mosul.

"Any time we lose one of our own, it affects us all," U.S. spokesman Col. John Robinson said. "Our hearts go out to the families and friends of all the service members involved in this terrible tragedy."

There have been several previous fragging incidents in the Iraq war.