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More on AQI Killing Iraqi Children and Us Saving Them
Another contrast in the news out of Iraq today. Al Qaeda lobbed mortars into an area in Al Awad killing two little girls. Coalition soldiers responded:
The patrol found two little girls killed, one little girl slightly wounded and their mother also severely injured. The wound girl and her mother were immediately evacuated via helicopter to a Coalition Combat Support Hospital after receiving immediate care at the patrol base.
“Here is another example of Al Qaeda using indiscriminate force on the people of Iraq,†said Maj. Robert Rodriguez, the battalion’s executive officer. “You have Al Qaeda firing mortar rounds into simple farming villages killing women and children. This type of action shows Al Qaeda’s only purpose is to terrorize.â€
Why, again, should we abandon this country and leave these killers running loose to kill and terrorize Iraqi villagers?
In contrast, here is another report of one of our guys going to extraordinary lengths to save an Iraqi child.
Late in the day on July 21 at Patrol Base Yusufiyah, the aid station’s normal routine was thrown into chaos by the arrival of eight victims from a nearby mortar attack. Among the wounded were seven Iraqi children ranging in age from 3 to 12.
One of the victims, a 6-year-old girl named Tebarek, was placed under the care of Sgt. William Ludlow, a combat medic. Initial triage showed Tebarek’s left leg and abdominal injuries were so severe that she needed immediate evacuation . . . .  The medics loaded her on a flight bound for the hospital and never expected to see the little girl again. This would not be the case for Ludlow and Tebarek.
About a week later, the Iraqi army senior medic at Patrol Base Yusifyah asked Ludlow to examine a patient’s wounds with him. Ludlow, from Fort Smith, Ark., recalled his surprise upon entering the building.
“I saw this little, helpless girl lying there on the litter,†he said. It was Tebarek, who had been released from the hospital and returned to the care of her family. Not knowing where to turn for help caring for his wounded daughter, Tebarek’s father had returned to the base where Soldiers had treated her so well that first evening.
. . . The next day, an Iraqi interpreter brought Ludlow back to the Iraqi aid station. The American medic walked in the middle of an argument between Tebarek’s father and an Iraqi medic. Tebarek’s father was adamant that Ludlow was the only person he would trust with Tebarek’s care. Touched, Ludlow treated the child just as he had done the day before. As he worked, Ludlow spoke to Tebarek’s father through the interpreter. He told him about the medications he was giving her and explained the procedures he used to clean and dress her wounds.
Tebarek’s father responded to Ludlow: “Tebarek is your daughter now,†he said. “Do what you would do to your own daughter in order to make her well.â€
From that day on, Tebarek’s treatment has been entrusted to Ludlow’s care. Having raised his own little girl at home single-handedly for four years, he takes this job as Tebarek’s other father very seriously.
As she heals, Tebarek has learned to enjoy her visits to the aid station . . . . Tebarek is well loved by everyone at the aid station. They cannot speak of her without smiling, and they often tease Ludlow about his friend. Ludlow ignores the teasing, but unmistakably delight fills his eyes when she is mentioned.
As we’ve said before, no other military in history . . . .