Mail for troops overwhelms postal service

Are Americans showing too much support for troops in Iraq? The US military and post office have been so inundated with unsolicited care pack...

Are Americans showing too much support for troops in Iraq? The US military and post office have been so inundated with unsolicited care packages intended for the troops that postal officials say the deluge is slowing delivery of mail from family and friends.

Packages addressed to unnamed soldiers are considered a security risk and cannot be delivered, so the US Postal Service is urging Americans to stop sending such items — even though the mail is usually shipped off with good intentions and the request will mean a cut in Postal Service revenue.

Since the war began, the volume of mail shipped to Kuwait has jumped from 21,000 pounds per week in October 2002 to 500,000 pounds a day this month, forcing the Postal Service to add two chartered 747 cargo jets a week to deliver the extra mail.

‘‘This incredible assault of mail is competing with mail from loved ones,’’ Postal Service spokesman Mark Saunders said. After the 9/11 attacks, the US Postal Service cancelled programmes that let people send packages addressed to ‘‘any soldier’’ deployed abroad. Nevertheless, since the Iraq war began, such packages have been flooding post offices across the country. When such parcels are sent, the postal service either returns the packages or destroys them. (LATWP)

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