And we wonder why we are losing this war... how truly unconscionable... invade a country, kill its civilians and then take away their access to medical care.

Am I ever glad we are doing such a good job "winning the hearts and minds"... sounds to me like we're still in the "shock" part, without the "awe"..

From IPS via Yahoo!:

BAGHDAD, Dec 13 (IPS) - The U.S. military has been preventing delivery of medical care in several instances, medical staff say.

Iraqi doctors at many hospitals have reported raids by coalition forces. Some of the more recent raids have been in Amiriyat al-Fallujah, about 10km to the east of Fallujah, the town to which U.S. forces have laid bloody siege. Amiriyat al-Fallujah has been the source of several reported resistance attacks on U.S. forces.

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more below the fold


Does it really sound like we have things under control if we are raiding hospitals and preventing supplies from reaching injured civilians? And as we have seen recently with the horrors in Fallujah, it starts to seem as if this is being done on purpose -- why else prevent access to doctors if not to limit the information about "collateral damage"?

The two doctors pointed to an ambulance with a shattered back window. When the Americans raided our hospital again last Tuesday at 7pm, they smashed one of our ambulances, the first doctor said.

His colleague pointed to other bullet-riddled ambulances. The Americans have snipers all along the road between here and Fallujah, he said. They are shooting our ambulances if they try to go to Fallujah.

In nearby Saqlawiyah, Dr Abdulla Aziz told IPS that occupation forces had blocked any medical supplies from entering or leaving the city. They won't let any of our ambulances go to help Fallujah, he said. We are out of supplies and they won't let anyone bring us more.

The pattern of military interference in medical work has apparently persisted for many months. During the April siege of Fallujah, doctors there reported similar difficulties.