[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 11]
[House]
[Pages 14925-14929]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



       GIs FRUSTRATED BY LACK OF RESPONSE TO MEDICAL NEED IN IRAQ

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Franks of Arizona). Under a previous 
order of the House, the gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. Kaptur) is 
recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, this weekend in our local newspaper and

[[Page 14926]]

across this country, a major story appeared with a photo that is 
unforgettable, a photo of Sergeant David Borell and Sergeant First 
Class Bryan Pacholski, both deployed outside of Baghdad, both members 
of the 323rd Military Police Company based in Toledo, Ohio, the center 
of my district. The title of the article is ``Children's Suffering 
Wounds GIs; Toledo Soldier Frustrated by Lack of Response to Medical 
Need.'' I am going to include this article, the full article, in the 
Record tonight along with Sergeant Borell's comments; also a letter I 
am sending to Secretary Rumsfeld this evening asking that based on 
these reports out of Iraq, I am requesting a personal meeting with the 
Secretary to propose an expedited schedule by the United States to 
establish temporary field hospitals in Iraq, perhaps in concert with 
our Arab allies, serving the wounded and the suffering.
  With Baghdad's early fall, sufficient funds have been appropriated by 
our Appropriations Committee to accommodate these facilities. We can 
work with other organizations around the world, but without question 
the United States is in the lead now. It is important that we rise to 
this moral imperative. It is our sacred obligation to do so.
  Let me report what Sergeant David Borell says, who, by the way, 
should get a promotion by the Department of Defense for his honor. He 
works close to a sign that reads: ``Working Together With the Iraqi 
People for Peace and Prosperity.'' That sign is placed near the North 
Gate to Sustainer Army Airfield northwest of Baghdad. He says, ``The 
implications of those words, `Working Together With the Iraqi People 
for Peace and Prosperity,' it would seem, are far-reaching. Perhaps 
even all-encompassing. To me, it would seem to say that we, the 
Americans, are here to help. Help restore the Iraqi economy, help 
restore law and order, help the Iraqi people build anew that which has 
been taken from them. And, surely, help them in their times of dire 
need. Help them when there are truly none others for them to turn to.''
  The photo says it all: ``Sergeant First Class Bryan Pacholski 
comforts Sergeant David Borell, both from Toledo.'' Why is he 
comforting Sergeant Borell? And it says, Sergeant Borell ``saw 
something that flies in the face of every moral lesson I have ever 
learned from my leadership in the military.'' He says, ``I used to be 
proud of what I'm doing and of being an American soldier, but after 
today I wonder if I will still be able to carry the title soldier with 
any pride at all. Or simply with the knowledge that a soldier couldn't 
even help three small severely burned children.'' He says, ``We came 
here to depose Saddam Hussein, a mission we accomplished. But the 
second mission was one of greater importance and purpose, to be part of 
a force that would serve to provide the Iraqi people with a freedom 
that they have never known.'' It seemed to him to be the noblest 
mission of all. In almost 14 years of military service, the Army taught 
him many things, duty, honor, obligation; and though he was also taught 
to be a warrior, at the same time he thought he was taught to be a 
humanitarian. But he saw something during his service in the last week 
which caused him to question all of that.
  While working at that North Gate, he was approached by an Iraqi 
father in need of assistance who took him to the back of his car where 
his wife and three children waited with a patience which could only 
have been borne out of a life of adversity. Once there, the father 
showed him his first son. He was a boy of 10 or 11 years of age. His 
eyes were a deep shade of brown, and he stared at the sergeant without 
tears. His mother held him in her arms and gently fanned him with a 
piece of cardboard both for comfort and to keep flies off of him. 
Across his body were wounds of unimaginable origin. Most of his legs 
and arms were singed clean of the top layers of flesh. His face was 
contorted with the same manner of burns. The sergeant says, ``I can 
only imagine the intensity of the pain he was in. He said nothing to 
me, but his eyes pleaded with me nonetheless. He was in need of help, 
the very help I was trained to offer.''
  And so the sergeant called the doctors in the field and it took them 
an hour to arrive. In the front seat of this same car were his two 
sisters equally burned, one around 5 years old and the older 8 or 9. 
One blister on her right hand was the size of a baseball. Like their 
brother, they did not even complain. They made no sound at all. And the 
