It's Over. We've Failed. Let's Move On.
When even supposedly heart-warming feel-good stories such as this one conveys the utter hopelessness of the situation, then the war is surely lost:
That night, they had their first real test. It was nearing midnight, the generator had failed, there was no heat, the radio was malfunctioning — and an Iraqi girl no more than 4 was dying in the bitter cold on an Army cot.At the same time, a loud firefight erupted outside, apparently an attack on an Iraqi Army checkpoint nearby.
Captain Peterson had brought the sick child to the base because her family was afraid to travel after curfew and no Iraqi government ambulance would dare visit the neighborhood after dark, if at all.
One of the company’s medics, Cpl. Peter Callahan, 23, worked by flashlight, trying to soothe the girl, whose body was rejecting the medication her parents had given her.
“She needs to go to the hospital right now,� he told Captain Peterson. With no time to call in support, Captain Peterson quickly arranged a convoy to the nearest hospital — a risky proposition even in daylight and with more soldiers to provide security.
But the girl’s Sunni family resisted, fearing they would be killed at the hospital, which was in Shula, the Shiite district, if the Americans left them there.
Frustrated, Captain Peterson said over the radio, “I think they are pretty much willing to let this kid die instead of all dying together.�
The Americans decided to head to a safer hospital farther away. But time was running out; the girl’s pulse was dropping fast, dipping below 25.
Corporal Callahan gave her a small shot of atropine, which was all he had, to increase her heart rate. She stabilized, and when he emerged with the girl alive and breathing, he and her parents could barely contain their joy. He had saved her life.
A competent and charitable occupation of a country would have a running civilian medical infrastructure in place, and hospitals wouldn't be poles of sectarian violence and partisanship. But since this is not a competent occupation, the soldiers have to resort to this ad-hoc method of helping this girl. Hopefully this will sway the family to support Americans, but it is still a drop in a bucket and we do have a sad cumulative record of increasing anti-occupation sentiment among the Iraqis.