Seven Iraqis head to Houston for treatment

  • Published
  • By 2nd Lt. Uriah Orland
  • 469th Air Base Group Public Affairs
RHEIN-MAIN AIR BASE, Germany (AFPN) --  As Iraq rebuilds after 35 years of oppression and cruelty under Saddam Hussein, seven men and their families will finally begin to repair the pieces of their lives destroyed by the former leader’s injustice.

The men had their healthy right hands amputated in 1996 for allegedly dealing in foreign currency. They passed through here April 5 on their way to Houston where they are scheduled to receive prosthetic hands at the Houston Medical Center.

“Besides having our hands amputated, we were scarred on our foreheads, between our eyebrows,” said Ala’a Abdul Hussien Hassan, one of the men, noting an “X” tattoo between his eyes.

A video of the punishment, made by Saddam's secret police, revealed the horror these men and their families suffered through. Donald North, video producer and former television correspondent, discovered the videotape and the mens’ stories while he worked as the senior adviser for the Iraqi Media Network in Baghdad.

“I was amazed and shocked by the tape,” Mr. North said. “It clearly showed doctors working with surgical instruments cutting through and severing these healthy hands. The victims were under anesthetics, and while they were still under, they had these black crosses tattooed to their foreheads.”

After watching the videotape, Mr. North not only convinced the Iraqis to tell their story, but also coordinated a trip to get the men to America and receive new hands.

“It took a long time for the pieces to come together, but it has been worth it,” Mr. North said. “The group is so excited about the trip and the medical treatment.”

Over the past year, several organizations have combined to make this dream happen. The Houston Medical Center offered to provide medical care, and Dr. Joseph Agris has volunteered to perform much of the medical work, including removing the cross tattoos on the men’s foreheads. A Houston company will donate the most modern prosthetic hands developed. Continental Airlines agreed to provide free flights, and the Pentagon assisted in getting the men out of Iraq, Mr. North said.

The group will spend about six weeks in Houston where they will receive the prosthesis and rehabilitation. After their medical treatment is complete they will travel to Washington to visit Capitol Hill and serve as witnesses to the realities of the former regime, Mr. North said.

“It was evident that these gentlemen have a story to tell, and they are confident that the United States did the right thing in liberating Iraq,” said Lt. Col. Guy Parker, 469th Air Base Group deputy commander here. “They all agree that coalition forces found all the weapons of mass destruction they needed in the mass graves and the injustices against mankind, which are evidenced by these seven men. It makes me proud to be an American and a part of this great Air Force.”

“The coalition doesn’t need weapons of mass destruction to justify the war,” said Basim S. Ameer, another one of the Iraqi men receiving treatment. “The weapon of destruction was embedded in Saddam’s brain.”

The Iraqis traveled to Houston on April 6, where they will begin the medical care to alleviate the near constant pain they have endured at the point of amputation. (Courtesy of U.S. Air Forces in Europe News Service)