chain of command decided they deserved no treatment, and they turned 
them away.
  Mr. Speaker, I would like to end my remarks tonight and read the last 
two sentences that say, ``The Army failed three young children in Iraq 
today for no reason. After today, I wonder if I will still be able to 
carry the title soldier with any pride at all, because this soldier 
couldn't even help three small children.''
  Secretary Rumsfeld, we need your help. We need field hospitals in 
Iraq now.
       Sirs: The following incident occurred on 13 June 2003. Any 
     exposure you can create for this would be greatly 
     appreciated. Also there when this happened were 
     correspondents or representatives of FoxNews, the Associated 
     Press, the New York Times, the LA Times, the Chicago Tribune, 
     and various foreign media.
     working together with the iraqi people for peace and 
     prosperity.
       That's what the sign reads at the North Gate to Sustainer 
     Army Airfield Northwest of Baghdad. The implications of those 
     words, it would seem, are far-reaching. Perhaps even all-
     encompassing. To me, it would seem to say that we, the 
     Americans, are here to help. Help restore the Iraqi economy, 
     help restore law and order help the Iraqi people build anew 
     that which has been taken from the. And, surely, help them in 
     their times of dire need. Help them when there are truly none 
     others for them to turn to.
       As a military force, we came to this country under two 
     pretenses. One, to rid the world of what has been termed a 
     dire and immediate threat to world peace. This threat was 
     embodied in Saddam Hussein and the Baath Party he led. We 
     accomplished, if not completely, then at least practically, 
     that goal. Saddam is no longer in a place of power here. 
     Instead, we created, hopefully, a foundation for the Iraqi 
     people to rule themselves. Our second pretense was much more 
     enigmatic. We came to give the Iraqi people peace and freedom 
     such as many Americans have known all their lives. This 
     second mission was, to me, one of greater import and purpose. 
     I came to be a part of that force that would serve to provide 
     the Iraqi people with a freedom that they have never known. 
     It seemed to me a noble mission at the least.
       In almost 14 years of military service, the Army has taught 
     me many things. Most of what I believe about duty, honor and 
     obligation has come from those things I learned as a young 
     soldier. I was taught to be a warrior and an unstoppable, 
     indefatigable combat power, but, at the same time, to be a 
     humanitarian. To give any assistance I could possibly provide 
     to those people who were innocent of hostilities or even 
     those who were not but who no longer represented a threat to 
     U.S. forces. I learned that the American military was meant 
     to be much more than a combat force. That we are a 
     peacekeeping force, trained and equipped not only for the 
     perils of combat, but also, and sometimes above all else to 
     help. To build instead of destroy. I came to Iraq as a 
     Military Policeman to rebuild and practice that which has 
     been so deeply ingrained in me throughout those years of 
     military service. And to be a part of that greater purpose I 
     believe we all seek.
       But today, I saw something which caused me to question 
     exactly where the Army as an institution places it teachings. 
     I saw something that flies in the face of every moral lesson 
     I have ever learned from my leadership in the military. 
     Moreover, it flew in the face of simple human dignity and 
     obligation.
       While working at that North Gate of Sustainer Army 
     Airfield, not far from the sign at the entrance, I was 
     approached by an Iraqi father in need of assistance. He took 
     me back to his car where his wife and three children waited 
     with a patience that could only have been born of a life of 
     adversity. Once there, he showed me first his son. He was a 
     boy of perhaps 10 or 11 years old. His eyes were a deep shade 
     of brown and stared at me without tears. His mother held him 
     in her arms and gently fanned his with a piece of cardboard 
     both for comfort and to keep flies off of him. Across his 
     body were wounds of unimaginable origin. Most of his legs and 
     arms were singed clean of the top layers of flesh. His face 
     was contorted with the same manner of burns. I can only 
     imagine the intensity of the pain he was in. He said nothing 
     to me, but his eyes pleaded with me nonetheless. He was in 
     need of help. The very help that I was trained to offer. In 
     fact, the very help I was taught, and fervently believe, it 
     is my duty to offer. He didn't ask much, or so I thought. 
     Only some relief from the pain that a boy his age should 
     never have to endure.

