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JacktheCat
Joined: 08 May 2004
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 Posted: Sat Apr 30, 2005 5:52 pm Post subject: Belgian Doctors Bill U.S. for Treating Iraqi Girl |
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Belgian doctors sent an Iraqi girl home Thursday after treating her for leg wounds caused by a bomb during the U.S. invasion -- and sent the 51,570 euro ($66,650) bill to the U.S. embassy.
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Doctors brought Kassim to Belgium last year to try to save her left ankle, seriously injured by a cluster bomb that also killed her brother in Baghdad in 2003.
After five operations and weeks of physiotherapy, Kassim is able to walk again, but with a slight limp.
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De Belder said he sent the bill to the U.S. embassy because international law dictated that an occupying force was responsible for the well-being of the country's people
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here: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050429/od_nm/iraq_belgium_dc;_ylt=AocTeQJjV.7ymaaHkGKOtjESH9EA;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl |
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Teufelswacht
Joined: 06 Sep 2004
Location: Land Of The Not Quite Right
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| Posted: Sat Apr 30, 2005 9:19 pm Post subject: |
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Interesting - it appears to be just another example of grandstanding by Belgium.
I was wondering. Can someone tell me if the young man in the photograph below was able to bill the Belgium government for the cost of his treatment?
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R. S. Refugee
Joined: 29 Sep 2004
Location: Shangra La, ROK
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| Posted: Sat Apr 30, 2005 10:14 pm Post subject: |
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| Teufelswacht wrote: |
Interesting - it appears to be just another example of grandstanding by Belgium.
I was wondering. Can someone tell me if the young man in the photograph below was able to bill the Belgium government for the cost of his treatment?
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So, you want to clue us in to what we're viewing here? Time, place, nationalities, and even more info. Is there an article somewhere in cyberspace that accompanies this picture? Or is each of us supposed to just make up a story according to our personal prejudices?
I did go to the home page of the site where this pic is located, but I couldn't find any link from the home page of that site to the photo itself. Is there one? If so, would you tell us what it is or is that a state secret? |
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Teufelswacht
Joined: 06 Sep 2004
Location: Land Of The Not Quite Right
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| Posted: Sat Apr 30, 2005 11:16 pm Post subject: |
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So, you want to clue us in to what we're viewing here? Time, place, nationalities, and even more info. Is there an article somewhere in cyberspace that accompanies this picture? Or is each of us supposed to just make up a story according to our personal prejudices?
I did go to the home page of the site where this pic is located, but I couldn't find any link from the home page of that site to the photo itself. Is there one? If so, would you tell us what it is or is that a state secret? |
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Kuros
Joined: 27 Apr 2004
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| Posted: Sun May 01, 2005 4:06 am Post subject: |
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| I see the Belgians were polite enough to bill the United States in an amount comparable to American health care costs. |
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bucheon bum
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Sun May 01, 2005 12:46 pm Post subject: |
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No Kuros, if that were comparable to American costs, it would a couple times that amount.
My spleen removal- a standard procedure that doesn't deal with shrapnel and that good stuff- in Feb. cost 83,000 bucks (hopsital visit included, not just the surgery I admit). 5 leg surgeries probably cost quite a bit more than that.
As for the belgian hypocriscy, perhaps Teufelswacht was refering to the congo or that part of the world? I don't know. |
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The Bobster
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Sun May 01, 2005 3:37 pm Post subject: |
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You know what? Politics and grandstanding aside, I think it's not at all out of line to ask Washington to pay this medical bill. And I think one of the biggest undercovered stories about Iraq is very likely about the total extent of US negligence regarding the civilian victims of our military adventurism there.
She was hit by a cluster bomb. These are uniquely anti-persopnnel weapons, with very little or no effect on physical infrastructure, and such ordnance was dropped in residential areaS, very likely still being used that way ... yeah, I think Bush can afford her doctor bill. |
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dogbert
Joined: 29 Jan 2003
Location: Killbox 90210
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| Posted: Sun May 01, 2005 4:53 pm Post subject: |
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| Are you sure those aren't Canadian soldiers in that photo? |
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Teufelswacht
Joined: 06 Sep 2004
Location: Land Of The Not Quite Right
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| Posted: Sun May 01, 2005 7:11 pm Post subject: |
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BB & Dogbert:
Actually, the photograph is one of many that came out during the Somalia debacle. The soldiers are Belgian. The teenager is a Somali.
The Canadians, along with the Belgians, Italians and Germans all had their "moments of glory" with the local population there in Somalia. Yes, yes, the U.S. did also. I wrote a pretty long post about the situation a while ago. If I remember, I'll try to dig it up later.
