Brother Duke in Iraq - July 30

Great questions from the Cradle:

I was asked to see a 10 year old Iraqi girl the other day. She had beautiful olive skin, a very delicately thin body, very pretty brown hair and a hole in her chest from a bullet. I was called because she needed an echocardiogram to verify that her heart was not damaged by a bullet from an insurgent’s gun that violated her chest. To see an injured child brings out emotions in all of us working in the hospital that day. What does a situation like this make me think of?

A lot of things!!! Bear with me while I set up some background.

The latest polls state that 61% of Iraqis believe the country is going in the right direction. 58% of US citizens do not believe there will ever be a democratic Iraq. There are a couple of disconnects in the poll results. One is Iraqis are eye witnesses and the US is reacting to the news media, which is consistently showcasing the work of the insurgency. The other is that what the US population and what the Iraqis consider the right direction may not be the same thing.

I think what is discouraging the US population is the daily attacks of the insurgents and claims that we are making little head way in improving Iraq. There are some facts surrounding the current conditions in Iraq that are rarely discussed by the media. First of all, there is steady progress in the rebuilding of Iraq: power, water, education, sewage are all improving. There are two reasons why the improvements are not occurring more quickly:

1) Insurgents are purposely targeting projects that improve the quality of the Iraqi’s lives e.g., blowing up a water pumping station

2) Most of the reconstruction plans the US had counted on, included the work of non-governmental organizations or NGOs.

Many NGOs had lined up to work on everything from medical care to education and were anxious to see the condition of the Iraqi people improve after years of neglect due to war and the greed and corruption of the leaders. As I have flown over Iraq I have seen probably a hundred palaces which are juxtaposed with slums. So what happened to the NGOs? Many have left due to the efforts of the insurgents targeting aid workers. I hope people can see how the insurgents are directly responsible for the lack of the Iraqi’s lives improving more quickly. What does the media report? The most recent report I saw was quoting the Council for Foreign Relations said the US failed to plan for the reconstruction of Iraq. I disagree. What has happened is that the insurgents have been very effective at slowing the reconstruction either directly or indirectly. It appears that they would rather have the Iraqi people poor, sick, uneducated, and under bondage, than free.

I once again ask why aren’t the Arab nations condemning the actions of the insurgents? The toll on the US Military is really quite small but the effect on the Iraqis is profound. It is clear to those of us here that innocent civilians are getting most of the insurgent’s wrath. Where are all of the “peace loving Muslims”? A recent poll in Britain showed that 25% of the Muslims living in Britain supported the work of the terrorist’s efforts in London on 7/7/2005. I do not hear very much from the other 75%. I would imagine that the number supporting the terrorists would be much higher in predominantly Islamic nations.

Why aren’t the rich Arab nations working harder to improve the plight of their fellow Arabs; since, it seems they do not want the US or NGOs to do it? The Palestinians in the Gaza strip are a great example of their failure. The living conditions have been described as deplorable. Instead of holding the Arab nations accountable, Israel is often blamed for the living conditions of the Palestinians. The failure of the Arabs to take care of their own has been repeatedly demonstrated since the 1940’s and they have been blaming Israel for their failure.

The reason I bring this issue up is because it is part of the history and culture that I believe is driving the current situation. With oil above 50 dollars a barrel many of the Arab nations have had a dramatic increase in their profits. Where do those profits go? In part to Palaces and lifestyles that are inconceivable to 99% of the population and obviously some make their way to financing the weapons of insurgents, everything from make shift bombs to bullets. Bullets like the one that ripped through the little Iraqi girl’s chest and severely damaged her left lung. It is clear that the US cares for the lives of the children of Iraq. We received this girl after the Iraqi hospital didn’t feel they could care for her. They knew we would and we could. The Coalition has hospitals that care for US soldiers, insurgents, and innocent civilians just like this precious little girl. I consider it an honor to be allowed to be a part of this girls care.

As of yet I have not heard of the insurgents opening a hospital to care for the all of the innocent people their bombs and bullets have injured.

Soli Deo Gloria
More thoughts to come