[[Page 14927]]

       But the damage didn't end there. In the front seat were his 
     sisters. The youngest was around 5 years old and the older 
     one around 8 or 9. They too were covered in burns. The five 
     year old had hands covered with burns. The right half of her 
     face had also been burned. On her right hand was a blister 
     the size of a baseball. The eight year old suffered the same 
     agonizing injuries. Both her arms and hands and the left side 
     of her face were covered. Like their brother, they did not 
     cry nor even complain. They made no sound at all. One look 
     into their eyes, though, and no word of complaint was 
     necessary. No verbal communication could possibly have 
     conveyed the amount of pain or suffering they were going 
     through. But, looking into their eyes, I knew that they were 
     pleading with me to help. If not as an American soldier, 
     trained and equipped to do so, than as a fellow human. They 
     were asking me and they were asking America. I could no more 
     ignore this pleading than if it were to have come from my own 
     daughters. And it was my own daughters I saw when I looked at 
     these young girls.
       Without hesitation, I made contact with the only people 
     available to me and requested assistance. My chain of command 
     contacted the base hospital and, after what seemed an 
     eternity to me but was more realistically probably only an 
     hour or so, assistance finally came in the form of two 
     Majors, both doctors, from the base hospital. But even an 
     hour of so seemed too long to me. Judging from the traffic on 
     the radio, there was apparently lengthy discussion as to 
     whether or not any assistance at all would be forthcoming. 
     But it did finally come, and I fully believed that these 
     children would receive at least some care. At minimum, a 
     token amount to relieve their suffering until something else 
     could be done. My beliefs, my faith in the Army were not to 
     be realized.
       Both ``doctors'' looked briefly at the son. Perhaps a 
     minute. No probing, no questioning as to the extent of the 
     injuries. No discussion as to how they could help. And, 
     without so much as a cursory examination of the girls, 
     announced that there was nothing they could do. ``Long-term 
     care'' is what they said was needed. ``These wounds are not 
     life-threatening'' was emphatically pronounced. And, most 
     injuriously to my conscience, that we, as Americans, had not 
     caused the wounds and, thusly, would not treat them. I was 
     informed that the ``rules of engagement'' for the treatment 
     of local nationals was that the wounds had to threaten life, 
     limb or eyesight or had to have been caused by Americans. The 
     children were coarsely sent on their way with no treatment 
     administered. I was left with nothing to answer the pleading 
     of these children but to empty my first aid bag of anything 
     useful to give their father. And empty it I did, but to what 
     end? It wasn't enough and he and I both knew it.
       What would it have cost us to treat these children? A few 
     dollars perhaps. Some investment of time and resources. But 
     are we not here for just that purpose? Did we not depose the 
     ``evil regime''? Or did we just replace it with one of our 
     own making? I cannot imagine the heartlessness required to 
     look into the eyes of a child in horrid pain and suffering 
     and, with medical resources only a brief trip up the road, 
     ignore their plight as though they are insignificant. Only 
     Iraqis seeking that which they should be able to provide 
     themselves. ``We are not here to be the treatment center for 
     the country.'' These words were actually spoken to me by one 
     of the ``doctors''. But, if not us, then who? The local 
     ``hospital'', if it can even be called that, had already 
     refused them treatment. There was no one else.
       The last time I checked, prior to the arrival of American 
     and coalition forces, the Iraqi people had a government, 
     albeit an appalling one. And they had an infrastructure, 
     albeit a surely inadequate one. But, we, in our ``noble'' 
     effort to give the Iraqi people freedom and secure peace for 
     the world, have taken what little they had away. They no 
     longer have any real form of government, and, lacking that, 
     no true infrastructure. So who is to provide these things 
     taken from them? By virtue of the morals and standards taught 
     me by the Army, we, as Americans, are. It is we who are here 
     to ``work together''. It is we who mean to give the Iraqis 
     ``peace and prosperity.'' Apparently, working together does 
     not mean medical treatment for children who have done nothing 
     wrong and have nowhere else to turn.
       I wear a silver bracelet on my arm. It was given to me by 
     my wife before I was deployed here. On one side is engraved 
     ``Duty, Honor, Country'' and on the reverse is ``With Love, 
     Rachelle''. I wear it to remind me of why I'm here. Why I'm 
     so far from my wife and children, why I'm sacrificing my time 
     and my energy and placing myself at personal risk of injury 
     or death. ``Duty, Honor, Country'' is what I have been taught 
     for almost 14 years. But the Army failed 3 young children 
     today for no reason. And, in so doing, they betrayed those 
     values. I used to be proud of what I'm doing and of being an 
     American soldier. After today, I wonder if I will still be 
     able to carry the title ``soldier'' with any pride at all. Or 
     simply with the knowledge that a ``soldier'' couldn't even 
     help 3 small children.

