From Holden:
Japan will withdraw its 550 soldiers from their non-combat mission in Iraq in December, according to a media report Wednesday.
Baghdad International Airport is too dangerous to be used by it’s only civilian aircarrier.
Royal Jordanian (RJ) maintained the suspension of its flights to Baghdad for the third consecutive day on Tuesday pending safety clearance from Iraqi civil aviation authorities.
The national carrier suspended its two daily flights to Baghdad on Sunday following an increase in mortar attacks on the airport.
The national carrier will resume its Baghdad flights once the Iraqi Civil Aviation Authority (ICAA) issues ground safety clearance, an RJ source told The Jordan Times yesterday.
[snip]
Increasing mortar attacks on and around Baghdad Airport also prompted the ICAA to suspend Iraqi Airways flights to Jordan until further notice.
RJ, the first commercial airline to resume flights to Baghdad following the US-led invasion, has provided an alternate route for those wishing to avoid the seven hour overland trip to the war-torn country.
Returning troops, accustomed to living dangerously in Iraq and Afghanistan, are dying at an alarming rate on our highways.
Troops who survive war and return home from battle still have a tough fight to stay alive. “USA Today” compiled statistics showing that 132 soldiers died in car accidents from October 2003 to September 2004. Two-thirds of them were veterans of Iraq or Afghanistan.
Also, in the past seven months 80 soldiers were killed in traffic accidents and most of them had served in Iraq or Afghanistan.
The report indicates that most of those killed were safe and disciplined drivers before they were called to war.
Psychiatrist Jonathan Shay told “USA Today” that combat has altered the behavior of soldiers home from Iraq, just as it did with Vietnam veterans.
[snip]
Shay offers an explanation. He says the soldiers return home with an air of invincibility and actively seek out danger, many times in the form of excessive speed.