WASHINGTON (Reuters) - At least 21 U.S. troops have committed suicide in Iraq, a growing toll that represents one in seven of American "non-hostile" deaths since the war began last March, the Pentagon said on Wednesday.

The Defense Department’s top health official said the military plan to deal with "battle stress" in Iraq more aggressively than in past conflicts such as the Vietnam War and the 1991 Gulf War.

"Fighting this kind of war is clearly going to be stressful for some people," Assistant Defense Secretary for Health Affairs Dr. William Winkenwerder told reporters in an interview.

"There have been about 21 confirmed suicides during the past year associated with Operation Iraqi Freedom," Winkenwerder said, adding that 18 were Army troops and three others were in the Navy and Marine Corps.

The suicide toll is probably higher than 21, he added, because some "pending" non-hostile death cases are still being investigated.

BULLSHIT ALERT

Per the National Institutes of Mental Health:

• The 2001 age-adjusted rate was 10.7/100,000
• Among young people 20 to 24 years of age, the suicide rate was 12/100,000
• Per this NIMH chart, rates for white males in the age group 15-24 approximate 20:100,000.

While the rates may be high for the military, they appear to be the same rates as those of the general population. Since many of those serving in Iraq are civilians called up into the Guard and Reserve, it would seem logical that the rates would be very similar. Watch for the LLL to make a bigger deal out of this than the facts show.