Posted on 04/05/2003 12:56:53 PM PST by anncoulteriscool
Humble Iraqi hero who saved Jessica
By Peter Baker at Marine Combat Headquarters, Iraq
April 6 2003
Mohammed, a gregarious 32-year-old Iraqi lawyer, went by the hospital in Nasiriyah one day last week to visit his wife, who worked there as a nurse, when he noticed the ominous presence of security agents.
Curious, he asked around, and a doctor friend told him an American soldier was being held there. Something made him want to have a look. The doctor took him to a first-floor emergency wing where he pointed out the soldier through a glass interior window - a young woman lying in a bed, bandaged and covered in a white blanket.
Inside the room with her was an imposing Iraqi man, clad all in black. Mohammed watched as the man slapped the American woman with his open palm, then again with the back of his hand. In that instant, Mohammed recalled, he resolved to do something. After the man in black left, Mohammed sneaked in to see the young woman.
"Don't worry, don't worry," he told her. He was going for help.
As he recounted the events last week, that decision set in motion one of the most dramatic moments in the first two weeks of the war in Iraq.
Five days later, after Mohammed located US marines and told them what he knew, Black Hawk helicopters swooped in under cover of darkness. They touched down next to the six-story hospital and a team of heavily-armed commandos stormed the building.
With hand-scrawled maps from Mohammed and his wife, the commandos quickly found the injured Private First Class Jessica Lynch and spirited her to safety.
Yesterday, the Pentagon revealed that eight soldiers, who were ambushed in Iraq last month when Private Lynch was taken prisoner, had died.
Lynch, recovering in a US military hospital in Germany, was one of 15 soldiers of 507th Maintenance Company who were listed as missing, captured or killed when their convoy was attacked on March 23.
She has had back surgery to repair a fracture that was pinching a nerve and also has broken legs and a broken arm. She has spoken to her parents in West Virginia.
Mohammed said he decided to save the 19-year-old soldier because he could not bear to see her beaten in the hospital.
"My heart is cut," he recalled of his reaction when seeing her. "I decided to go to the Americans and tell them about this story."
Mohammed and his family were flown to this crude desert camp by helicopter on Thursday to stay the night before being taken to a refugee centre in the southern port city of Umm Qasr. They were allowed to clean up in a makeshift "shower" fashioned out of a giant cardboard box and then given clothes to wear - an MTV shirt for Mohammed's wife Iman, and an oversized military T-shirt for his 6-year-old daughter. When Mohammed mentioned that he would love an American flag, the marines rushed to find one.
"He's sort of an inspiration to all of us," said Lieutenant-Colonel Rick Long, who hosted the family for a dinner of Meals Ready to Eat.
Mohammed, whose last name is being withheld at the request of the marines, was born in Najaf, a holy city to Shiite Muslims like him. He studied law and a little English in Basra in south-eastern Iraq and became an attorney. He and his wife did what they could to make a decent life for themselves and their daughter; they had a house and a Russian-made car. But, as Mohammed told it, they longed for the day Saddam would fall from power.
When he saw some Fedayeen in the hospital that day, he concluded they were up to no good. Of his decision to help save Private Lynch, he said:
"A person is a human being regardless of nationality. Believe me, I love Americans."
Mohammed has given up the life he knew to help a woman he met only briefly. But he expressed no doubts about his decision. "She would not have lived," he said. "It was very important."
He knew the risks. "I am afraid not for me. I am afraid about my daughter and my wife," he said, turning to them sitting quietly next to him. "Because I love much."
Mohammed wants to work with the Americans some more, perhaps helping them gather information elsewhere in Iraq. His wife could help treat injured soldiers, he offered. Maybe he will go to America. But eventually, he said, he wanted to return home.
"In the future when Saddam Hussein is down I will go back to Nasiriyah," he said, adding that he would not worry then about the Fedayeen. "When Saddam Hussein goes down, I'm sure they will go away."
This story was found at: http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/04/05/1049459861157.html
This guy was returning a favor by helping get Jessica out. I'm sure there are many other people like him helping us whenever they can.
2. This man took a very real risk to himself and his family to do the right thing.
3. We must do right by him. He helped us, now we must help him.
PostScript. Illbay, I'm not anti-muslim, just anti-terrorist.
Never let little things such as the facts get in the way of inane and simplistic bigotry.
That would take all day wouldn't it?
How about we take him in exchange for ALL the demoKrats? :)
It works for me.
There are some good people in every outfit.
I agree, and I'll bet this man does, too.
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