Soldier Suicide Rate in Iraq Jumped

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-- Found this buried in Yahoo --

By ROBERT BURNS, AP Military Writer

WASHINGTON - A sudden increase in suicides among U.S. soldiers in Iraq (news - web sites) last summer turned out to be a brief spike, but the overall suicide rate there last year was much higher than for the entire Army.
There were at least 24 suicides among U.S. soldiers in Iraq and Kuwait last year, according to the Army's count. That number may increase because the circumstances of some other deaths are still in doubt.

That equates to a suicide rate of 17.3 per 100,000 soldiers, compared with a rate of 12.8 for the entire Army in 2003 and an average rate of 11.9 for the Army during the 1995-2002 period, according to officials familiar with the mental health study. They spoke on condition of anonymity.

The 24 suicides do not include soldiers who killed themselves after returning to the United States.

The overall U.S. civilian suicide rate during 2001 was 10.7 per 100,000, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (news - web sites). The U.S. civilian rate for the 18-34 age group — the age range of most soldiers — is 21.5 per 100,000.

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