Weary Iraqi medic barely copes with collecting the bodies, parts

[Algorem]

http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/1138962811260740.xml&coll=2

James Palmer
Newhouse News Service
Baghdad, Iraq

-- Mahdee Hussein has one of the most gruesome jobs in all of Iraq, collecting bodies and body parts from the streets.

Before the insurgency, said Hussein, a lean 54-year-old with dark bags under his eyes, car accidents were his biggest problem, generating 15 to 20 bodies a month. Today, the number is closer to 150, and the work is more daunting: bodies torn by explosions; bodies handcuffed, blindfolded and thrown into the streets; and even bodies cut open and packed with explosives so they can be detonated when crowds gather to examine the corpse.

Though Hussein has 29 years of experience, he says the past three have taken a heavy toll on his health. He says he must have his stomach pumped at least once a month to cope with severe pain that he believes results from his unsanitary handling of body parts.

He is paid the equivalent of $140 per month and receives little in the way of supplies or support from the government, often working without gloves or a mask. His crew, like most emergency workers here, is more responsible for clearing corpses and cleaning the streets than caring for the living...

[leftchick]

1. This just makes me cry

<snip>

"The dead body is sacred," says Hussein. "It must be treated carefully and with respect, no matter what the circumstances."

... if only Americans considered brown humans sacred.

:cry: