Monday, September 22, 2003 Burned Children and the Army
An old story from Iraq has resurfaced and I wanted to post a response from the Army that another blogger received, so that I have it for future reference. The story was an interview with an MP named Borell, about an Iraqi family with burned children that turned up at the gates of an Army camp looking for treatment. Two American doctors looked at the kids and sent them away.Silflay Hraka got this letter:
Sir,
Thank you for being intelligent and reasonable enough to understand that there is more than one side to this story. You would not believe the amount of hate mail and insults that I have received from people who clearly have no idea what they are talking about.
I will tell you that I cannot change that policy, not because I don't want to but because I don't have that authority. As a Public Affairs Officer, I don't create Army policy, I merely explain it to the public. Whether or not I agree with the policy is irrelevant.
I will caution you that you can't believe everything you read in the media, especially from a reporter with a clear bias against the U.S. and its actions around the world. I was actually there when those kids arrived, the reporter was not. As for SGT Borell, who began this with his letter to the media, I cannot begin to explain why he believes he has more expert knowledge in the field of medicine than the doctors who evaluated these two children. Yes, there were only two injured children. Another error in the media.
Now, before you begin to think that I am a heartless military bureaucrat, let me tell you that I am married and have two children, a boy and a girl, about the same ages as the Iraqi children. I also know about a child's pain and suffering and the anguish a parent goes through when his child is hurt. Two years ago I lost my youngest son, Alex, at age 7 months after losing the fight with a brain tumor. I spent Father's Day, June 15th, the 2nd anniversary of his death, right here in Iraq.
I was concerned about those Iraqi children, too, but they had already been to an Iraqi clinic and now, over 24 hours later, were at our gate. There is an Iraqi hospital nearby and that's where it is recommended that they go. The military hospital is truly not set up and equipped to care for pediatric patients. It is staffed and equipped to handle adult battle casualties (trauma) and non-battle injuries and illnesses. The small hospital covers the 16,000 soldiers stationed here.
I am enclosing the original email that I sent to Donna Abu-Nasr, the AP reporter. You can see that she used only what she needed to support her angle on the story and generate more sympathy and controversy. It is a 'self-licking ice cream cone'. No matter what we say or do the facts will be manipulated to suit the needs of the writer.
We are doing a great deal here to help the Iraqi people, in a variety of ways, all the while trying to protect the innocent Iraqis, our soldiers and coalition forces and all the aid agencies and journalists here. It is a massive undertaking which is not being made any easier by the lack of cooperation on the part of the Iraqis in general and especially by the Iraqis and foreign elements who spend their days and nights shooting at us while we try to help.
Another view that I saw relating to this issue claims that we caused this and it was our fault for not protecting the hospitals from being looted. Who exactly do people think looted the hospitals? Organized criminal elements? Looting is a national pastime here and is conducted by everyone; men, women, children, old and young alike. You cannot leave your home unattended here as you can in other countries because you do not run the risk of being robbed, you run the risk of coming back and finding out that everything of even the most remote value gone. Looters here will take doors, windows, plumbing, bathroom fixtures, lights, wiring, and duct work.
You really need to be on the ground here to fully understand what it is like. I have been here for 130 days and I spent 6 months in the Persian Gulf in 90-91 during Desert Storm, including working in the refugee camp at Safwan.
I realize that this is a rather lengthy email and that it may come across as being defensive but I wanted to make you aware of the facts that you may not find in the media.
I did truly feel bad for those two kids and I wanted to see them helped. I wish we could help all the children here and maybe someday we will be able to do that. If you had the opportunity to talk to the soldiers here, you would find that the majority of the our people are sympathetic to the Iraqis' plight and are very interested in helping the these people and as quickly as possible improving their overall quality of life. In our own small way now we are doing that and we will enable the Iraqis to help themselves too. But we cannot make them help themselves. It breaks my heart to see the kids here, running around barefoot in the street, most often with absolutely no adult supervision at all. It appears to be ingrained in the culture and they don't seem to be aware of the risks. Of course it is dangerous here; it is a postwar environment and the country is littered with explosives and ordnance, most of it abandoned by the Iraqi Army. Much if it also was looted from Army bases prior to the U.S. forces arrival. We have units dedicated to policing up and safely disposing of this stuff, just as we have units dedicated to evaluating and assisting medical facilities. These children were injured because they lit the explosive substance on fire. Almost as soon as we arrived here we recognized the dangers to the civilian population and instituted a campaign to warn and educate the local population about these dangers. If I had my way, I would institute the same standards and laws to protect the safety of children that we have, such as child labor laws, seatbelt/car seat laws, nutrition and day care policies.
It appears the Iraqis have not had these in the past and it may be a long time before they have them. But in any case we are here to help and to paraphrase President Teddy Roosevelt, we are doing the best we can, with what we have, where we are.
Thank you for your continuing support of our troops.
Proudly Serving,
Major Dave Accetta Donna,
In response to your initial question, the policy here is that we only consider treatment for patients who have emergency conditions threatening life, limb or eyesight of an acute nature, not as a result of a chronic medical condition.
The first assessment is conducted by the military police medic and if a patient is assessed as possibly meeting the criteria, the hospital dispatches an ambulance and physician to conduct a more thorough assessment.
According to the physician who responded and assessed the condition of the patients, their injuries were not life-threatening or a threat to loss of limb or eyesight. They were directed to the appropriate Iraqi civilian hospital with the level of care necessary for the injuries sustained.
In order to help the Iraqis help themselves and establish their own medical treatment facilities we are conducting a number of medical humanitarian projects. We have converted the former Ba'ath Party headquarters in the local town of Ad Dujayl into a clinic as well as other medical programs extending medical treatment to the Iraqis. All of our humanitarian assistance projects include bringing medics to treat local civilians and one medic recently treated over 80 people during one visit.
Our goal is for the Iraqis to use their own existing infrastructure and become self-sufficient, not dependent on U.S. forces for medical care. We, along with OCPA and different U.S. and international non-governmental organizations, are working to restore and improve Iraqi medical treatment facilities as well as other humanitarian projects designed to enhance quality of life for the Iraqi people. Achieving this allows the Iraqi people access to appropriate and acceptable health care as well as leaves them less dependent on our forces.
Under the Fourth Geneva Convention we have the following medical responsibility to the Iraqi civilian population:
"To the fullest extent of the means available to it, the Occupying (Liberating) Power has the duty of ensuring and maintaining, with the cooperation of national and local authorities, the medical and hospital establishments and services, public health and hygiene in the occupied (liberated) territory, with particular reference to the adoption and application of the prophylactic and preventive measures necessary to combat the spread of contagious diseases and epidemics."
Major David Accetta
Public Affairs Officer
3D Corps Support Command -- posted by Chuck at Monday, September 22, 2003 | E-mail | Permalink | Main |
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