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Dear Bert, Elga, Yasser and Sama, Bert and Elga, speaking as a student doctor, I am in complete agreement with the both of you. Yes, Dr Khalid's stance is highly suspicious, since if there are any principles that unite doctors chief amongst those has got to be the one that we all voice in our medical admissions interview that is the belief in the sanctity of life. I am both astounded and horrified at the thought of a member of my profession giving the green light to kill and maim thousands of people for the sake of one man, whom many say was a monster created by the very same people upon whom it has just dawned that a member of the old alumni is an incredibly evil specimen of a human who must be dealt with without delay and at any cost. This leads me to another worrying thought; choosing to practice medicine is thwart with all kinds of ethical dilemmas, worst of which is abstaining to treat a patient; violent individuals, murderers, rapists, paedophiles and other 'villains' in general all fall ill and have to be treated. What concerns me is that would it not be incredibly dangerous if medics started to allow personal antipathy to hinder the level of medical care they provide. If I found Sadaam Hussain lying gravely ill, pleading for help despite the utter abhorrence and repulsion I feel for him I know I would treat him, because I can't bear human suffering. To that end Yasser and Sama, as medics yourselves, I don't understand how you can justify the pain and suffering your people will feel, it is redundant to say at whose hands, since pain is pain no matter who is inflicting it. I think I am fair in saying that the overwhelming majority of doctors, thankfully, are against war. In fact, I have yet to come across a colleague who justifies war within any capacity: UN led, US led, 2nd Resolution or not, quite simply our life-long endeavour is to save lives, and therefore, avert war at any cost. Best wishes, Naeemah Medical Student, Imperial College School of Medicine -----Original Message----- From: Bert Gedin [mailto:gedinbert@hotmail.com] Sent: 13 March 2003 00:45 To: citext@chebucto.ns.ca; casi-discuss@lists.casi.org.uk Cc: gedinbert@hotmail.com Subject: Re: [casi] ... And why I will not Dear Elga, You may not be the only one who questions Dr. B. Khalaf's credentials, if any. His opinions will appear unsavoury to most of us, I believe. "a pro-war opinion given by (a) health professional might be assumed to carry more weight"? Perhaps, if genuine. Sometimes one does find exceptions to the rule, though. Without doing James Bond stuff, there would be some professional body in London, to confirm whether, or not such a person is registered, as a neurologist. If not, he should be taken no more seriously than those who pretend that their information, having been plagiarised & used in official documents, is unimpeachable. Greetings, Bert Gedin, Birmingham, UK. >From: H Sutter <citext@chebucto.ns.ca> >To: casi-discuss@lists.casi.org.uk >Subject: Re: [casi] ... And why I will not >Date: Wed, 12 Mar 2003 18:54:11 -0400 (AST) > > >Dear Hazim, Yasser, and List, > >Thank you to those who shared 'Dr B Khalaf's' opinion. >Sama and Yasser posted it just recently and someone else >posted it a few weeks back. > >I agree, Hazim, it would be unethical for a medical doctor >to "so strongly support the killing of possibly hundred of >thousands of innocent Iraqis just to change a regime". It >would also be out of character. > >Besides, 'Dr. Khalaf' seems to cherish the illusion that this >would be a "war against Saddam Hussein" - leaving everyone >else untouched (?). Yet he has supposedly experienced the >carnage of war: Iran-Irak and the Gulf massacre where >hundreds of thousands of conscripts and civilians were killed. >(By sheer coincidence, IPO also talk about the "war on Saddam". >So of course does the media.) > >There are other things too, e.g. style and tenor: From >someone with 'Dr. Khalaf's' professional background and >maturity one would expect a little more finesse in >getting a point across. > >Actually, to me there seems so much out of character in >this piece that I can't really believe in 'Dr. Khalaf's' >credentials. Still, I can see why a pro-war opinion given >by health professional might be assumed to carry more weight. > > > Locum consultant neurologist, London > >Yes... But just as an idea, this piece could have been >concocted by anyone, couldn't it? :) Sorry if I sound >paranoid. That's what all this propaganda is doing to me. > >Regards, >Elga Sutter > > >------------Original Message------------ >From: "hazim awbi" <hazimawbi@hotmail.com> >Subject: Re: [casi] ... And why I will not >Date: Wed, 12 Mar 2003 14:24:41 +0000 > > > > This guy has no knowledge of politics and he is totally out of touch. > > Besides, he is anethical regarding his profession. How would a doctor >of > > all people so strongly support the killing of possibly hundred of >thousands > > of innocent Iraqis just to change a regime? > >HA > > >>From: "Yasser Alaskary" <ya1980@hotmail.com> > >>To: <casi-discuss@lists.casi.org.uk> > >>Subject: [casi] ... And why I will not > >>Date: Sun, 9 Mar 2003 23:40:37 -0000 > >> > >>[11] http://www.guardian.co.uk/letters/story/0,3604,895397,00.html > >> > >>... And why I will not > >> > >>Dr B Khalaf > >>Friday February 14, 2003 > >>The Guardian > >[....] > > > > > >_______________________________________________ >Sent via the discussion list of the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq. >To unsubscribe, visit >http://lists.casi.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/casi-discuss >To contact the list manager, email casi-discuss-admin@lists.casi.org.uk >All postings are archived on CASI's website: http://www.casi.org.uk _________________________________________________________________ It's fast, it's easy and it's free. Get MSN Messenger today! http://messenger.msn.co.uk _______________________________________________ Sent via the discussion list of the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq. To unsubscribe, visit http://lists.casi.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/casi-discuss To contact the list manager, email casi-discuss-admin@lists.casi.org.uk All postings are archived on CASI's website: http://www.casi.org.uk _______________________________________________ Sent via the discussion list of the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq. To unsubscribe, visit http://lists.casi.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/casi-discuss To contact the list manager, email casi-discuss-admin@lists.casi.org.uk All postings are archived on CASI's website: http://www.casi.org.uk