Pacific Free Press was launched in March 2007 by Dutch-Canadian Richard
Kastelein of V.O.F. Expathos, in the Netherlands along with Chris Cook- CFUV radio journalist and Editor in Chief of Pacific Free Press. Cook is based in , Victoria, British Columbia.
The site is a sister to Atlantic Free Press and Brick Ogden an American Expatriate in Amsterdam has been a key supporter of this project.
The mission of Pacific Free Press is simple: to dig out nuggets of truth from
the slag-heap of lies, ignorance and witless diversion that has buried
public discourse today. Pacific Free Press provides a new venue for
disseminating hard news and insightful, fact-based analysis of the
harsh realities too often ignored or distorted by the mainstream press.
Fever Named After Blackwater
by Ali al-Fadhily and Dahr Jamail
Iraqi doctors in al-Anbar province warn of a new disease they call "Blackwater" that threatens the lives of thousands. The disease is named after Blackwater Worldwide, the U.S. mercenary company operating in Iraq.
"This disease is a severe form of malarial infection caused by the parasite plasmodium falciparum, which is considered the worst type of malarial infection," Dr. Ali Hakki from Fallujah told IPS.
"It is one of the complications of that infection, and not the ordinary picture of the disease. Because of its frequent and severe complications, such as Blackwater fever, and its resistance to treatment, P. falciparum can cause death within 24 hours."
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.
The
disease is most prevalent in Africa and Asia. The patient suffers
severe intravascular haemolysis -- the destruction of red blood cells
leading to kidney and liver failure. It also leads to black or red
urination, and hence perhaps the new name 'Blackwater'.
The
deadly disease, never before seen in Iraq on at least this scale, seems
to be spreading across the country. And Iraq lacks medicines,
hospitals, and doctors to lead a campaign to fight the disease.
"We
informed the ministry of the disease, but it seems that they are not in
a mood to listen," a doctor from the al-Anbar Health Office in Ramadi
told IPS, speaking on condition of anonymity.
"We are making personal
contacts with NGOs in an attempt to get the necessary medicines."
The
three doctors who spoke to IPS in Fallujah and in Ramadi in al-Anbar
province that lies west of Baghdad, seemed sure that the Iraqi
government would do little to face the plague.
"They have not even made any announcement so that people can take precautions," one of the doctors from Fallujah told IPS.
The
doctor said a patient usually suffers three stages of malarial
infection.
"First is the cold stage where the patient will have chills
and shaking, the second is the hot stage when fever takes over, and the
third is the sweating stage."
Doctors in Fallujah say the new
complication of the disease that may develop from malarial infection
can be treated in its early stages, but is difficult to control when
complications develop. Drugs currently being used to treat the disease
include Chloroquin, Mefloquin, Pyrimethamine, Suladox, Halfotrin and
Primaquine.
Patients seem unaware of the seriousness of the
disease, though doctors tell them it is essential to buy medicines from
private pharmacies because they are not available at general hospitals.
"Many
have died within the past two weeks in my town," Mahmood Nassir, a
schoolteacher from Saqlawiya, north of Fallujah, told IPS.
"We know it
is a deadly disease, but what can we do about it? We have no government
to refer to, and everyone in the Green Zone (the government district of
Baghdad) is too busy preparing to escape with their share of the money
they stole from us."
Talat al-Mukhtar is an Iraqi doctor now studying abroad. IPS asked him to comment on the Blackwater fever outbreak in Iraq.
"Malaria
is endemic in Iraq, mainly in the northern part. However, it is
prevalent in the milder forms; the severe form had been reported but
not at an epidemic level."
Dr. Mukhtar said this form of malaria
requires a "triple-drug treatment programme because it is an aggressive
infection." He said the patient "requires meticulous medical and
nursing care, and might even need time in an intensive care unit, as it
can easily lead to kidney and liver failure."
Like the other
doctors IPS spoke with, Dr. Mukhtar was clear that the Iraqi ministry
of health needs to take a proactive role before the disease spreads
further.
"These cases of severe fever that follow haemolysis should
warrant immediate action from the ministry of health to investigate
thoroughly these cases and assess whether they are malaria or other
conditions."
Dr. Mukhtar added;
"Considering the poor health
situation and poor resources in Anbar province, even though clinical
judgment is important, laboratory tests are not easily verified, and
many other diseases can give the same clinical picture. That is why
standard lab investigation is needed, may be with the help of WHO
(World Health Organisation)."
The disease seems too sensitive for journalists to talk about.
"There
was a great deal of anger when we wrote about cholera in Iraq last
summer," a journalist in Fallujah told IPS. "Neither the government nor
the occupation forces would accept our covering such a story."
IPS
was not allowed to take pictures at the Fallujah General Hospital. A
doctor refused to disclose how many may have been infected or how many
may have died.
The spread of this condition follows the outbreak
of other diseases. According to the WHO, as of Oct. 3, 2007 cholera
outbreaks in Iraq had spread to nine of 18 provinces, and roughly
30,000 people had fallen ill with acute diarrhoea, with 14 deaths.
An
Oxfam International report released last July showed that the
humanitarian disaster in Iraq is compounded by a mass exodus of medical
staff fleeing chronic violence and lawlessness. The report said the
lack of doctors and nurses is breaking down a health system now on the
brink of collapse.
The report said many hospitals had lost up to 80 percent of their teaching staff.
Ali al-Fadhily,our correspondent in Baghdad, works in close collaboration with Dahr
Jamail, our U.S.-based specialist writer on Iraq who has reported
extensively from Iraq and the Middle East.
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?
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Why? you ask. Fallujah. written by cook,
March 27, 2008
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.
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... written by Willy,
March 27, 2008
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.
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... written by FED UP,
March 27, 2008
What about all the countless Blackwater personnel that have been killed? They don't relate anything to the "Iraqi disease".
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
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... written by Richard L. Siemens,
April 08, 2008
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
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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?