-♻RetweetThe Real Scandal of Iraqi Relief
Sun, May 11, 2003 at 9:34:24 am PDT
Jonathan Foreman has a piece on the feckless whining international NGOs in Iraq that has to be read to be believed: The Real Scandal of Iraqi Relief.
Ask any soldier who patrols this city, and you'll hear the same thing: The NGOs have been here for weeks, but they're not out in the streets. They cite "security concerns" - though journalists and soldiers alike move around the city, using common sense and taking precautions. ...
TO catch the NGOs in "action," you must go to the daily meeting at 1700 hours at the palazzo occupied by CMCC - that's the Civilian Military Coordination Center. (It used to be CMOC - the civilian military operations center - but the NGOs complained that the name implied that they were operating together with the military!) ...
A few of the civilians are Iraqis. The rest are international bureaucrats, most of them shiny with privilege, all of them bursting with self-righteousness.
Army officers stand all along the walls. Compared to the aid workers (with their new clothes and expensive haircuts), they look dirty and tired.
The soldiers must doff their rifles and sidearms before they enter the area because the NGO folk - who depend on these men and women for their protection - object to the presence of firearms.
Many other complaints follow the lines of: I was over there yesterday. You said it was safe but I heard a shot....
"All they do is complain," said a colonel who attends these meetings. "And you know what, I'm getting school supplies here with the help of my church at home quicker than all these NGO guys. A lot of units here are doing the same." ...
Certainly almost every question is delivered in accusatory tones. Indeed, more often than not they aren't really questions but statements: "You should understand that the military should not occupy schools because that's an abuse of civilian structures," admonished one NGO leader on Sunday.
A little later, another informs the room that "we as an organization will adhere to humanitarian principles and not use any military aircraft. . . . It is unacceptable for humanitarian supplies to come in on military transport."
The issue of moral pollution by contact with U.S. forces sometimes seems to be the NGOs' main focus. ...
A blond girl from a group called "Innocent Victims of War" asks a question basically accusing the armed forces of not caring or doing anything about cluster bomblets and the children they injure. A British engineer major then calmly explains that there are 10 unexploded-ordnance teams all over the city and that a special U.N. dog-team is coming into town next week. The task is huge because "this whole country is a vast ammunition dump, and a lot of the stuff is booby trapped."
She doesn't relent: Next week "is a little unacceptable to me." The major moves the subject on, assuring her that the children injured by munitions are "something that truly pains us all."
ONE of the many sulky Frenchmen demands that the Americans remove the roadblocks on the road from the airport into town, only to be told by a bullet-headed Maj. Watkins that this simply won't happen: The Army has to keep its main supply routes secure.
Then an armor major stands up, says that there's a young girl in his area with a brain tumor, and asks: "Are there any NGOs out there who can arrange specialized treatment for her?" The answer is silence.
There’s much more. Read it all and weep.
Frank says:
