WASHINGTON, May 16: The US Army appears to have 'inappropriately' deployed soldiers to Iraq who already were diagnozed with mental problems, according to documents obtained by UPI.

More than two dozen suicides by US troops in Iraq and hundreds of medical evacuations for psychiatric problems have raised concerns about the mental health of US soldiers in Iraq, says the report.

An Army Medical Department after-action report obtained suggests that the Army sent some soldiers to war who were mentally unfit in the first place. "Variability in pre-deployment screening guidelines for mental health issues may have resulted in some soldiers with mental health diagnoses being inappropriately deployed," the report said.

That could "create the impression that some soldiers develop problems in theatre, when, in some cases, they actually have pre-existing conditions." The October 2003 report said the army should consider quickly changing course to prevent deploying more soldiers with mental problems. In a massive troop rotation now under way, more than 100,000 troops are heading to the region.

Steve Robinson, executive director of the veterans' National Gulf War Resource Center, has been pressing the Pentagon since 2001 to better screen soldiers for health issues. Robinson, a former Army Ranger, said he was worried about mental problems and suicides among troops in Iraq.

Since last summer, the Pentagon has been investigating a string of suicides in Iraq and Kuwait and mental issues among troops there. Top Pentagon health officials told Congress last month that personal problems- family and money issues- appeared to be the root cause of the suicides.

The Pentagon says at least 21 soldiers have committed suicide in Iraq or Kuwait, making the rate of suicides there higher than expected. Another five deaths there are being investigated as possible suicides and at least another six service-members have killed themselves after returning home.