"Operation Amina"

[Don_Joy's Prince 0]

March 3, 2008, 11:25PM

Effort to save Iraqi girl ending on a happy note

"Operation Amina," as the Marines call it, is almost over, and its 2-year-old namesake is going home.

Later this week, a surgeon in Tennessee expects to clear Amina Al'a Thabit to return to Iraq, closing a saga that began more than three months ago in Haditha, where two Marine Corps reservists on a routine foot patrol met the toddler with an infectious smile.

She also had a heart defect.

That discovery triggered a logistical dash to get Amina life-saving treatment unavailable in Iraq.

It started with the work of Marines and a Navy doctor assigned to a Belle Chasse, La.-based infantry battalion in Iraq and a pediatric heart surgeon in Nashville who agreed to treat Amina free of charge.

Karla Christian, associate chief of pediatric heart surgery at Vanderbilt University's Children's Hospital, operated and, pending a final checkup, expects to clear Amina to go home as soon as Wednesday.

During a routine "meet-and-greet" with Haditha locals in November, 1st Lt. Steven Dobb and Sgt. Bryan Velasquez met Amina and her mother. They noted the bluish tint of the girl's lips and extremities.

"We just fell in love with her," Velasquez, of Texas, told a reporter.

Those Marines told their company commander, Maj. Kevin Jarrard, who put Amina and her family in touch with Navy Capt. John Nadeau, the battalion's surgeon.

Nadeau found that blood bypassed Amina's lungs and was pumped through her body with insufficient oxygen; hence, the blue tint. When Christian, his colleague, agreed to treat Amina, the Marines sent the word out and raised $30,000 to cover the cost of the little girl's transportation and lodging.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/nation/5589625.html

[Don_Joy's Prince 0]

I can't believe not one of you in here is even willing to comment on this.

This silence is deafening.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

What's deafening about what?

I just this second saw it. Yes good news.

[HAL 9000 96]

Agreed. Jot one down for the goodness of humanity.

And yes... people have lives to lead.

[KandD 1]

Im glad they were able to save that little girl's life. I feel sad she has to go back to the war zone. I feel sorry for the iraqi people and our ADSM they have suffered long enough. Hope our brave men and women can come home soon. I pray for peace in this world.

[wishbone 0]

I feel great for them, what an excellent accomplishment.

[Don_Joy's Prince 0]

Im glad they were able to save that little girl's life. I feel sad she has to go back to the war zone. I feel sorry for the iraqi people and our ADSM they have suffered long enough. Hope our brave men and women can come home soon. I pray for peace in this world.

Yes peace will only come to the Iraqi people through victory, not surrender. If we surrender then it will be many decades of bloodshed for them. And the world too.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Im glad they were able to save that little girl's life. I feel sad she has to go back to the war zone. I feel sorry for the iraqi people and our ADSM they have suffered long enough. Hope our brave men and women can come home soon. I pray for peace in this world.

Yes peace will only come to the Iraqi people through victory, not surrender. If we surrender then it will be many decades of bloodshed for them. And the world too.

It will be now, sure. But that's a position we've allowed ourselves to be manouevered into by the "might is right" folks. I certainly don't envy the next administration having to pick up the tab for this mess.