Chimp_nazis Obstruct Ambulances and Emergency Health Care for Citizens of Iraq--Fucking Junta Cowards with Guns
** Dahr Jamail's Iraq Dispatches **
** http://dahrjamailiraq.com **
December 13, 2004
U.S. Military Obstructing Medical Care
Inter Press Service
Dahr Jamail
BAGHDAD, Dec 13 (IPS) - The U.S. military has been preventing delivery
of medical care in several instances, medical staff say.
Iraqi doctors at many hospitals have reported raids by coalition forces.
Some of the more recent raids have been in Amiriyat al-Fallujah, about
10km to the east of Fallujah, the town to which U.S. forces have laid
bloody siege. Amiriyat al-Fallujah has been the source of several
reported resistance attacks on U.S. forces.
The main hospital in Amiriyat al-Fallujah was raided twice recently by
U.S. soldiers and members of the Iraqi National Guard, doctors say. ”The
first time was November 29 at 5:40am, and the second time was the
following day,” said a doctor at the hospital who did not want to give
his real name for fear of U.S. reprisals.
In the first raid about 150 U.S. soldiers and at least 40 members of the
Iraqi National Guard stormed the small hospital, he said.
”They were yelling loudly at everyone, both doctors and patients alike,”
the young doctor said. ”They divided into groups and were all over the
hospital. They broke the gates outside, they broke the doors of the
garage, and they raided our supply room where our food and supplies are.
They broke all the interior doors of the hospital, as well as every
exterior door.”
He was then interrogated about resistance fighters, he said. ”The
Americans threatened to do here what they did in Fallujah if I didn't
cooperate with them,” he said.
Another doctor, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that all of the
doors of the clinics inside the hospital were kicked in. All of the
doctors, along with the security guard were handcuffed and interrogated
for several hours, he said.
The two doctors pointed to an ambulance with a shattered back window.
”When the Americans raided our hospital again last Tuesday at 7pm, they
smashed one of our ambulances,” the first doctor said.
His colleague pointed to other bullet-riddled ambulances. ”The Americans
have snipers all along the road between here and Fallujah,” he said.
”They are shooting our ambulances if they try to go to Fallujah.”
In nearby Saqlawiyah, Dr Abdulla Aziz told IPS that occupation forces
had blocked any medical supplies from entering or leaving the city.
”They won't let any of our ambulances go to help Fallujah,” he said. ”We
are out of supplies and they won't let anyone bring us more.”
The pattern of military interference in medical work has apparently
persisted for many months. During the April siege of Fallujah, doctors
there reported similar difficulties.
”The marines have said they didn't close the hospital, but essentially
they did,” said Dr. Abdul Jabbar, orthopedic surgeon at Fallujah General
Hospital. ”They closed the bridge which connects us to the city, and
closed our road. The area in front of our hospital was full of their
soldiers and vehicles.”
This prevented medical care reaching countless patients in desperate
need, he said. ”Who knows how many of them died that we could have saved.”
He too said the military had fired on civilian ambulances. They had also
fired at the clinic he had been working in since April, he said. ”Some
days we couldn't leave, or even go near the door because of the snipers.
They were shooting at the front door of the clinic.”
Dr. Jabbar said U.S. snipers shot and killed one of the ambulance
drivers of the clinic where he worked during the fighting.
”We were tied up and beaten despite being unarmed and having only our
medical instruments,” Asma Khamis al-Muhannadi, a doctor who was present
during the U.S. and Iraqi National Guard raid on Fallujah General
Hospital told reporters later.
She said troops dragged patients from their beds and pushed them against
the wall.. ”I was with a woman in labour, the umbilical cord had not yet
been cut,” she said. ”At that time, a U.S. soldier shouted at one of the
(Iraqi) national guards to arrest me and tie my hands while I was
helping the mother to deliver.”
Other doctors spoke of their experience of the raid. ”The Americans shot
out the lights in the front of our hospital, they prevented doctors from
reaching the emergency unit at the hospital, and we quickly began to run
out of supplies and much needed medication,” said Dr. Ahmed, who gave
only a first name. U.S. troops prevented doctors from entering the
hospital on several occasions, he said.
Targeting hospitals or ambulances is in direct contravention of the
Fourth Geneva Convention, which strictly forbids attacks on emergency
vehicles and the impeding of medical operations during war.
At several places doctors said U.S. troops had demanded information from
medical staff about resistance fighters. ”They are always coming here
and asking us if we have injured fighters,” a doctor at a hospital said.
A U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad told IPS that routine searches of
hospitals are carried out to look for insurgents. He said it has never
been the policy of coalition forces to impede medical services in Iraq.
(Edit added later--Dec 14) *aj*
7 Marines have been killed in Al-Anbar province-read Fallujah. Does the
military think it helps them to not announce that there has been ongoing
heavy fighting in Fallujah for the last few days? How does this help the
families of the soldiers there? What is this like for the loved ones
back home who are living in an information blackout? When they know that
the only hard news they will truly get from the military is when they
are informed that their loved one is dead?
Families of the soldiers watch the news for the horrible car bombs,
hoping against hope someone they know wasn’t there. Imagine living like
that each day.
Heavy fighting continues, as do the car bombs, as a relatively ‘quiet’
few days were followed by more blood. Thus has been the pattern
throughout the occupation. Except the periods of ‘calm’ are shorter, and
the bloodshed more widespread than ever.
Expect this to continue until the ‘elections’ as well as afterwards.
It’s called escalation.
I’m in Jordan for a break, and will return to Iraq in January well
before the end of that month.
I want to thank everyone for the amazing support and readership. Without
your help, this work would not be possible. I’ll be out of email contact
for about a week, then back to work posting stories and blogs I’d
written in Iraq, but didn’t have time to post.
