Comments for Iraq: Contracting 'Blackwater Disease' at http://pacificfreepress.com , comment 0 to 6 out of 6 comments http://pacificfreepress.com Wed, 08 Oct 2008 12:23:33 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.2 http://pacificfreepress.com/content/view/2433/81/#pc_1894 Camp Fallujah, Iraq April 3, 2008 Mr. Richard Kastelein Publisher, Pacific Free Press Groningen, Netherlands Dear Mr. Kastelein: As the physician in charge of preventive medicine for Coalition Forces in al Anbar Province, I am writing in reference to your March 26, 2008 article on "Blackwater fever", in order to provide you with some facts from the ground here. Malaria has never been known to be acquired in al Anbar Province. In fact, the type of mosquito which carries malaria does not even live here. Since 2006 there have been roughly seven instances in Anbar, none of them life-threatening, in which U.S. service members caught malaria outside western Iraq, all in known malarial areas, and then transferred here before being diagnosed. On the cholera issue, you have cited the World Health Organization data accurately, and that data matches our experience here. The cholera situation, while seasonal, will improve overall as the water and sewer infrastructure continues to improve throughout Anbar. These projects are well underway now that the security situation has greatly improved. As to "Blackwater fever", we have heard nothing of it, either on or off base. Our staff liaison spoke last week with the Anbar Health Director's Office, and he confirms that nothing like this has been reported in the Anbari population. If, as your article implies, "Blackwater fever" is caused by antimalarial treatment, this does not square with the public health picture here. Anbari doctors in general, like most physicians in the U.S., know little about malaria treatment and its complications, since they see no cases acquired locally. While there are rare cases of the milder vivax malaria acquired in the extreme northeastern region of Iraq, falciparum malaria, the type which is most often fatal, is unknown anywhere in Iraq. As to public health generally, when compared with 2006, when the insurgency was at its height, the streets here today are remarkably cleaner, showing a much greater pride in neighborhoods. This shows, of course, a commendable regard for public health among Iraqis, and we of course hope very much to see this trend continue. Sincerely, Richard L. Siemens, JD, MD, MPH, FACPM Commander, Medical Corps, U.S. Navy Force Health Protection Officer I Marine Expeditionary Force/Multinational Force West Camp Fallujah, Republic of Iraq - Richard L. Siemens Tue, 08 Apr 2008 15:31:21 +0100 http://pacificfreepress.com/content/view/2433/81/#pc_1833 No the uncounted Blackwater dead do not indeed relate anything to the "Iraqi disease," they are dead. If you are trying to make some sort of moral equivalence between the one to two hundred dead "contractors" and the more than one million Iraqis, the mere fact the Iraqis were killed in their homes by an invading army (including mercenaries), unlike Blackwater, etc. killed by a resistance, then I think you're off the mark there. Go back to the table "Fed" and take a longer look at the menu. lex - cook Fri, 28 Mar 2008 00:36:38 +0100 http://pacificfreepress.com/content/view/2433/81/#pc_1832 What about all the countless Blackwater personnel that have been killed? They don't relate anything to the "Iraqi disease". - FED UP Thu, 27 Mar 2008 21:19:10 +0100 http://pacificfreepress.com/content/view/2433/81/#pc_1831 Apparently Iraqis have made the connection here between Blackwater the mercenary group and the malaria...both render the same result. I hope our soldiers are educated and cared for through all this. - Willy Thu, 27 Mar 2008 19:46:37 +0100 http://pacificfreepress.com/content/view/2433/81/#pc_1829 FALLUJAH, Mar 26 (IPS) - What Iraqis now call Blackwater fever is really a well-known medical condition, and while it has nothing to do with Blackwater Worldwide, Iraqis in al-Anbar province have decided to make the connection between the disease and the lethal U.S.-based company which has been responsible for the death of countless Iraqis. - cook Thu, 27 Mar 2008 14:27:55 +0100 http://pacificfreepress.com/content/view/2433/81/#pc_1828 I am an American contractor owrking in Iraq and a Veteran of OEF/OIF1. I was enlisted as an Infantry soldier for almost ten years and have been a contractor for four years. Naming an age old disease after a group of people (Blackwater contractors) who had nothing to do with creating, spreading or curing it to make a political statment is grossly irresponsible. Maybe this is due to the fact that Iraqi physicians are only educated a fraction of what western doctors are. However they are smart enough to figure out how to manipulate the over 50% of illiterate population by spreading unsubstantiated propaganda and down right lies. They are also smart enough to know right from wrong. The facts are, Blackwater provides an indispensable service to the U.S. Government and coalition forces in the war on terror. More Blackwater contractors have laid down their lives for America then have the reporters who spread slander against them. Another fact, a vast majority of Blackwater contractors are U.S. veterans (yeah that's right UNITD STATES MILITARY VETERANS) who have done more for their nation and Iraq (Iraq officials take advantage of being next to someone who has Blackwater security) then any journalist or Iraqi. The only organization that can be compared to Blackwater in terms of dedication to the United States is the U.S. military. Remember your average soldier has less service time, less combat time and less military training than does your average Blackwater contractor. When you attack Blackwater you are attacking your nations veterans. Why would we as a nation let another county attack our veterans? Why would we print their lies? When the military has gone into a rebuilding phase due to its officers being afraid to launch a real offensive because they will be put on trial by the media, Blackwater is still staying the course. As all military leaders know anything but being on the offensive is just delaying defeat and if the military does not have the support of the public defeat will come swifter. There for, without a doubt, not supporting a real offensive, planned by real soldiers without the interference of politicians, is to support the defeat of our Army and the death of our brave military men. When an Army (or any organization) does what it is designed to be doing it is more successful. Rather than if it is being employed in a manner in which it was not designed for. Fact our Army has less casualties when it is on the offensive as it was designed for. Military officers should be concerned with leading soldiers not their political careers. Patton and Mc Arthur are surely rolling in their graves. Blackwater would be a great asset for the military if they chose to use them to their fullest. It would also be a smart economic decision for tax payers. But the media would put that decision on trial the second they caught wind of it. Why does the media have so much power over strategic decisions? They have no formal training in that matter. Yet they attack the decision of those who do. They rarely leave the green zone, even when they tell you they do. So how do they get their stories? Well, they meet with their Iraqi contacts in the green zone who bring them news of the following day. Local Iraqi nationals being used by reporters have no formal training in reporting and hardly an education at all. They are easily susceptible to propaganda (remember the two unethical doctors in the al-An bar province.) When a reporter has two conflicting stories how do they choose what to print? They go with what sells without even investigating. The Blackwater name sells newspapers weather it is fact or fiction, pro or con it is going to sell. The media could easily make heroes of Blackwater contractors by reporting the unbiased facts (that is their job after all) in a time when America could use some good press, American veterans who want to continue to contribute to the war on terror. Blackwater has a perfect record, why aren't they judged on that? - Mo Thu, 27 Mar 2008 11:56:05 +0100