I worked with a doctor about 20 years ago in urgent care who decided to go “do some good” as he put it, so he signed up with Medicin sans Frontier (Doctors without borders) somehow and went off to the sandbox (Iraq, I think, might’ve been Syria) where, he got on a plane and came back within about two weeks, IIRC.
Seems he couldn’t reconcile members of ISIS/Ham-ass/Al Qaeda or other front line soldiers for the “religion of peace” hiding weapons caches and missile launchers in the MSF compounds and tents.
He told me he had contronted the CMO of the organization who told him it was the price they had to pay so their staff wouldn’t get raped or killed and it was all in the interest of doing good.
He basically said “f**k that” and got a ride to the airport within an hour of the confrontation so HE didn’t wind up becoming a victim.
So working urgent care for ungrateful urban Americans in Baltimorgue was all the Albert Schweitzer exercise he needed in his life.
Me, I got outta that racket five years ago.
I did third world sh!thole MEDCAPS missions in Cambodia with the 25th ID in the early nineties. That was enough for me.
The episode you related about your friend and the weapon caches confirms what any clear-thinking person would have already suspected about Syria/Iraq - but I can't spontaneously think of the kind of unpleasant experiences you might have had as a medical volunteer in Cambodia.
Could you give us a quick recap? You've intrigued me!
Regards,