     David J. Borell,
     Sergeant, US Army,
     323rd Military Police Company,
     Balad, Iraq,
     North Gate Sustainer Army Airfield,
     (Northwest of Baghdad)
                                  ____


                 [From the Toledo Blade, June 14, 2003]

                    Children's Suffering Wounds GIs


          toledo soldier wants to help injured Iraqi children

                             (By Joe Mahr)

       Ohio Army National Guard Sgt. David Borell peered into a 
     car outside his Iraqi base yesterday, and the Toledoan's 
     mission seemed obvious.
       There sat three children with burns on their arms, legs, 
     and faces. One had layers of skin singed from his 
     extremities. Another had a baseball-sized welt on her hand. 
     The look in their eyes said one thing: Help.
       The military police sergeant quickly radioed for medics, 
     but it took about an hour for doctors to arrive. Even then, 
     the doctors refused to help--saying the wounds weren't ``life 
     threatening.'' And the sergeant could think only of how he'd 
     react if it were his children back home suffering such pain.
       After the doctors left, he broke down.
       ``I saw something that flies in the face of every moral 
     lesson I have ever learned from my leadership in the 
     military,'' he wrote in an e-mail sent to The Blade last 
     night.
       The 30-year-old's frustration is not the only angst among 
     family, friends, and soldiers of Toledo's 323rd Military 
     Police Company, which has been deployed for 16 of the past 20 
     months.
       They've spent the past two months in Kuwait and Iraq--most 
     of that time based on one of the hottest spots since the 
     declared end of major combat: Balad, about 40 miles northwest 
     of Baghdad.
       They've been shot at, had rocks thrown at them, and endured 
     triple-digit heat--with no formal date set for return. Back 
     home, some of their loved ones have begun asking elected 
     leaders to get the Army to set a return date, if only a 
     tentative one, for a unit that could be in Iraq until 
     January, and perhaps longer.
       ``We understand they've got to be there,'' said Brad 
     Eckhart, whose wife is a medic with 323rd. ``But they're 
     being jerked around, and that's really damaging morale.''
       For Sergeant Borell, he said the frustration erupted during 
     a shift guarding the north gate of the Sustainer Army 
     Airfield--where the sign reads ``Working together with the 
     Iraqi people for peace and prosperity.''
       The 1991 Sylvania Southview High School graduate has made a 
     career of the military, spending 13 years alternating between 
     the regular forces an the Guard. He said the mission in Iraq 
     seemed noble when the 323rd arrived: Toppling a cruel 
     dictator who threatened world peace and helping the Iraqi 
     people build a new country.
       The latter mission seemed a more important and fitting 
     role, he said, for an Army that taught him ``to be a warrior, 
     and an unstoppable, indefatigable combat power, but, at the 
     same time, to be a humanitarian.''
       So he didn't hesitate when a father approached him outside 
     the base gate yesterday to show the sergeant his injured 
     children--who apparently were playing with explosive 
     material.
       ``He took me back to his car where his wife and three 
     children waited with a patience that could only have been 
     born of a life of adversity,'' Sergeant Borell recalled.
       The mother held a 10 or 11-year-old in her arms, fanning 
     the boy's face with a piece of cardboard to keep the flies 
     off and soothe what the sergeant described as ``wounds of 
     unimaginable origin.''
       ``Most of his legs and arms were singed clean of the top 
     layers of flesh,'' Sergeant Borell said. ``His face was 
     contorted with the same manner of burns. I can only imagine 
     the intensity of the pain he was in.''
       In the front seat, a girl age 8 or 9 had her arms, hands, 
     and the left side of her face covered with burns. Beside her 
     was a girl about 5, the right side of her face covered with 
     burns, and a baseball-sized welt on her hand.
       They made no sounds, the sergeant said, but it didn't 
     matter.
       ``No verbal communication could possibly have conveyed the 
     amount on pain of suffering they were going through,'' he 
     said. ``But looking into their eyes, I knew that they were 
     pleading with me to help. If not as an American soldier, 
     trained and equipped to do so, then as a fellow human. They 
     were asking me and they were asking America.''
       The sergeant passed on the request to his commanders, who 
     contacted the base hospital, which eventually sent two 
     doctors with the rank of major. They looked at the boy for 
     ``perhaps a minute . . . and without so much as a cursory 
     examination of the girls, announced that there was nothing 
     they could do.''
       The doctors told the sergeant that the wounds were not 
     life-threatening, that the children needed long-term care, 
     and that it wasn't the Americans' responsibility.
       Sergeant Borell said that one doctor told him: ``We are not 
     here to be the treatment center for the country.''
       The local hospital already had refused to treat the 
     children. So the sergeant gave the father all the supplies 
     from his personal medical bag, and the father left.
       ``The last time I checked, prior to the arrival of American 
     and coalition forces, the

