Special report: Tension escalates in Iraq

    WASHINGTON, Feb. 1 (Xinhua) -- Suicide rate remained high among U.S. soldiers in Iraq last year and could reach record levels for the war, according to Pentagon records.

    Citing Pentagon figures, Thursday's Hartford Courant reported that 22 U.S. military deaths last year were ruled as self-inflicted and more than a dozen other cases are still under review.

    In 2006, suicide accounted for more than one in four of all noncombat U.S. Army deaths in Iraq.

    The number of confirmed suicides in 2006 matches the number in 2005, when the U.S. military suicide rate in Iraq reached 19.9 deaths per 100,000, the highest rate since the war began.

    However, with as many as 17 other U.S. military deaths still pending a final cause, the 2006 rate is likely to exceed the 2005 level.

    Veterans' advocates said the continued increase in suicides was troubling, given that the military has made safeguarding soldiers' mental health a priority.

    Col. Elspeth Ritchie, psychiatry consultant to the U.S. Army surgeon general, was quoted as saying that the Army was making a "concerted effort" to reduce the number of suicides in Iraq, including revising suicide-prevention training, with specialized programs targeted to recruits, commanders and deployed soldiers.

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Report: Pentagon lacks knowledge about Iraqi militias

    WASHINGTON, Feb. 1 (Xinhua) -- It's almost four years into the war in Iraq, and many Americans do not even know who the enemy is.

    But the Pentagon doesn't know much about it either, according to a report from Thursday's Boston Globe.

    In an interview with the newspaper, Paul Pillar, a Pentagon official, said the U.S. military is tracking at least 28 Iraqi militias, but knows little about their leadership or command structure.

Outgoing top U.S. commander in Iraq defends job performance

    WASHINGTON, Feb. 1 (Xinhua) -- The outgoing top U.S. commander in Iraq George Casey on Thursday defended his job performance, refusing to take the blame for U.S. failures and setbacks in that country.

Top U.S. Democrats back Republican senator's resolution against troop surge

    WASHINGTON, Feb. 1 (Xinhua) -- Top U.S. Democrats have pledged support to a senate resolution against President George W. Bush's Iraq plan drafted by Republican senator John Warner, CNN reported Thursday.

    In doing so, they abandoned a rival measure which is harsher in words to criticize Bush's decision to send 21,500 more troops to Iraq, according to the report.