"We're helpless," says Iraqi surgeon ("They use cluster bombs")

[Barrett808]

We're helpless says Iraqi surgeon
By REBECCA TORR
13 April 2006

IRAQI doctors are being stretched to their limit having to treat war casualties with little medical supplies, staff and time, says a top plastic surgeon.

Iraqi consultant plastic surgeon Dr Zakaria Arajy, from Baghdad, said there were huge numbers of war casualties needing reconstructive surgery but due to the lack of medical resources and too few doctors, waiting lists were becoming longer and people of all ages were suffering.

"The number of casualties is high and this means you can't give patients what they need, so you give them primary treatment and have to do the reconstructive surgery later," said Dr Arajy's, whose patient waiting list now stands at 14 to 15 months.

"There are also severe shortages in pharmaceuticals, suturing materials and anaesthetics. We don't have a steady flow of medical supplies. Another problem is the experienced surgeons, scientists and medical brains have been killed, kidnapped and threatened and lots of people have left the country."

(more; warning graphic image of burned, traumatized Iraqi boy)

http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/Story.asp?Article=140771&Sn=BNEW&IssueID=29024

[MadMaddie]

1. This is simply unacceptable.....

Why are these hospitals not getting supplies....for crying out loud....

[leftchick]

2. beacuse it is not profitable

would be my guess. :(

[MadMaddie]

3. Damn...you are so right.....I am sure we will hear about

Halliburton going into the Medical supply field...

[NYC]

4. Do I have a vague recollection of Laura Bush dedicating or

funding children's hospitals in Iraq? Was that part of the propaganda less than a year ago?

[0007]

14. Let's see Laura go to these children hospitals now with her

two for a nickle one for a dime rhetoric

[OneBlueSky]

5. the use of cluster bombs ranks right up there with . . .

the use of depleted uranium weapons as war crimes of the highest order . . . the "collateral damage" that each causes takes them far beyond the legitimate uses of weaponry in wartime . . .

on edit: it continues to amaze and disgust me that our "leaders" in Congress remain mute about the kinds of weapons BushCo is using in Iraq . . . and their disastrous impact on the civilian population . . . they KNOW about it, but they refuse to DO -- or even SAY -- anything about it . . .

maybe because the own stock in the weapons manufacturers? . . . or because those companies have plants in their states/districts? . . . just speculating, mind you, but I wouldn't be surprised . . .

[shanti]

7. thank you

that's one thing that princess diana was so so right about and that's fighting these terrible weapons.

[Barrett808]

10. This was expected with the increase in air strikes...

...to compensate for US troops going into "force-protection" mode.

ITMFA

[shanti]

6. this is so horrifying....

:( :( :mad:

man's inhumanity against man...

[saigon68]

8. There is more coming

As the NeoCons fatten their wallets

[LynnTheDem]

9. America's inhumanity against man. And woman. And baby.

And that's exactly how the world sees it.

[Barrett808]

18. "Helping them into the next world," as a Nazi infamously said of the Jews

I don't recall which one, but this was reported in The Architect of Genocide (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0874515963/sr=8-1/qid=1144953973/ref=sr_1_1/103-2730935-6778244?%5Fencoding=UTF8).

[twaddler01]

11. Add this to the list of other problems in Iraq

:eyes:

[hlthe2b]

12. God, what a compelling face...

I so cringe with guilt for what has been done to these people in OUR name. :cry:

[bdamomma]

15. that is why

we must take action before the rest of world think the American people are as bad as their politicians. Geez, this is just disgusting, Iran watch out.

[Gregorian]

13. Told you!!! This was news years ago on non-msm.

To see news of the mothers in agony whose beloved children were killed in their own homes by OUR cluster bombs, was the worst sight I could ever see.

They used illegal bombs in an illegal war due to an illegal president.

Their love of money and power, cost us our world.

[PaDem]

16. Now wait one darn minute here!

Didn't the fine GOP candidate running for Duke Cunningham's congressional seat say that all is well in Iraq? He even had pictures of Burger King and all. How can this be?

[leftchick]

17. Iraq: Amid violence, health workers appeal for blood donations

What a hell hole bush has made....

:(

http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/LSGZ-6NSJ49?OpenDocument

BAGHDAD, 12 April (IRIN) - The National Blood Transfusion Centre (NBTC) in the capital, Baghdad, is making urgent appeals for blood donations due to a shortage caused by the worsening security situation and rising sectarian violence.

"We need reagents, gloves, syringes and - above all - we need blood donors to help their Iraqi brothers who are suffering due to the lack of blood for transfusions," said NBTC Director Dr Hayder al-Shammari. "We can't meet the demand, and this could cause very serious problems in the coming days." He added that the NBTC's blood banks, used now only in emergency cases, were almost depleted.

Ahmed Odey, a haematologist at the centre, said that about 15 percent of all blood donated locally was rejected due to the presence of infections and other defects. "We practically haven't found any cases of HIV, but hepatitis commonly comes up in laboratory tests," said Odey.

According to al-Shammari, the demand for blood has tripled since last December and has escalated further within the last couple weeks of rising violence. "We were supplying Baghdad with about 300 blood bags per day last year," said al-Shammari. "These days, though, this number can climb as high as 1,000 bags a day."