Doctors are different; they hold a special place in the hearts of people throughout the world because of the powers their training gives them to relieve suffering. The idea that military doctors would use those skills and techniques to inflict pain, or to aid those who cause suffering, is shocking. By putting physicians in that position, our government has sent a horrible message to the world. Full Story »
Posted by Kaizar Campwala
Stephen N. Xenakis is a medical doctor who retired from the U.S. army at the rank of brigadier general. Citing the interrogation logs obtained by Time magazine, he recounts the torture in 2002 and early 2003 of Mohammed al-Qahtani and a doctor who treated him for hypothermia, "in order to return him to his interrogators." This, of course, is an extreme test of the oath to "do no harm" but not the only medical dilemma doctors face in war,when even those who treat their own side's military men and women may be returning them to the possibility of re-injury or even death. It reminds me of the moral questions faced by those who assist in executions by legal injection. I think that an opinion piece can be good journalism. In this case, I would have liked to have seen a deeper examination of the issues involved and perhaps to have heard from those facing these decisions and how they dealt with them. Still, a valuable read that raises important questions.
