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I can't but help contrast this bit of news...

Britney Spears was taken from her home by ambulance early Thursday and escorted to a hospital by more than a dozen police officers. ... TMZ has learned the plan to get Britney into UCLA Medical Center had been hatched for days -- it was aborted last night, but executed just minutes ago. And we're told the plan was so intricate the FAA had cleared airspace in route to the hospital.

...with this bit of news:

The conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan have placed severe stress on the Army, caused in part by repeated and lengthened deployments. Historically, suicide rates tend to decrease when soldiers are in conflicts overseas, but that trend has reversed in recent years. From a suicide rate of 9.8 per 100,000 active-duty soldiers in 2001 -- the lowest rate on record -- the Army reached an all-time high of 17.5 suicides per 100,000 active-duty soldiers in 2006.

Hey, I know it's apples and oranges, to some extent, but I was astonished that the effort to get help for one whacked-out star -- sorry -- involved the resources and assistance of the same federal government that is doing such a miserable job of ameliorating the human costs of war.

From the suicide article:

The study, which the Army's top personnel chief ordered six months ago, acknowledges that the Army still does not know how to adequately assess, monitor and treat soldiers with psychological problems. In fact, it says that "the current Army Suicide Prevention Program was not originally designed for a combat/deployment environment."

Emphasis added. I'm frankly stunned.

This is a problem that is not going away. Also in the news today: This.

About one in six combat troops returning from Iraq have suffered at least one concussion in the war, injuries that, while temporary, could heighten their risk of developing post-traumatic stress disorder, researchers are reporting.

There's been a lot of talk about the costs of war, lately. Don't forget these.