To cure the disease of militarism…
Under this category we post information about children we brought to the US for medical care.
In this video, Salee and her father pay a visit to Amy Goodman of Democracy Now. NMV video opens the segment, and then they fill out of the story of the attack and the grassroots efforts that brought her here for medical care at Shriner’s Hospital in Greenville, South Carolina.
NMV Director talks with Amy Goodman about the grassroots project. Salee and her father also appeared on the program, and video produced by NMV was shown to her growing audience.
Alaa’ Khalid Hamdan was severely injured when a U.S. tank round slammed into her family’s home in Al Qaim, Iraq. The attack occurred at three in the afternoon. The children in the home were having a tea party. Two of Alaa’s brothers and three of her cousins were killed, all children under ten. The men were at work.
This is a brief video sketch of NMV’s work. Our appeal is made to all Americans. Remember: what we permit policymakers in the national security state to inflict on others, they will eventually inflict on us. The war is coming home: local police departments have been equipped with tools and tactics from battlefields abroad, and we their targets. To learn more about this ongoing menace, read this article by scholar Alfred McCoy.
Noora was shot by an American sniper near her home in Iraq. This is a mainstream media feature about her treatment in Portland, Maine. The reporters do an excellent job of stating essential facts and covering the human side of the story.
Abdul Hakeem was disfigured when US mortars struck his home during the First Siege of Fallujah. His mother was also severely injured; eight months pregnant, she lost her child. NMV brought Abdul Hakeem to Pittsburgh, where he received facial reconstructive surgery and a prosthetic eye. Video includes Noam Chomsky commentary of the work of NMV.
Rusul received expert prosthetic treatment at Shriner’s Hospital in Greenville, South Carolina. In this video, she walks on her new leg for the first time. Special thanks again to Ed Skewes, who fitted Rusul and her sister Salee with prostheses.
Rusul’s leg was mangled in the US air strike that killed her brother and another young child. At the time the missile struck, the children were playing hopscotch outside Rusul’s home.
http://youtu.be/SN4D7HcVOfY
This short film was produced by Brave New Films. In February 2006, we accompanied Omar and his father to the US after making arrangements for Omar’s treatment in Boston. Robert Greenwald had produced a new video about Mother’s Day that featured Gloria Steinem and a number of well-known actresses. Mother’s Day was originally intended as an urgent invitation for the women of the world to stand up against war and militarism. Elizabeth Ward Howe wrote the proclamation. The day has metastasized into a tacky merchandizing bonanza, and most people don’t know its origins. But they exist, and this video informed tens of thousands of viewers about the forgotten roots of Mother’s Day.
NNV was working on a project to bring Salee Alawee to the US for a new pair of legs. Hers had been blown off in the US missile strike that killed her brother and best friend and seriously injured her four-year-old cousin. Brave New Foundation used Mother’s Day for Peace to raise funds that helped us realize that project. Salee visited the states three times over the years for new prosthetic legs. We will always be grateful to Robert Greenwald and Brave New Foundation for their vital assistance with helping Salee and other war-injured children.
Brave New Films and Brave New Foundation have been tireless in efforts to inform the public about official crimes, especially war crimes. They are currently doing very important work on the infamous use of drones to terrorize entire civilian populations. We urge you to visit their websites here, here and here.
War crimes have fingerprints, and there is no statute of limitations.
On May 5 2005 Alaa’ Khalid Hamdan was severely injured when a U.S. tank round slammed into her family’s home in Al Qaim, Iraq. It was around three in the afternoon, and the children were having a tea party. Two of Alaa’s brothers and three of her cousins were killed, all children under ten years of age. Fourteen women and children were killed or injured in the attack, which occurred while the men were at work.
Alaa’ was peppered with shrapnel in her legs, abdomen and chest, and urgently needed an operation to save her eyesight. Micro-shrapnel from the US tank round was embedded in both eyes, her retinas detached. If the fragments were not removed soon, she faced a lifetime of blindness. We received her medical reports in June of 2005.
No medical services were provided by the US military for Alaa’ or her injured mother. Alaa’s impending blindness was of no consequence to occupation authorities.
Ashley Severance, a 22-year-old law student from Melbourne, Florida, contacted NMV and offered to help. She worked for months to set up pro-bono medical care in Orlando. Dr. Saad Shaik, a gifted retinal surgeon, agreed to provide his services free of charge. Alan Pogue traveled to meet Alaa’ and her father in Amman, Jordan, helped them the difficult process of obtaining medical visas, and accompanied them to Orlando. They arrived in November, 2005.
This report was originally broadcast in Iraq. Omar was horribly burned when US forces opened fire on a passenger vehicle as he traveled with his family to visit relatives during Eid. The obvious corollary: foreign forces opening fire on a family on its way to celebrate Christmas with relatives. Such crimes cause deep anger and expose American civilians to reprisal attacks. Those who pretend to be “protecting Americans” are in fact exposing all Americans to danger by committing international war crimes on a vast scale.
The failure of the corporate media to inform Americans about these crimes makes them complicit, and leaves Americans generally uninformed about the root causes of “terrorism” and susceptible to Pentagon propaganda. We brought Omar to Boston for treatment that was not provided by the US military. Omar got help with his horrific injuries. Americans learned about his story, and the project communicated to the world that millions of Americans are opposed to aggression and deeply sympathetic with its defenseless victims.
No More Victims brought Umm Haider and Mostafa, an Iraqi mother and her injured son, to the United States in early April 2003. The bombing was well underway and the corporate media dutifully celebrated US military power. Nationalistic fervor swept the country.
Mustafa received medical care and his mother had the opportunity to tell her story to the American public. It is a story about the death and mutilation of children told by a mother who has lived under the American bombs. Mostafa was outside in the street near his home in Basra when a US missile struck. He was four at the time, walking with his six-year-old brother Haider to buy sweets at a nearby corner market. Haider was killed. Mostafa’s four-year-old body was riddled with more than 130 pieces of shrapnel; he lost two fingers from his dominant hand, and half of his liver. The missile strike occurred on January 25, 1999.
Mostafa was the first child we brought to the United States. Our goal has been to create a model that could be used by others, and over the years we have demonstrated its effectiveness and viability. We have shown that people in ordinary circumstances could successfully evacuate children injured by US forces from the theater of war to the United States for medical treatment. Other communities have joined in to express their opposition to the US war of aggression against Iraq and solidarity with its victims. They are organizing now to help victims as the American militarists – using ever more infernal weapons – attack countries around the world.
