What happens after the war?

[Darth Wong]

I'm going to post one of those stories in Reuters about life on the other side of the war. I know someone's going to say "aw, shaddup, that's normal in war, boo hoo" and tune it out, but my point is not to repeat the tautology that war is hell. My point is to ask the question: after the war, what happens to these people?

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Ali Ismaeel Abbas, 12, was fast asleep when war shattered his life. A missile obliterated his home and most of his family, leaving him orphaned, badly burned and blowing off both his arms.

"It was midnight when the missile fell on us. My father, my mother and my brother died. My mother was five months pregnant," the traumatized boy told Reuters at Baghdad's Kindi hospital.

"Our neighbors pulled me out and brought me here. I was unconscious," he said on Sunday.

In addition to the tragedy of losing his parents, he faces the horror of living handicapped. Thinking about his uncertain future he timidly asked whether he could get artificial arms.

"Can you help get my arms back? Do you think the doctors can get me another pair of hands?" Abbas asked. "If I don't get a pair of hands I will commit suicide," he said with tears spilling down his cheeks.

His aunt, three cousins and three other relatives staying with them were also killed in this week's missile strikes on their house in Diala Bridge district east of Baghdad.

"We didn't want war. I was scared of this war," said Abbas. "Our house was just a poor shack, why did they want to bomb us?" said the young boy, unaware that the area in which he lived was surrounded by military installations.

With a childhood lost and a future clouded by disaster and disability, Abbas poured his heart out as he lay in bed with an improvised wooden cage over his chest to stop his burned flesh touching the bed covers.

"I wanted to become an army officer when I grow up, but not anymore. Now I want to become a doctor, but how can I? I don't have hands," he said.

His aunt, Jamila Abbas, 53, looked after him, feeding him, washing him, comforting him with prayers and repeatedly telling him his parents had gone to heaven.

The poor kid asks if he will ever get artificial arms. Is this likely in the postwar Iraq health-care system?

[DPDarkPrimus]

I hate to be heartless bastard but... how is he going to commit suicide without any hands?

[Darth Wong]

I hate to be heartless bastard but... how is he going to commit suicide without any hands?

I'm sure the good people of Iowa are proud that you represent them thusly

[Queeb Salaron]

Is it likely that he'll get arms? Not under normal post-war circumstances. The way I see it, Iraqi health-care would be more likely to care for soldiers first, civilians second. With any luck, though, the US will donate some of its facilities to help give this boy the arms that they took from him. Seeing as we can't give his family back to him, it's the very least we could do.

::Sighs:: I'm not gonna say anything else unless some Nazi asshole dares to come on this thread and say something like, "Sorry, that's what happens in war. Deal with it and move on." Fuck that. And if you're thinking something along those lines, grow a fucking heart.

[Coyote]

Supposedly there will be a provisional gov't set up by US/UK authorities that will coordinate with the UN to expedite medical and other humanitarian supplies. The rebuilding process will begin as will the formation of a new Iraqi gov't formed partially from exiled Iraqi National Congress members.

As thre US Army Corps of Engineers and other companies (yes, Halliburton among them, anyone so inclined can commence howling) get the water turned on, as well as the electricity, etc, the country will get back on its feet. In truth it wil take years to see to the needs of everyone and as is the nature of gov'ts, some folks will be waiting for years to have their needs met.

Al casualties are unfortunate, yes, even the Iraqis. I actually do hope that they all get taken care of in a proper and humane way ASAP when this is all over.

[Queeb Salaron]

I hate to be heartless bastard but... how is he going to commit suicide without any hands?

Are you fucking serious?

Are you FUCKING SERIOUS?!

[Sea Skimmer]

The poor kid asks if he will ever get artificial arms. Is this likely in the postwar Iraq health-care system?

Immediately? Unlikely, though I'd bet Iraq has considerable production capability for at least basic ones. After all they've had about a million wounded in combat over the past 25 years.

Alot will depend on how much damage the system suffers and how much staff remains.

[Shinova]

I hate to be heartless bastard but... how is he going to commit suicide without any hands?

To answer your question, he could jump off from a place of high elevation.



And yes, that was a sick question.

[EmperorChrostas the Cruel]

If he lives, he will get good medical care, and be taken care of for life, provided one thing.

He gets air time, in the west, explaining his dilemma.

There are many good people, with many good intentions. They will only help, if they KNOW there is a problem.

Barring that, his future looks grim.

[neoolong]

With the air time the civilian casualties are getting there might be the creation of charities and what not after the war to help them.

[EmperorChrostas the Cruel]

I sure hope so.

Anyone know how to start one?

[His Divine Shadow]

Immediately? Unlikely, though I'd bet Iraq has considerable production capability for at least basic ones. After all they've had about a million wounded in combat over the past 25 years.

Alot will depend on how much damage the system suffers and how much staff remains.

Yeah well thats why the USA better stick around and putting the place back together.

[His Divine Shadow]

Is it likely that he'll get arms? Not under normal post-war circumstances.

Even if it was america, how exactly would he really get any usable arms?
I mean ones that he could move and such?

