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| Iraq-Jordan |
| USA Providing Prosthetics to Iraqis Whose Hands Were Amputated |
| 2004-04-20 |
| As Iraq rebuilds after 35 years of oppression and cruelty under Saddam Hussein, seven men and their families will finally begin to repair the pieces of their lives destroyed by Saddamâs injustice. The men, punished in 1996 for allegedly dealing in foreign currency and sentenced to lose their healthy right hands, passed through Rhein-Main Air Base, Germany, April 5 on their way to Houston, Texas. Theyâre scheduled to receive prosthetic hands at the Houston Medical Center. âBesides having our hands amputated, we were scarred on our foreheads, between our eyebrows,â said Alaâa Abdul Hussien Hassan, one of the men, noting an âXâ tattoo between his eyes. A video of the surgery, made by the Makhabarat, Saddamâs secret police, revealed the horror that these men and their families suffered through. Donald North, video producer and former television correspondent, discovered the videotape and the mensâ stories while he worked as the senior advisor for the Iraqi Media Network in Baghdad. âI was amazed and shocked by the tape,â said Mr. North. âIt clearly showed doctors working with surgical instruments cutting through and severing these healthy hands. The victims were under anesthetics, and while they were still under, they had these black crosses tattooed to their foreheads.â After watching the videotape last spring, Mr. North not only convinced the Iraqis to tell their story, but also coordinated a trip to get the men to America and receive new hands. The article continues. |
| Posted by:Mike Sylwester |
| #7 Since we have many members of the infamous deck of cards in custody, why don't we see if there are any tissue matches for transplant surgery. Wouldn't that be better to have the criminal with the hook. |
| Posted by: Anonymous4052 2004-04-20 4:19:48 PM |
| #6 The next time we liberate an weasel country we'll likely need to a modification these prosthetics. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2004-04-20 1:18:48 PM |
| #5 I read a recent article about US doctors doing plastic surgery on those Iraqis who had their ears cut off by Sammy's boyz. The boyz also taped those incidents, IIRC. (What is it about fascists/nazis and their record-keeping?) |
| Posted by: Spot 2004-04-20 9:42:17 AM |
| #4 It's not just sad that it's not getting play, it's digusting. The members of the press apparently have been given their jobs based soley on their ability to stick to the media's party line. What a buncha sub-human losers!! No wonder they are rated lower than car salesmen on the respect scale. I think the only thing that rated lower than media was politicians. Every now and then I watch the 700 club news channel, to see some news that varies from the identical feed offered by all big networks. Christian groups have been doing things like this for YEARS. Fascinating, good things, re: someone who has organized a program for free surgery, orphanages, food programs, relief from famine, etc. I remember one about Israeli surgeons who performed, for free, plastic surgery on deformed Palestinian children. It was a great show, fascinating, interesting and with an abundance of good will to go around. But TRUST ME, you will NEVER, EVER, see even a HINT of their good work on the major networks or newspapers. Apparently the editors/producers would turn into stone if they even looked at these stories. |
| Posted by: B 2004-04-20 9:10:34 AM |
| #3 Question is,Icecold. What was thier response to this Imam? |
| Posted by: raptor 2004-04-20 8:34:14 AM |
| #2 Don's an old colleague of mine and he worked very hard to make this very good thing happen. Lots of folks have contributed, from the US armed forces for transport, Continental Airlines, the doctors and staff, and others who paid for the prosthetics. Perhaps sadly typical, however, is that this story is getting precious little play in Iraq or the Arab world. No TV stations are interested in the documentary -- including the network we've set up in Iraq! This is a compelling tale touching on the moral core of this war (Iraqi suffering and US help) -- ya think it would be good to have Iraqis and neighboring Arabs seeing this story? A great anecdote from the Houston visit. Don said they took the men to a mosque for services last Friday, and an imam there treated these thankful and hopeful victims of barbaric repression, ecstatic at the help they're now getting from America, to a lecture critical of the US for invading Iraq. The mind boggles, then boggles again. It's a world gone stupid. |
| Posted by: IceCold 2004-04-20 1:42:50 AM |
| #1 Are we a nice country, or what! It's such a boost to hear some good news. You know, they were going to give John F'himself Kerry a prosthetic brain, but discovered that his head had grown so enormously large that it would be dangerous to give him a regular brain. The rattling of such would be noisy and obtrusive, so his surgery has been postponed while we wait for better technology. (He's going to keep his tiny one for now--aides assured him that it's enough to be a Democrat leader.) During the discussions, one medical attendant looking into the Kerry case suggested that Kerry should be given the prosthetic brain and that jello be used to fill in the "gaps" in Kerry's big head--but it was quickly mentioned that it had been tried already on Hillary Clinton and it didn't work. They had to remove her prosthetic brain entirely. They left the jello in, though. Seems to work well for her. Oops. Am I off topic . . .? |
| Posted by: ex-lib 2004-04-20 1:10:55 AM |