[[Page 14928]]

     Iraqi people had a government, albeit an appalling one,'' the 
     sergeant said. ``And they had an infrastructure, albeit a 
     surely inadequate one. But, we, in our `noble' effort to give 
     the Iraqi people freedom and secure peace for the world, have 
     taken what little they had away . . . So who is to provide 
     these things taken from them?
       The incident was the latest for a unit that has been 
     anything but the old stereotype of ``weekend warriors.'' 
     After the 2001 terrorist attacks, they spent 11 months 
     guarding Fort Bragg, N.C. They returned home for four months, 
     only to be called up for the Iraq war.
       The military can't provide direct accounts of what the unit 
     has experienced. But soldiers, in phone calls and e-mails to 
     family and friends, talk about the night a convoy was 
     ambushed by gunfire. Nobody was hurt. They talk of being on 
     patrol and repeatedly having rocks hurled at them.
       They now live in an old airport hangar, eating one hot meal 
     a day and the rest from military Meals Ready to Eat, Mr. 
     Eckhart said. They must still use ``field toilets.''
       And rumors continue to circulate about the unit's fate. A 
     Toledo TV station erroneously reported recently that the 
     323rd was coming home ``soon.'' Another rumor has the unit, 
     or at least some members, headed to Kosovo after Iraq.
       Their orders in Iraq are for 365 days, taking them to mid-
     January, 2004. The Army could keep them another year, but 
     that's unlikely, said Maj. Neal O'Brien, of the Ohio National 
     Guard.
       ``Obviously, the hope is that they're back earlier, and any 
     day less than a year is a good day,'' he said. ``There's 
     always a chance they could potentially be extended, but it's 
     certainly not expected.''
       Still, he said, the Ohio National Guard has no way of 
     knowing a formal date of return because when a unit is 
     mobilized for federal duty, the Army assumes complete control 
     over the unit. And the Army isn't offering a date of return.
       The National Guard leadership, based in Columbus, tries to 
     keep in touch with its units in Iraq. But Lt. Col. Mike Ore 
     said he hadn't yet heard of the incident with Sergeant Borell 
     and didn't know if the soldier's account was accurate.
       ``I know the 323rd has been engaged in some pretty heavy 
     stuff,'' Colonel Ore said.
       In previous e-mails back home, Sergeant Borell talked of 
     heat that reached 126 degrees and how the Iraqis had 
     stockpiled weapons all over the country. U.S. troops tried to 
     keep the Iraqi children from playing with the weapons, but it 
     was difficult.
       He didn't complain about military leadership until sending 
     the latest e-mail to the media and his family last night, 
     said his father, John Borell.
       ``For him to write that e-mail, it must have affected him 
     greatly,'' his father said.
       Sergeant Borell, a father of two and stepfather of one, 
     ended his e-mail questioning why he was sacrificing his time, 
     energy, and potentially his life.
       ``I used to be proud of what I'm doing and of being an 
     American soldier,'' he said. ``After today, I wonder if I 
     will still be able to carry the title `soldier' with any 
     pride at all. Or simply with the knowledge that a `soldier' 
     couldn't even help three small children.''
                                  ____