Take care
Teufelswacht |
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dogbert
Joined: 29 Jan 2003
Location: Killbox 90210
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| Posted: Sun May 01, 2005 8:29 pm Post subject: |
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| Thanks. I just recall that Canadian troops had literally roasted a Somali teenager. I did not recall that others did as well. |
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Gord
Joined: 25 Feb 2003
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| Posted: Sun May 01, 2005 8:47 pm Post subject: |
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| The Bobster wrote: |
| She was hit by a cluster bomb. These are uniquely anti-persopnnel weapons, with very little or no effect on physical infrastructure, and such ordnance was dropped in residential areaS, very likely still being used that way ... yeah, I think Bush can afford her doctor bill. |
Assuming she really was hit with a cluster bomb and not locally fired ordinance. A guy I know flies the surveilance drones around, and part of his job was to fly drones over Baghdad to draw AA fire so the defenders would have less live amunition to shoot at soldiers later. And since the weapons fired lack the necessary velocity to escape Earth's gravity, they will come back down. |
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The Bobster
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Mon May 02, 2005 2:55 am Post subject: |
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| Gord wrote: |
| The Bobster wrote: |
| She was hit by a cluster bomb. These are uniquely anti-persopnnel weapons, with very little or no effect on physical infrastructure, and such ordnance was dropped in residential areaS, very likely still being used that way ... yeah, I think Bush can afford her doctor bill. |
Assuming she really was hit with a cluster bomb and not locally fired ordinance. A guy I know flies the surveilance drones around, and part of his job was to fly drones over Baghdad to draw AA fire so the defenders would have less live amunition to shoot at soldiers later. And since the weapons fired lack the necessary velocity to escape Earth's gravity, they will come back down. |
Doyou have anything other than idle speculation to bolster what looks like open skepticism of the facts conveyed by the article? |
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Pyongshin Sangja
Joined: 20 Apr 2003
Location: I love baby!
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| Posted: Mon May 02, 2005 3:56 am Post subject: |
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| Thanks. I just recall that Canadian troops had literally roasted a Somali teenager. I did not recall that others did as well. |
Well, sorta. We beat at least one of them to death. Master Corporal 2nd Canadian Airborne, Clayton Matchee took the fall and tried to kill himself. The regiment, one of our best I hear, was disbanded. This came on top of some very bizarre Nazi coprophilia initiation ceremony videos, I believe. What a wonderful world we live in.
Here's an article from 2004, the trial is still going on. Clayton Matchee, however, seems to have left the building. Up to the courts now:
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Court martial rules Matchee unfit for trial
CTV.ca News Staff
A judge has ruled there is enough evidence to try the former Airborne soldier charged in the torture and murder of a Somali teenager more than a decade ago.
It appears unlikely, however, that 38-year-old Clayton Matchee will ever stand trial.
In a ruling Tuesday, a military judge said that, although there is enough evidence to prosecute the case, Matchee is not fit to face the proceedings.
Matchee was part of a contingent of elite Canadian soldiers deployed on a peacekeeping mission to Somalia in 1993.
In March of that year, 16-year-old Shidane Arone was found dead on the Canadian base. Graphic pictures showed Matchee brutalizing the Somali teen and pointing a loaded pistol at Arone's blindfolded and beaten head.
The incident tarnished Canada's reputation as a peacekeeper and led to the disbanding of Matchee's outfit, the Canadian Airborne Regiment.
Matchee and seven other soldiers were charged in connection with the death. Another private, Kyle Brown, was found guilty of manslaughter and torture and sentenced to five years in military prison.
Matchee, however, tried to hang himself after his arrest. As a result, he suffered brain damage that left him with the IQ of a five-year-old.
Matchee was released from the military on medical grounds in April 1995 and has since lived at a psychiatric hospital in North Battleford, Saskatchewan.
In the years since, Matchee has been in and out of court as prosecutors try every two years to convince a judge they have enough evidence to maintain second-degree murder charges against the former paratrooper.
Defence lawyer Maj. Gordon Duncan said the process is wearing on the Matchee family.
"They're very tired of it. It wears on them, especially Mrs. Matchee. It's very depressing for her to see her son in this condition and then to have to come in front of the trial every two years."
Matchee's mother, Celina, wept through much of Tuesday's brief hearing.
On Tuesday, the military judge ruled there is enough evidence to keep Matchee's case active. Proceeding is complicated, however, by a Supreme Court ruling that people with permanent disabilities should not be kept in the legal system indefinitely.
Parliament is expected to amend the law to reflect the high court ruling before the court-imposed deadline of June, 2005.
That means Matchee and his family will have to make at least one more court appearance -- to see if charges will be dropped, should his case qualify under the new law.
With files from The Canadian Press |
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Gord
Joined: 25 Feb 2003
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| Posted: Mon May 02, 2005 5:20 am Post subject: |
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| The Bobster wrote: |
| Do you have anything other than idle speculation to bolster what looks like open skepticism of the facts conveyed by the article? |
-Absense of any evidence that she was indeed injured by a cluster bomb.
-It is logistically unlikelyhood that falling victim to such a weapon would only injure her ankle.
-More Iraqi ordinance fell on Baghdad than American ordinance.
-Cluster bombs have a wide dispersal pattern and would have taken out the neighborhood instead of just her house.
It's possible that her claims are true, just that they are unlikely. |
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canuckistan
Mod Team
Joined: 17 Jun 2003
Location: Training future GS competitors.....
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| Posted: Mon May 02, 2005 5:29 am Post subject: |
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| Gord wrote: |
| The Bobster wrote: |
| Do you have anything other than idle speculation to bolster what looks like open skepticism of the facts conveyed by the article? |
-Absense of any evidence that she was indeed injured by a cluster bomb.
-It is logistically unlikelyhood that falling victim to such a weapon would only injure her ankle.
-More Iraqi ordinance fell on Baghdad than American ordinance.
-Cluster bombs have a wide dispersal pattern and would have taken out the neighborhood instead of just her house.
It's possible that her claims are true, just that they are unlikely. |
I'd like to remind you that there are a lot of cluster bomblettes lying around unexploded in Iraq.
But since you say her claims could be true, or that they are unlikely, then what was the point of your post anyways? You could do that for 99.9% of the threads around here..."well it could or couldn't be..."
C'mon Gord, that was pretty lame, even for you. |
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