[Colonel Olrik]

Is it likely that he'll get arms? Not under normal post-war circumstances.

Even if it was america, how exactly would he really get any usable arms?
I mean ones that he could move and such?

A friend of mine has an artificial arm. It works fine enough. If he lived in a 1st world country, he would at least regain partial hands hability. Not to mention more recent and still being tested options like actual transplants.

[His Divine Shadow]

A friend of mine has an artificial arm. It works fine enough. If he lived in a 1st world country, he would at least regain partial hands hability. Not to mention more recent and still being tested options like actual transplants.

Hmm, really? Is it like robotic then? Can he move his fingers and such with his mind?

[Enforcer Talen]

I hate to be heartless bastard but... how is he going to commit suicide without any hands?

I wondered that too. no offense, people.

and, at a guess, he probably wont get them.

[Colonel Olrik]

Hmm, really? Is it like robotic then? Can he move his fingers and such with his mind?

Yes to both questions. He moves it by using certain muscles. After a while, it's supposed to be mechanical, and similar to what we do with our own arms, instinctive movement. He can grab and alike, and I guess that with proper training he would be able to write with the artificial hand. Fortunatelly, he doesn't need it, since the other arm is normal.

[His Divine Shadow]

Ah, I was wondering incase it was like connected to nerves in his arm, like the stuff Prof. Warwick is into.

[jegs2]

I'm going to post one of those stories in Reuters about life on the other side of the war. I know someone's going to say "aw, shaddup, that's normal in war, boo hoo" and tune it out, but my point is not to repeat the tautology that war is hell. My point is to ask the question: after the war, what happens to these people?

I imagine that a program has already been put in place for folks like that -- some sort of taxpayer-supported welfare program. Kids like that one will probably be eligible for prosthetic arms, which I understand have gotten pretty advanced now. We can probably look to how we handled a very similar situation in both Germany and Japan at the close of WW2, with lessons-learned applied to prevent repeating mistakes made there.

[Durandal]

I hate to be heartless bastard but... how is he going to commit suicide without any hands?

Are you fucking serious?

Are you FUCKING SERIOUS?!

Of all the people to yell at the guy, you would be the last in-line. Don't throw stones from a glass house.

[Asst. Asst. Lt. Cmdr. Smi]

I'm going to post one of those stories in Reuters about life on the other side of the war. I know someone's going to say "aw, shaddup, that's normal in war, boo hoo" and tune it out, but my point is not to repeat the tautology that war is hell. My point is to ask the question: after the war, what happens to these people?

I imagine that a program has already been put in place for folks like that -- some sort of taxpayer-supported welfare program. Kids like that one will probably be eligible for prosthetic arms, which I understand have gotten pretty advanced now. We can probably look to how we handled a very similar situation in both Germany and Japan at the close of WW2, with lessons-learned applied to prevent repeating mistakes made there.

But such artificial limbs are expensive, right? There are probably thousands of people like that kid in Iraq.

If they're not going to get an artificial limb, I'm sure they're going to get some medical attention, and a good part of the money spent on rebuilding Iraq will go toward medical supplies.

[Queeb Salaron]

Of all the people to yell at the guy, you would be the last in-line. Don't throw stones from a glass house.

This is a CIVILIAN, Durandal, not a soldier. This is a KID. A kid who lost his family and body parts. The only confirmed injuries to Jessica Lynch were broken bones and lacerations. THIS BOY HAS NO ARMS! Yes, maybe I was a bit insensitive when it came to the Lynch POW case. But any idiot with a heart can see the heartlessness in asking how the boy would commit suicide without arms. There is a line to be drawn, and even I would draw it long before questioning the boy's proposed methods of killing himself. I'm not putting myself above the asswipe who made those comments. Hell, I might even be below him. But at least I tried to make light of a bad situation. That was just morbid.

[Darth Garden Gnome]

I'm sure there's going to be plenty of people, Coalition troops, Iraqi troops, and Iraqi civlians, who are going to have a limb blown off during the war. Especially the Iraqi troops, who we are caring for after they're wounded. I can only imagine how long it would take for this boy to get treated, if at all.

And, pardon my ignorance, but how would one go about manipulating artifical arms?

[RedImperator]

There's going to be a lot of charity flowing into Iraq. But there's going to be a lot of charity cases, too. He'll probably get simple proshetic arms right away, but it will be years, if ever, before he gets high-tech limbs.

[Colonel Olrik]

I'm sure there's going to be plenty of people, Coalition troops, Iraqi troops, and Iraqi civlians, who are going to have a limb blown off during the war. Especially the Iraqi troops, who we are caring for after they're wounded. I can only imagine how long it would take for this boy to get treated, if at all.

And, pardon my ignorance, but how would one go about manipulating artifical arms?

It depends a lot of the state of what's left of the limb. If the nerves are intact, how do the muscles react, etc. With a muscle controlled artificial arm you can do many basic movements only by thinking about it, after the training. Mechanical arms are very advanced, nowadays. However, the really good ones are fucking expensive.