Iraqi baby survives heart surgery thanks to U-S, Israeli intervention

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

http://www.wlox.com/Global/story.asp?S=1542157

Holon, Israel-AP -- An Iraqi baby is recovering in Israel after an emergency surgery that doctors say would have been impossible under Saddam Hussein.

<snip>

It's unlikely the family would have been allowed to go to Israel under Saddam Hussein's regime. And one American doctor says this type of surgery has never been performed in Iraq.
<snip>

This has been slammed on every wire imaginable fot the last 12 hours. I finally got tired of seeing it and decided to post it to see if anyone else noticed the predominance of this story on the wires. While I'm very happy that a child was saved, it seems a bit odd when all the American wounded are taken to Germany for the best medical care. The spin here is painfully obvious. (IMHO)

[asjr]

1. infant

I had not heard that. Did it happen today? I understand that Israel has some of the finest physicians anywhere. Maybe there was a specialist there that does that type of surgery. That could be a reason. On the other hand it could be spin. We get so much of that.

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

2. The child went to Israel yesterday amid much press.

If you google "Iraq" in google news and scan back through yesterday and today, the story was picked up by hundreds of American TV and local newspapers.

[Skittles]

3. oh I LOVE stories like this

the ones that show THERE IS GOOD IN THIS WORLD. I do agree, however, that there is unncessary spin to this little one's plight.

[RowWellandLive]

4. What spin bothers you so much!

The Arabs and Israelis are enemies, Germany and the US are not despite current conflicts. This is a nice story and I'm curious as to why it seems to get under your skin so much.

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

5. I monitor the news and this story was picked up by absolutely everyone

while stories of a 14 year old Iraqi boy killed are completely ignored. One life is as important as another, and I see this as a publicity stunt.

America has killed 8K (+/-) civilians, and a single act of kindness should not erase that fact.

http://www.iraqbodycount.net/



I hope I'm wromg.

[drewb]

6. You're right....

It's like that scene in Apocalypse Now....

"We shoot them and then give them a band aid...."

[Mal]

9. The sheer hypocrisy.

Iraqi civilians are routinely murdered by the US (what do you call spraying a street with bullets, and not investigating the deaths of passers-by?), so they save one baby's life to try and pretend they're the good guys. They didn't do it out of the goodness of their hearts, they did it for the goodness of their PR.

[durutti]

7. They don't tell you why it would be impossible...

Because of the brutal sanctions regime. Prior to the sanctions, Iraq had the best healthcare system in the Middle East.

It's also interesting the Israel's willing to do U.S. bidding and take in an Iraqi baby, but lets Palestinians suffer with their substandard medical facilities.

[coralrf]

8. Michael Jackson seems to like to use kids..

as this pro War bullshit does. Maybe he should be sent to Iraq.

Ok they did this vascular reroute and it was a success. I imagine we are to forget the famous pic of the little kid with no arms. We did that surgery as well. Remember the little girl with the horrible wounds. Hey we did that surgery as well.

How stupid do you have to be to not see what this is about? Are we to suggest that "we care"? The bombs call us liars. Damn these guys will sink low.

[Paschall]

10. French media reported this, but gave almost...

...equal time to discussing the spin and the PR operation around it.

That damn publicly owned media! ;-)

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

11. That's enlighening and I have no doubts. Any link?

[Paschall]

12. Sorry no link

Saw it on the tube, on France3 at 7:30 and France2 at 8:00 yesterday evening.

What I wonder is if the Iraqis are getting this news over their US-controlled media. That would seem the point. But who the hell knows.

[leesa]

13. What an obscene use of propaganda

Wonderful, they saved a baby so they could murder it later!