Putting faces on
“Collateral Damage”
The Bush administration says the
war has been successful because so far there have been only 500 casualties. From
our March, 24 2003 report on visits to the Yermouk and Al Kindy hospital trauma
centers, where hundreds of wounded and maimed patients have been treated over
the past five days, here are some of the success stories:
Roesio Salem, age 10 is from Hai Risal.
She went to the entrance of her home and told shouted to her father, “Bomb
coming!” at which point she was hit on the first day of the attack. She is 10
years old and has sustained severe chest injuries. We simply couldn’t take our
eyes off of her as she gently smiled at us from her hospital bed.
Fatima 10 years old, from Radwaniya.
She suffered multiple fractures when she and her family ran from their home, in
an urban area, on Friday evening, March 21. A wall fell down and she suffered a
fractured tibia. The family had no means of transport and had to wait until the
next morning to get her to a hospital. Her father, Abu Mustafa, who works as a
farm laborer, said, “We are like brothers and sisters to people in the
Ahmed Sabah, age 18, from the Al
Zafrania district, was inside his home at
Hamed Kathem, age 20 sustained injury
to his leg from shelling and arterial injury as well. He was in the courtyard of
his home in El Biladiya on March 20. “We haven’t gone to the
Khadem Wadi, age 63, of
Hosam Khaf, a 13 year old
boy from Baghdad Jeddidah, was injured on Friday, March 21st at
We felt
some relief in being able to tell patients and their families that people in
countries around the world are turning out for massive demonstrations against
the war.
Each of these victims whose bedsides we visited today will lie
still, hopefully recovering, with many hours to reflect on what has happened to
them. Peace activists who continue to fill jails in the
Kathy Kelly
is co-coordinator of Voices in the
Wilderness and the Iraq Peace Team, a group of international peaceworkers
remaining in