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Iraq Blog VI  (12 comments)

Posted by: Michael Leavitt
Friday, November 7th, 2008

Nothing Spared to Save Our Soldiers

Baghdad is still a tough place. Though there were apparently a couple of IED episodes in Baghdad while I was there, I was not aware of when they happened. However, a visit to the Combat Support Hospital (CSH) inside the Green Zone had a powerful impact on my understanding of the reality of war.

I met the doctors and nurses on duty that day. They walked me through their sobering business as if I was a patient arriving by helicopter, as most of their patients do.

I noticed a flag had been hung on the ceiling of the doorway through which wounded soldiers would be wheeled. I was told, “We want the American flag to be the first thing they see here. We want them to know they have come to a place where no effort will be spared to give them what they need. We want them to know once they get here, there is a 98-percent chance they will survive.”