Iraq Violence Opens Up Old Wounds for Vets
NBC News
BY BILL BRIGGS
June 13, 2014
While watching Iraq devolve deeper into chaos, many Iraq veterans are freshly remembering battle buddies lost in that land — leading some to yearn for a return to the fight but others to ponder what their sacrifices now mean.
"That's definitely the question we're all asking ourselves," said Kris Goldsmith, 28, who deployed to Iraq in 2005 as an Army intelligence sergeant.
"We spent so many lives and so many years trying to build an [Iraqi] army, and if it didn't work after all of the time, effort, money and blood that we put into it, it was never destined to work," said Goldsmith, who lives in Long Beach, N.Y.
The deaths in Iraq of 4,477 Americans — names never far from the minds of surviving veterans — carry a deeper sting for scores of ex-combat troops after several torrid days of Iraqi city sacking by an al-Qaeda splinter group.
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Showing posts with label Iraqi civilians. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Iraqi civilians. Show all posts
Friday, June 13, 2014
Monday, August 17, 2009
Chance encounter brings back memories of war for an Iraqi and a U.S. Marine
Chance encounter brings back memories of war for an Iraqi and a U.S. Marine
By Isaac Arnsdorf, Times Staff Writer
In Print: Monday, August 17, 2009
NEW PORT RICHEY
The car burglary didn't look terribly interesting when it popped up on Officer Ed Campbell's monitor. The call brought him to a one-story concrete house on School Road. On the other side of the door lived a lanky man with piercing dark eyes beneath a heavy brow.
His name was Darawan Suleiman, and his sister's purse had just been stolen from her car.
It was a steamy day in June. Campbell tried, as he typically does, to ease in with small talk.
for more go here
http://www.tampabay.com/news/humaninterest/article1028064.ece
By Isaac Arnsdorf, Times Staff Writer
In Print: Monday, August 17, 2009
New Port Richey police Officer Ed Campbell and Darawan Suleiman chat at Suleiman’s home on Aug. 5. The men met in June during a burglary call at the home. Campbell served as a U.S. Marine in Iraq and Suleiman is from Iraq. [KAINAZ AMARIA Times]
NEW PORT RICHEY
The car burglary didn't look terribly interesting when it popped up on Officer Ed Campbell's monitor. The call brought him to a one-story concrete house on School Road. On the other side of the door lived a lanky man with piercing dark eyes beneath a heavy brow.
His name was Darawan Suleiman, and his sister's purse had just been stolen from her car.
It was a steamy day in June. Campbell tried, as he typically does, to ease in with small talk.
for more go here
http://www.tampabay.com/news/humaninterest/article1028064.ece
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Doctors work to rescue patients in Iraq's mental health system
Doctors work to rescue patients in Iraq's mental health system
Story Highlights
Patients crowd filthy rooms at Iraq's sole facility for treating severe mental disorders
Doctor says the mentally ill men and women have nowhere else to go
But health workers hope change for the better will come
By Phil Black
CNN
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- The man sits gently rocking on the bed, one hand clutching a cloth, the other hiding his face from view.
He doesn't look up and he doesn't want to talk. His body language screams despair.
Across the tiled room, other men are sitting on thin, filthy mattresses atop metal bed frames.
"Our life is miserable. It is dirty. The food is bad. Life is very bad here," says one of them, Abu Ismaeil. "I'm always hungry. I do not want to lie. Shame on me if I lie."
Yet, in Iraq, these are some of the luckier ones, and even Abu Ismaeil agrees. Without the hospital. "I would commit suicide," he said.
Their clothes and surroundings may be drab, but these mentally ill people are fortunate to be in Al Rashad Hospital, Iraq's only treatment facility for severe psychiatric disorders.
click post title for more
linked from ICasualties.org
Story Highlights
Patients crowd filthy rooms at Iraq's sole facility for treating severe mental disorders
Doctor says the mentally ill men and women have nowhere else to go
But health workers hope change for the better will come
By Phil Black
CNN
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- The man sits gently rocking on the bed, one hand clutching a cloth, the other hiding his face from view.
He doesn't look up and he doesn't want to talk. His body language screams despair.
Across the tiled room, other men are sitting on thin, filthy mattresses atop metal bed frames.
"Our life is miserable. It is dirty. The food is bad. Life is very bad here," says one of them, Abu Ismaeil. "I'm always hungry. I do not want to lie. Shame on me if I lie."
Yet, in Iraq, these are some of the luckier ones, and even Abu Ismaeil agrees. Without the hospital. "I would commit suicide," he said.
Their clothes and surroundings may be drab, but these mentally ill people are fortunate to be in Al Rashad Hospital, Iraq's only treatment facility for severe psychiatric disorders.
click post title for more
linked from ICasualties.org
Saturday, May 31, 2008
A shoulder to cry on in Baghdad
A shoulder to cry on in Baghdad
The US military says levels of violence in Iraq are at their lowest for four years, but what psychological effect has constant unrest had on ordinary Iraqis? Caroline Wyatt returns to Baghdad after a 10-year absence to find out.
The Baghdad I remembered was a sprawling city, a place of honking horns and barely-controlled anarchy on the roads.
Amid the narrow, uneven pavements of the gold market, I jostled for space with shoppers peering closely at the gold necklaces given to brides at their wedding.
As a Westerner, I felt safe. After all, the secret police were everywhere. My government minder was never more than two steps behind, sometimes so close he would trip over my microphone lead, apologising profusely.
There was no forgetting who was in charge in those days.
Every government building bore images of Saddam Hussein, in all his guises... holding the scales of justice at the courthouse, cockily brandishing a shotgun as an Austrian-style huntsman in lederhosen, or my personal favourite... the massive poster on the telecom building showing a grinning Saddam chatting on a bright, pink telephone.
This week I have been driving through Baghdad in the back of an armoured vehicle.
No government minder this time. Four British security advisers instead.
The traffic around us is as anarchic as ever, now jammed together as cars approach the frequent armed checkpoints and the old bustle starts to return.
go here for more
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/7427372.stm
Linked from ICasualties.org
The US military says levels of violence in Iraq are at their lowest for four years, but what psychological effect has constant unrest had on ordinary Iraqis? Caroline Wyatt returns to Baghdad after a 10-year absence to find out.
The Baghdad I remembered was a sprawling city, a place of honking horns and barely-controlled anarchy on the roads.
Amid the narrow, uneven pavements of the gold market, I jostled for space with shoppers peering closely at the gold necklaces given to brides at their wedding.
As a Westerner, I felt safe. After all, the secret police were everywhere. My government minder was never more than two steps behind, sometimes so close he would trip over my microphone lead, apologising profusely.
There was no forgetting who was in charge in those days.
Every government building bore images of Saddam Hussein, in all his guises... holding the scales of justice at the courthouse, cockily brandishing a shotgun as an Austrian-style huntsman in lederhosen, or my personal favourite... the massive poster on the telecom building showing a grinning Saddam chatting on a bright, pink telephone.
This week I have been driving through Baghdad in the back of an armoured vehicle.
No government minder this time. Four British security advisers instead.
The traffic around us is as anarchic as ever, now jammed together as cars approach the frequent armed checkpoints and the old bustle starts to return.
go here for more
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/7427372.stm
Linked from ICasualties.org
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