Report: Iraq diplomats returning to U.S. with PTSD symptoms

Condoleeza Rice in Iraq

WASHINGTON — U.S. diplomats are returning from Iraq with the same debilitating, stress-related symptoms that have afflicted many U.S. troops, prompting the State Department to order a mental health survey of 1,400 employees who have completed assignments there...

State Department employees in Iraq seldom leave the capital's heavily fortified Green Zone. Even there, rocket and mortar attacks are frequent, and the sound of gunfire is constant. Suicide bombers have penetrated the zone on rare occasions, most recently on April 12.

The department was prodded to act by the American Foreign Service Association. It reported that some diplomats had difficulty adjusting after leaving.

Read the rest at USA Today

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