                 [From the Toledo Blade, June 15, 2003]

 Kaptur To Press Rumsfield on Toledo GI's `Reality Check', Iraqi Kids' 
                       Wounds Spark Policy Debate

                             (By Joe Mahr)

       From his hot and dusty base in northern Iraq, Ohio Army 
     National Guard Sgt. David Borell typed an e-mail criticizing 
     the U.S. military's lack of treatment for severely burned 
     Iraqi children.
       A day later, the Sylvania native got the attention of his 
     congressman, U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D., Toledo). She pledged 
     yesterday to speak directly with the secretary of defense 
     himself--an action that could rekindle an international 
     debate over how much U.S. forces should, or even can, help 
     injured Iraqis.
       ``[Sergeant Borell] is in the finest tradition of the 
     American military,'' Miss Kaptur said yesterday. ``I am going 
     to make sure that the fact that he gave a ground-zero reality 
     check from there can guide policy-makers at the highest 
     level.''
       Sergeant Borell, of the Toldeo-based 323rd Military Police 
     Company, complained Friday that he tried to get medical help 
     for three children with severe burns on the arms, legs, and 
     faces, but Army doctors told him that the children's wounds 
     were not life-threatening and it was not the Americans' duty 
     to help.
       After having to send the family on its way without 
     treatment, the sergeant broke down and had to be comforted by 
     his platoon leader, Sgt. 1st Class Bryan Pacholski. The 
     moment was captured by an Associated Press photographer, and 
     the picture was printed yesterday in The Blade and newspapers 
     across the country.
       Upon seeing the picture and article in The Blade, Miss 
     Kaptur said she shared the outrage of the 30-year-old 
     military police sergeant. She said it's not only a moral duty 
     for America, but a strategic one that can help build support 
     in an Arab world that increasingly questions America's 
     motives in Iraq.
       ``We are losing the battle for respect in that region,'' 
     said Miss Kaptur, who opposed President Bush's decision to go 
     to war. ``We might command the ground--or hold the ground for 
     the moment--but we have to gain the hearts and minds of the 
     people.''
       Miss Kaptur's criticism was shared by some who contacted 
     The Blade yesterday, such as Dave Pacholski, the brother of 
     the sergeant who comforted Sergeant Borell Friday.
       ``I have two little ones, and I find it irresponsible on 
     anybody's part to just walk away and say there's nothing they 
     can do,'' he said. ``Not only is that ignorant, but it was 
     totally against what doctors do.''
       But others said the American military is doing the best it 
     can in what is still a dangerous war zone, and they 
     questioned whether anyone should pass judgment on a scenario 
     before hearing the side of military officials, which was not 
     available Friday or yesterday.
       Maj. John Dzienny, a Toledo native now serving with U.S. 
     Army special forces in Iraq, wrote in an e-mail that he has 
     seen only ``compassion and resolve'' by American forces.
       ``It is the hope of all of us over here to see these people 
     one day free and safe, just as we enjoy at home. These things 
     take time, however, and it can strain the heart to not have 
     an instant solution. All an individual can do is the best he 
     or she can,'' he said.
       It is not a new debate.
       The nonprofit group Doctors Without Borders complained 
     three weeks after U.S. troops rolled into Baghdad that the 
     U.S.-led coalition hierarchy had failed to restart Iraq's 
     health-care system.
       The group's international council president, Dr. Martin 
     Rostrup, not only blamed U.S. forces for failing to stop the 
     looting at many hospitals, but for not setting up an 
     administrative health system to replace Saddam's--which he 
     said was required under the Geneva Convention.
       ``They are definitely responsible to see that basic 
     services are put in place very rapidly so as to avoid 
     suffering of people. And this has not taken place. After 
     three weeks, the hospitals are in disarray and I find that 
     unacceptable,'' he told reporters then, according to an 
     Internet transcript of a May 3 news conference.
       It's unclear now how much that's changed. The group's 
     spokesman said yesterday that he could not provide an 
     immediate assessment of Iraq's current health-care system.
       And the human rights group Amnesty International has yet to 
     pass judgment on whether the U.S.-led coalition is doing 
     enough.
       ``The legal standard is a hard one to measure,'' group 
     spokesman Alistair Hodgett said. ``But I think you can't read 
     an account like that account [by Sergeant Borell] and not 
     feel like the U.S. should be doing more.''
       A U.S. military spokesman said Iraqis have a better health-
     care system now than before. Navy Lt. Cmdr. Matthew Klee, 
     speaking on behalf of the U.S. Central Command, said 
     yesterday that the military is doing the best it can to help 
     as many civilians as possible in a country roughly the size 
     of California.
       ``We are providing health care to Iraqis, but we don't have 
     the infrastructure to support the entire Iraqi civilian 
     population,'' said Commander Klee, who is based in Tampa.
       He said he was unable to immediately provide the military's 
     detailed rules for when its field hospitals must accept Iraqi 
     civilians, but he said at the very least military hospitals 
     treat any civilians with life-threatening injuries. The rest 
     are referred to local, civilian-run hospitals.
       He also said he was unable to immediately conform Sergeant 
     Borell's account of the burned children not getting medical 
     attention. But he said that, regardless, the military would 
     not punish the sergeant for speaking out--a key worry of 
     Congressman Kaptur.
       ``As long as he's speaking of his own personal opinions, 
     he's more than welcome to do that,'' Commander Klee said. 
     ``He just can't speak for the military. He can express his 
     views. But when it comes to policy and official statements, 
     that's really our bailiwick.''
       Contacted vie e-mail at their base 30 miles northwest of 
     Baghdad, other soldiers in the 323rd also were unable to 
     confirm the sergeant's account of the incident. But 1st Sgt. 
     Robert Orwig confirmed that the unit's Balad base treats only 
     civilians injured by an American or who have an injury that 
     could involve a loss of life, limb, or an eye.
       Still, the 323rd soldiers routinely call the base hospital 
     anyway when an injured Iraqi approaches, and let the hospital 
     staff formally refuse to treat the injured.
       ``It is hard for our soldiers to have to turn the children 
     away, but that is the guidance we have and have to go by,'' 
     he said.
       ``This wasn't the first incident that children were sent 
     away,'' he added. ``[It] probably won't be the last.''
       Miss Kaptur, however, hopes it is the last.
       She said she will seek out Defense Secretary Donald 
     Rumsfeld as well as House

