- BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The two
Iraqi children lay helplessly in the hospital, their stomachs bleeding
from shrapnel wounds.
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- Iraqi officials pointed out the children and other civilians
as a reminder on Saturday that the innocent are also victim of the U.S.
and British invasion to oust President Saddam Hussein.
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- Omar and Saad were part of a family of 12 who were admitted
to Yarmouk hospital, across the street from security buildings in west
Baghdad gutted by U.S. overnight raids.
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- "We heard an explosion and rushed to their house.
Damn the Americans for this," said Salam, a neighbor.
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- Majed, a 57-year-old mechanic, was another civilian hit
by shrapnel. He was operated on and should survive, along with another
100 wounded who were now in the hospital, doctors said.
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- "I knew that the military had taken posts in residential
areas. But I am sure there was nothing where we live. Otherwise we would
not remain there," Majed's wife said as she stood by his bed.
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- Iraqi officials say three people were killed and 200
wounded during the overnight raids, which the U.S. military says were on
targets selected to avoid harming non-combatants.
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- Most of the wounded in this hospital appeared to suffer
from cuts caused by shattered windows. The more seriously wounded had been
transferred to specialist hospitals, the officials said.
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- "It does not matter. One casualty is too many,"
said Roland Huguenin-Benjamin, an official in the International Committee
of the Red Cross, who was checking on the wounded.
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- "Our job is to make sure that Iraqi hospitals have
enough equipment and surgical kits. Iraqi doctors are professionals and
tell us about the levels of their stocks," Huguenin-Benjamin added.
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- "We are doing well. This is what we have been preparing
for," said Janet Boulos, a nurse.
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- Iraqi Health Minister Umeed Medhat Mubarak said the government
was prepared to handle massive civilian casualties.
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- "When you see 100 people treated successfully at
this hospital it means that our system is functioning," Mubarak, a
soft spoken doctor wearing military fatigue, told reporters visiting the
hospital.
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- The visit was part of a tour organized by the government
to show what it described as U.S. attacks on civilians.
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- Officials showed reporters a restaurant and administrative
building destroyed in al-Aaras, a tourist village near al-Sujoud Palace,
which was hit hard during the raids.
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- "People were eating hamburgers and chicken here
yesterday," said Ahmad, a Palestinian guard at the complex. "I
was lucky to have been in the bunker. Thank God diners had left early."
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- As Ahmed spoke, bombs could be heard falling on the outskirts
of Baghdad.
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- Cars speeding back to the center of the capital passed
Al-Sujoud palace complex. The overnight raids had punched massive holes
in its main building. But four huge busts of Saddam on the roof remained
standing.
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