(Stay safe, Dahr)
** http://dahrjamailiraq.com **
December 13, 2004
U.S. Military Obstructing Medical Care
Inter Press Service
Dahr Jamail
BAGHDAD, Dec 13 (IPS) - The U.S. military has been preventing delivery
of medical care in several instances, medical staff say.
Iraqi doctors at many hospitals have reported raids by coalition forces.
Some of the more recent raids have been in Amiriyat al-Fallujah, about
10km to the east of Fallujah, the town to which U.S. forces have laid
bloody siege. Amiriyat al-Fallujah has been the source of several
reported resistance attacks on U.S. forces.
The main hospital in Amiriyat al-Fallujah was raided twice recently by
U.S. soldiers and members of the Iraqi National Guard, doctors say. ”The
first time was November 29 at 5:40am, and the second time was the
following day,” said a doctor at the hospital who did not want to give
his real name for fear of U.S. reprisals.
In the first raid about 150 U.S. soldiers and at least 40 members of the
Iraqi National Guard stormed the small hospital, he said.
”They were yelling loudly at everyone, both doctors and patients alike,”
the young doctor said. ”They divided into groups and were all over the
hospital. They broke the gates outside, they broke the doors of the
garage, and they raided our supply room where our food and supplies are.
They broke all the interior doors of the hospital, as well as every
exterior door.”
He was then interrogated about resistance fighters, he said. ”The
Americans threatened to do here what they did in Fallujah if I didn't
cooperate with them,” he said.
Another doctor, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that all of the
doors of the clinics inside the hospital were kicked in. All of the
doctors, along with the security guard were handcuffed and interrogated
for several hours, he said.
The two doctors pointed to an ambulance with a shattered back window.
”When the Americans raided our hospital again last Tuesday at 7pm, they
smashed one of our ambulances,” the first doctor said.
His colleague pointed to other bullet-riddled ambulances. ”The Americans
have snipers all along the road between here and Fallujah,” he said.
”They are shooting our ambulances if they try to go to Fallujah.”
In nearby Saqlawiyah, Dr Abdulla Aziz told IPS that occupation forces
had blocked any medical supplies from entering or leaving the city.
”They won't let any of our ambulances go to help Fallujah,” he said. ”We
are out of supplies and they won't let anyone bring us more.”
The pattern of military interference in medical work has apparently
persisted for many months. During the April siege of Fallujah, doctors
there reported similar difficulties.
”The marines have said they didn't close the hospital, but essentially
they did,” said Dr. Abdul Jabbar, orthopedic surgeon at Fallujah General
Hospital. ”They closed the bridge which connects us to the city, and
closed our road. The area in front of our hospital was full of their
soldiers and vehicles.”
This prevented medical care reaching countless patients in desperate
need, he said. ”Who knows how many of them died that we could have saved.”
He too said the military had fired on civilian ambulances. They had also
fired at the clinic he had been working in since April, he said. ”Some
days we couldn't leave, or even go near the door because of the snipers.
They were shooting at the front door of the clinic.”
Dr. Jabbar said U.S. snipers shot and killed one of the ambulance
drivers of the clinic where he worked during the fighting.
”We were tied up and beaten despite being unarmed and having only our
medical instruments,” Asma Khamis al-Muhannadi, a doctor who was present
during the U.S. and Iraqi National Guard raid on Fallujah General
Hospital told reporters later.
She said troops dragged patients from their beds and pushed them against
the wall.. ”I was with a woman in labour, the umbilical cord had not yet
been cut,” she said. ”At that time, a U.S. soldier shouted at one of the
(Iraqi) national guards to arrest me and tie my hands while I was
helping the mother to deliver.”
Other doctors spoke of their experience of the raid. ”The Americans shot
out the lights in the front of our hospital, they prevented doctors from
reaching the emergency unit at the hospital, and we quickly began to run
out of supplies and much needed medication,” said Dr. Ahmed, who gave
only a first name. U.S. troops prevented doctors from entering the
hospital on several occasions, he said.
Targeting hospitals or ambulances is in direct contravention of the
Fourth Geneva Convention, which strictly forbids attacks on emergency
vehicles and the impeding of medical operations during war.
At several places doctors said U.S. troops had demanded information from
medical staff about resistance fighters. ”They are always coming here
and asking us if we have injured fighters,” a doctor at a hospital said.
A U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad told IPS that routine searches of
hospitals are carried out to look for insurgents. He said it has never
been the policy of coalition forces to impede medical services in Iraq.
(Edit added later--Dec 14) *aj*
7 Marines have been killed in Al-Anbar province-read Fallujah. Does the
military think it helps them to not announce that there has been ongoing
heavy fighting in Fallujah for the last few days? How does this help the
families of the soldiers there? What is this like for the loved ones
back home who are living in an information blackout? When they know that
the only hard news they will truly get from the military is when they
are informed that their loved one is dead?
Families of the soldiers watch the news for the horrible car bombs,
hoping against hope someone they know wasn’t there. Imagine living like
that each day.
Heavy fighting continues, as do the car bombs, as a relatively ‘quiet’
few days were followed by more blood. Thus has been the pattern
throughout the occupation. Except the periods of ‘calm’ are shorter, and
the bloodshed more widespread than ever.
Expect this to continue until the ‘elections’ as well as afterwards.
It’s called escalation.
I’m in Jordan for a break, and will return to Iraq in January well
before the end of that month.
I want to thank everyone for the amazing support and readership. Without
your help, this work would not be possible. I’ll be out of email contact
for about a week, then back to work posting stories and blogs I’d
written in Iraq, but didn’t have time to post.
(Stay safe, Dahr)
posted by A. J. Franklin @ 16:26
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