Iraqi Medical Care on Verge of Collapse - USA/Terrorism/Turks & Kurds/Permanent USA Bases
Lori Hinnant; 20/2/08
Already a troubled system, Iraqi medical care has fallen to the brink of collapse since the US-led invasion five years ago. Scores of doctors have been slain, cancer patients have to hunt down their own drugs — even IV fluid is in short supply. Specialists are hard to find. At one point, Baghdad — a city of more than five million — had no neurosurgeon, said Dr. Hussein Al-Hilli, director of the Ibn Albitar Hospital in Baghdad. “This was something that was horrible because we had many head injuries, many spinal injuries,” Al-Hilli said. He described “big shortages of drugs, big shortages of everything” — including IV fluid. “This simple thing, we don’t have.”
See: http://www.arabnews.com/?page=4§ion=0&article=106989&d=20&m=2&y=2008
Trial of officials delayed till March/Misuse of Ambulances
The trial of two former Iraqi officials accused of letting Shiite militiamen use ambulances and hospitals to kidnap and kill rivals was delayed Tuesday because prosecution witnesses failed to show up, judicial officials said. Former deputy health minister Hakim Zamili and Brig. Gen. Hameed Shimmari are accused of having ties to the Mahdi Army, a militia loyal to anti-US cleric Moqtada Sadr. The case is seen as a test of Prime Minister Nouri Maliki’s willingness to crack down on Shiite extremists as well as Sunni insurgents. Maliki is a Shiite, who won office partly because of the support of Sadr’s followers, though he has since fallen out of favour among them.
See: http://www.jordantimes.com/?news=5817
Mosul girds for battle
Richard Tomkins; 20/2/08
U.S. and Iraqi army forces are setting the stage to oust al-Qaida from the northern city of Mosul, their last urban stronghold, following their route from Baquba. U.S. military spokesmen say more than 1,000 U.S. and Iraqi soldiers are moving from large bases on the fringe of Mosul and setting up combat operations posts, or COPS, in the perilous western side of the city as well as in portions of the east across the Tigris River. Elements from Iraq’s 2nd and 3rd Divisions, with Americans in support roles, are conducting community presence patrols, developing intelligence sources, and springing raids on suspected terrorist lairs.
See: http://www.metimes.com/International/2008/02/19/mosul_girds_for_battle/7542/
Turkey weighing land operation against PKK
20/2/08
Turkey is considering a ground operation against Kurdish rebels based in northern Iraq, private broadcaster CNN Turk quoted Foreign Minister Ali Babacan as saying on Tuesday. “The option of a ground operation is on the table. The timing [of such an operation] and weather conditions are important,” Babacan was quoted as saying. Turkey has massed tens of thousands of troops along its mountainous frontier with Iraq. It has already carried out several small-scale cross-border commando operations as well as aerial bombing raids against rebels of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).
See: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L19877589.htm
No permanent American bases, says Iraq minister
Jumana Al Tamimi; 20/2/08
Iraq will seek to reach a long-term political agreement that defines its relationship with the US, but will not approve a long-term military agreement that would include permanent American bases in Iraq, an Iraqi minister has said.Sharwan Al Waely, Iraqi State Minister for National Security Affairs, also hoped the next round of Iranian-US talks over Iraq, which was scheduled this week, would be held as early as possible after it was postponed for “technical reasons.”
See: http://www.gulfnews.com/region/Iraq/10191061.html