US soldiers' suicide rate in Iraq doubles in 2005

Alyssa Peterson, one of the first women to die in Iraq, was reported to have taken her own life after objecting to interrogation methods

WASHINGTON, Dec 19 (Reuters) - Suicides among U.S. soldiers in Iraq doubled last year over the previous year to return to a level seen in 2003, U.S. Army medical experts said on Tuesday.

Twenty-two U.S. soldiers in Iraq took their own lives in 2005, a rate of 19.9 per 100,000 soldiers. In 2004, the rate was 10.5 per 100,000 and in 2003, the year of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, the figure was 18.8 per 100,000.

The figures cover U.S. Army soldiers only. They do not include members of other U.S. military services in Iraq such as the Marine Corps.

Read the rest at Reuters/Alternet