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NEWS RELEASE HEADQUARTERS UNITED STATES CENTRAL COMMAND 7115 South Boundary Boulevard MacDill AFB, Fla. 33621-5101 Phone: (813) 827-5894; FAX: (813) 827-2211; DSN 651-5894

April 21, 2003
Release Number: 03-04-165


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


POOL REPORT OF MR. GARNER'S TRIP TO BAGHDAD (PART 2 OF 2)

The convoy headed to Yarmuk Hospital with British and US military security personnel riding to protect the VIPs. Humvee machine gunners scanned the streets from their turrets and waved down Iraqi drivers to make them give way. There were a few smiles and waves from passers-by, with no obvious sign of hostility.

"We are on our way to our first engagement," said one aide.

After arriving at Yarmuk Garner and his team walked across broken glass blown out of windows shattered by coalition bombing to visit the hospital power plant.

The 700-bed hospital Yarmuk hospital in southwest Baghdad also features a medical college. An administrator meeting Garner said electricity was the most pressing problem after generators were damaged by what he described as a combination of collateral damage from shelling and from looting.

Coalition forces on rooftops provided armed security.

Hospital authorities told ORHA officials they had two and a half hours of electricity the day before and the generators were being fixed with the help of the aid agency Care.

Tim Cross suggested appealing to overseas nations to sponsor hospitals, perhaps "two or three countries" per hospital.

Garner visited five patients in hospital beds. The patients were dressed in civilian clothes and all were conscious and able/willing to speak. Garner introduced himself to each one through an Arabic interpreter.

Standing in front of a hospital bed, Garner told his translator: "You tell her things are getting better." The woman replied, "Insha'ala," the Arabic term meaning "God willing."

Some staff had no idea who their visitor was, but most were aware and some doctors arriving to hear his presentation said they were told to turn up for a meeting without knowing what it was about.

Initial concerns before Garner spoke centered on his status as "an occupier not a visitor", as one GP put it.

Jawdat Al Abaidy (male), an orthopedic surgeon at the hospital, said he would wait a few weeks to form an opinion of Garner. "I am afraid of his relationship with the Israelis," Al Abaidy said in English, referring to a statement Garner signed that praised Israel's restraint in dealing with Palestinian uprising. "We've all read about this. We'll have to wait and see."

Standing before an audience of around 100 medical staff and students sitting in a lecture theatre Garner assured his audience that he had come to "review the health situation and see what needed to be done" and to create an environment for them to make the changes they wanted.

He asked them to list their problems and priorities, he then said coalition forces would continue to work on power and water this week and would be joined in building up public services by ORHA from the start of next week.

After being thanked by the hospital director Garner was told by Mohammed Alwan, head of surgery, that while the staff might need their knowledge updated, they did not want foreigners coming in to take their jobs. "All of us are capable of doing our work, most were trained in the US and UK.''

They spelt out their main concerns: salaries that had not been paid for March and April, the removal of job duplication that existed under the old system and a new means of distributing medical supplies.

Garner then gave a ten minute address in which he promised to change the small amount of money spent on health care in the past and said he would hold a 'town hall' meeting on Thursday involving professionals and "all elements" of society in Baghdad.

"I walk through your hospital and I look at your doctors and I look at people in this room and I know that this room represents some of the brightest health people in the Middle East. Iraq has one of the brightest, most vibrant, richest societies in the world. At one time Iraq set the standards for the entire world. Civilization began here. Government began here. Laws began here. Thirty years ago you had the best health service in this part of the world, so the burden has been lifted off your shoulders now so what we need to do from this day forth is we need to give birth to a new system for Iraq and you people in here will give birth to a new system of health care.

"It begins with us working together but it is hard work and it takes a long time and we will help you as long as you want us to."

Then, standing for effect, he said:

"Now look, we can make this work. We have you and us. We have this short moment of time that has been given to us and in this short moment of time we can change things forever. I can't do that but you can do that. We can help you do that and we will. So we will work together and we will make this better and we will take you back to where you have been before, the best in the Middle East."

Some were impressed with Garner's manner, and were prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt. "He talks well, we feel we are free to express ourselves, not like the bad one, the previous one," said Dr Saad Mohammed. Another said that the situation in Baghdad was so unstable the Americans were needed.

But the consensus among the audience and staff overall appeared to be negative, although polite.

Dr Luay al Hafidh, a specialist physician, elicited nodding heads from colleagues when he said: "We don't think lightly about an American general running Iraq. He's a foreigner running our country. This is the usual talk of a foreign invader at the beginning in order to gain the hearts of the people. I don't know about his background or his capabilities but I know he is a retired general. Can he run a civilian organization? I doubt it."

Asil Abdul, a 20 year old third dental student said she found General Garner's speech patronizing and unconvincing.

"It's just promises. We need things to be done. All he said was he believes in us and he thinks we can have a better life in future. It's just like the old days, all talk. Nothing has changed, just the faces. He talks about the future but I don't know what my future is. My college has been robbed, they have destroyed the Ministry of Higher Education and I don't have any of my certificates, nothing to show I have passed my exams."


Gynecologist Huda Nasir (female), 37: "I hope from my gut that the US govt. doesn't put us in another hole. We've all been reared on fear all our lives."

Aml Khadir (female), 40, said her home was destroyed by coalition bombing. She said her husband and two children have no home, no food. She watched Garner and his entourage pass through the narrow halls of the hospital and at times shouted angered cries at them. "We don't want all this crowding around with no work being done," she said. "There is no help for us. For us there is no direction." Pool Reporter was Peter Slevin, Washington Post.