[[Page 14929]]

     leaders from both parties when she returns to Washington 
     tomorrow. She said the military should be able to set up more 
     field hospitals to treat wounded Iraqis until the Iraqi 
     civilian hospitals can do the job.
       If the U.S. military can't do it, Miss Kaptur said, other 
     international groups or even American citizens should.
       ``I know the American people. We could fill a cargo plane 
     out here at Toldeo Express and equip the first field hospital 
     ourselves,'' she said.
       As for Sergeant Borell, he wrote in an e-mail to The Blade 
     yesterday that the Iraqi family hadn't returned yet to the 
     base to seek help for their children.
       ``I imagine one refusal is enough for them,'' he said.
                                  ____



                                     House of Representatives,

                                    Washington, DC, June 16, 2003.
     Hon. Donald H. Rumsfeld,
     Secretary, Department of Defense,
     The Pentagon, Washington, DC.
       Dear Secretary Rumsfeld: Based on these articles, I am 
     requesting a personal meeting with you. I wish to propose an 
     expedited schedule by the U.S. to establish temporary field 
     hospitals in Iraq, perhaps in concert with our Arab allies, 
     serving the wounded and suffering. With Baghdad's early fall, 
     sufficient funds have been appropriated to accommodate these 
     facilities.
       In addition, UN health organizations, Doctors Without 
     Borders, and Americans from all walks of life should be 
     engaged in this moral imperative. Our forces, or those of 
     coalition allies, can be used to secure the perimeters where 
     such field health services would be offered.
       As a representative from the Arab-American crescent that 
     lies between Toledo, Ohio, Dearborn, Michigan, and Cleveland, 
     Ohio, I know our region would rise to the occasion of 
     equipping and staffing the first such hospital. Equally, 
     America should match our commitment.
       It is now our obligation. Thank you.
           Sincerely,
                                                     Marcy Kaptur,
     U.S. Representative.

                          ____________________