A Chicago Presbyterian tells a painful tale of frustration
[7-6-05]

Len Bjorkman, co-moderator of the Presbyterian Peace Fellowship, introduces this report:

Anita David, an active member of the Lakeview Presbyterian Church in Chicago, is in Iraq with the Christian Peacemaker Team from June to September. As a full-timer with CPT, she was there in the summer of 2004, and is again there during the extremely hot weather.

One of the main activities of CPT is to work with families whose members have been taken by the US military and who endeavor to find out where they are or to visit them. CPT also helps Iraqis who have been injured in the fighting.

The Presbyterian Peace Fellowship considers Anita to be "our person in Baghdad" and forwards her reports to anyone who requests them. If you’d like to receive her reports, send an e-mail to PPF co-moderator, Len Bjorkman

Here is a portion of one of Anita’s emotion-packed reports, sent after very exasperating days of being caught in the bureaucratic maze:

Bad week. I am sick of hearing "Come back in a few days," or "I don't know," or "That's at some other ministry." I hate everybody in the government, both U.S. and Iraqi, everybody in a uniform both U.S. and Iraqi, everybody in any position of authority, especially contractors, both U.S. and Iraqi, working on anything anywhere in Iraq. I hate everybody who can't do anything about anything because ...(fill in the blank). I hate generators, plastic water bottles, street patrols, checkpoints, Iraqi Police who ride in the back of U.S. supplied Nissan pick-ups firing at will, like stupid, drunken cowboys. I hate the Badr brigade, El Hussein brigade, a brigade I can't remember the name of. I hate everybody, or did until Omar (my wonderful neighbor) asked me: "Even those who love you?" . . .

Do not read this before you go to bed. It's not gory. It's enormously frustrating.

A summary:

Ministry of Health - Met with 2 physicians, a man who is the Director of the International Health Department and a woman who is Director of the Medical Committee. This Medical Committee determines whether or not an Iraqi has a medical condition that cannot be treated in Iraq. If the Committee approves a case it is then sent to the Director of International Health to await assistance from international NGOs. We were told there is a backlog of between 6,000 and 7,000 cases that have been approved for out of country treatment. There are ten 4-drawer cabinets, which contain the case files. Forty drawers arranged by illness, by age and (I'm guessing here) in the case of transplants, by time contingency. We learned only six cases had been sent out of country during all of 2004 (all to Bulgaria). Both doctors were very excited to note that a Spanish NGO had just agreed to bring 80-100 children into Spain and will cover all costs for treatment and transportation of the patient and would also pay for one parent to accompany their child. By the way, this is the first ministry where every office I looked into as we passed by had only one or two people who were at work, instead of the usual 5 or 6 men sitting around smoking and talking. My neighbor, Omar, told me that I didn't understand: the Ministry of Health is not a political Ministry and .....

Mohammad - I met Mohammad and his grandmother at the protest at the Ministry of Human Rights. She carried a plastic bag with Mohammad's medical file. Through an interpreter we learned that he had been playing in his front yard, swinging on a gate. He was found lying on the ground with blood coming from his head. Mohammad was taken to the doctor where he was treated for a fall - he was given stitches. That night Mohammad was found unconscious and bleeding from his right eye. He was taken to the doctor again where he was more carefully examined - received a CAT scan. The doctors concluded Mohammad had been shot. There is a scar on the right side of his head where no hair grows. It shows the entry and exit points of the bullet. What the first doctor couldn't see is the damage that was done to the eye, which includes a detached retina as well as 2 other conditions, which I didn't copy down. We met with Mohammad and his grandmother again. We asked her to get a letter from the second Doctor explaining his condition, the treatment he needs and to state that treatment is not available in Iraq. We also asked her to get any documentation that the U.S. was responsible for the gunfire that wounded Mohammad. At a third meeting she presented a letter from the Doctor stating the above and a letter from the Iraqi Police stating there was activity on that date in Mohammad's neighborhood.

We will accompany Mohammad and his grandmother and the plastic bag with his medical records to the Iraqi Assistance Center inside the Green Zone, to their medical department. You must have 2 pieces of identification with your picture. There are 2 stops for i.d. and 2 stops for a pat down. This department was created to help Iraqis who have proof (a note from the soldier) that they or a family member were injured by U.S. forces. We will stand in line until we are able to meet with the lone Iraqi doctor. The Iraqi doctor takes the information and medical history. He passes it along to the military who determine whether or not the military was responsible for the injury, or in different circumstances, a death. Perhaps a week later, we will return to learn the decision of the military.

The Ministry of Health hospital is nearby the Green Zone. We will proceed to the hospital where we will present the same information to the Ministry of Health. They will have to confirm the statement of Mohammad's treating physician that he cannot be treated in Iraq. His file will then be added to the appropriate drawer.

Anita added later: