War crimes in Iraq? U.S. must pay

Belgian doctors carried out five operations on a young Iraqi woman to repair leg wounds caused by a U.S. cluster bomb. Wanting to add some justice to this humanitarian act, the doctors handed a bill for 51,570 euros ($66,650) to the U.S. Embassy in Brussels on April 28.

Hiba Kassim

The young woman, Hiba Kassim, was wounded in her leg, hip and abdomen by the bomb during the U.S. invasion two years ago. The same bomb killed her brother. The doctors, from Medical Aid for the Third World (MATW), brought Kassim to Belgium in 2004 in an attempt to save her ankle. At this time she is able to walk, but with a limp.

In the letter to the U.S. Embassy demanding payment, Dr. Bert de Belder of MATW wrote April 25:

“Hiba is aware of the fact that war and occupation continue to make life very hard for her family, neighbors and friends. But this young girl, who turned 15 just last week, is determined to return to her country. She intends to study hard and hopes to become a doctor and serve her people.

“Hiba is also convinced of the fact that the U.S. government is the prime responsible for her people’s suffering, and the sole responsible for her own, personal suffering.

“We hold the U.S. government accountable ... First, U.S. troops hit Hiba with a cluster bomb, while, according to Inter national Humani tarian Law, targeting civilians in an international armed conflict is prohibited, as is the use of cluster bombs or ammunition in civilian areas.

“Second, Hiba was not able to get proper medical care, while according to the Fourth Geneva Convention (Articles 50, 55 and 56), the occupying power has the duty of ensuring the medical supplies of the population and of ensuring and maintaining the medical and hospital establishments and services in the occupied territory.

“As a humanitarian agency, we decided to step in and try, to the best of our ability, to provide Hiba Kassim with the care and the opportunities that the U.S. occupation of her country denied her. But we promised to Hiba and to the broad group of supporters and sympathizers—including Olympic medalist and multiple world and Euro pean judo champion Gella Vandecaveye — that we would send the bill to the U.S. government.”

Dr. Geert van Moorter, who spoke in the U.S. last year of his experiences in Iraq, accompanied Kassim to Amman, Jordan, where her father met her.