May 23, 2003
by Guy Hovey

BAGHDAD - Dr. Abdul Heelo and his staff have no idea why a U.S. Abrams tank crashed through the wall of the Al Rashid psychiatric hospital during the fall of Baghdad.

They are sure, however, of what happened afterward. A large group of looters, taking advantage of opportunities provided by the fighting, poured in through the gap left by the tank. They raped 10 female patients, stole equipment and destroyed much of the building and its records, leaving the hospital incapable of providing care.

The violence at the Al Rashid hospital is just one example of how Iraqi society is breaking down in the post-Saddam power vacuum. In the streets, markets, hospitals and places of worship, everyone asks: When will the Americans bring security?

Many people say security has deteriorated as criminals have become used to coalition forces and have learned work around them in the weeks following the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime. U.S. troops now guard many public buildings, but many say it's too late - the looters have already struck. Gunfire usually breaks out at night as gangs of looters fight each other while trying to avoid U.S. Army patrols. The fruits of the looters' activities can be seen on sale in the markets around Baghdad in the morning.

The destruction of public administration buildings means that civil servants - the people who run the systems - have nowhere to work. Being ex-Baath Party members also means their future is uncertain.

Hospitals and medical centers, such as the Mansur Hospital in Baghdad, have run out of many drugs, although the city does have stocks of medicine. The drugs are in one of the six medical warehouses that have survived the war and looting, but systems no longer exist for requesting them, processing orders and delivery. Doctors try and set up ad hoc arrangements but are fighting a losing battle.

Several members of the Action by Churches Together network as well as partners are helping the institutions, but relief workers say what is needed most is a functioning government. The United Methodist Committee on Relief, a member of ACT, is working in Iraq through its ecumenical partners.

ACT member Diakonie Austria has helped ease the burden with a shipment of medicines, which was brought in by a Middle East Council of Churches convoy and then distributed to hospitals in the Baghdad area. Institutions that benefited included the Al Kinder hospital, which had been attacked by looters several times and is now being protected by armed members of the community. The hospital's wards are full of people wounded during and after the war. The hospital is typical of many, having lost much of its equipment to looters. Yet the staff continues its work, despite the personal danger.

A health worker who did not want to be named said he was grateful to Diakonie Austria for the medicine. "I don't know what we would have done (without it)," he said. "We had run out of antibiotics and anesthetics, as well as basic health care items."

This was reinforced by Djeba Hamid Shah, who was shot during the confused fighting in his neighborhood. "When I came to the hospital, I was losing a lot of blood, and the doctors stabilized me," he said. However, the drugs that he needed soon ran out, and he began to weaken as his wounds became infected. "Whoever brought the medicines have saved my life, and I thank them and God," he said.

The news is not all bad. Rehana Kirthisingha of Christian Aid, a member organization of ACT, said that after the collapse of the regime, water ministry workers in Kirkuk returned to their posts and received back at least half of the equipment that had been looted from the water and sewerage plants. Many communities in Baghdad have organized themselves into self-help groups, and a feeling of community solidarity is evident. Religious divides in some areas have been crossed for the common good.

A Catholic Chaldean priest in New Baghdad sheltered 300 families - both Muslim and Christian - in his church the night the U.S. Army entered Baghdad. Families still come to the church compound to collect clean water from the church well while supplies to their own homes continue to be disrupted. The good interfaith relations have been strengthened by the common hardship the communities are experiencing.

United Methodist News Service
Gus Hovey works for the United Methodist Committee on Relief and is a credentialed correspondent for United Methodist News Service in the Middle East. He also is a field communicator for Action by Churches Together.