The Third Regiment: Memoirs of an Iraqi Prisoner of War Doctor-38
By Mujtaba Al-Husseini
Translated by: Muhammad Hussein Zavar-Kaaba
Machine Translation edited by Mandana Karimi
2026-07-12
The Third Regiment: Memoirs of an Iraqi Prisoner of War Doctor-38
By Mujtaba Al-Husseini
Translated by: Muhammad Hussein Zavar-Kaaba
Machine Translation edited by Mandana Karimi
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7- Medical supervision of the regiment:
In addition to treating the wounded and sick, the regiment doctor was also responsible for supervising the general health of the environment and the people. For this reason, I was responsible for inspecting the frontline positions of the regiment and the trenches of the people. While emphasizing the need for field health units for each group and avoiding throwing garbage on the ground and burying it underground, I supervised the regiment's water and food sources.
Our regiment was stationed in three locations far from each other. The majority of the unit's personnel, which consisted of soldiers - of which I was one - were present at the frontline. The logistics unit, the mechanized unit - which supervised the regiment's motorized equipment - the vehicle repair and commissioning unit, and finally the supplies and kitchen unit were located in the village of Juffair. However, the third unit was the permanent barracks of the regiment, which was located in the "Hout" area, on the eastern outskirts of Basra, near the "Sinbad" bridge. In this barracks, 25 people, mostly disabled and sick were responsible for guarding and preserving the regiment's equipment and property.
Every day, I inspected the food transported by a vehicle in the regiment's combat unit. The regiment's personnel received food once a day, which arrived at 2 p.m. For breakfast, the men were also given raw lentils, which they had to cook themselves. However, there was no dinner, and the men bought their necessities from a mobile container. The quality of the meal was very unsatisfactory. The Iraqi army often used meat imported from "New Zealand". This meat was forbidden (haram) because it was not slaughtered according to Islamic law, and it was stored in cold storage for years. That was why it smelled disgusting.
I tried many times to improve the food situation by guiding the cooks and inspecting the kitchen, but my efforts were unsuccessful. As for the officers' food, I must say that a special cook in a special kitchen on the front line prepared it. I was able to convince the regiment commander, using medical rather than religious reasons, not to use frozen meat, because they did not pay attention to religious, halal and haram issues. On this basis, I informed them of the harms of frozen meat. The commander, who was apparently convinced, bought fresh halal meat from Basra for the officers.
Another activity I did was to supervise the health of the personnel, such as personal hygiene, spraying, and the use of pesticides against harmful insects. In addition, every two or three weeks I would visit the logistics unit in Juffair and carefully inspect the kitchen and water sources. However, each time I would see that the kitchen was covered in dust and was piled up with garbage and rubbish, making it a breeding ground for vermin. In fact, it was not a kitchen but a garbage dump.
The reason for this was the inattention of the cooks, who were immersed in gambling and entertainment, and the lack of close supervision of the logistics officers, who were also constantly running away from the front, watching videos and gambling. However, whenever I entered the logistics bunker, they would offer me the freshest fruits. They would stockpile the best food for themselves. Since these repeated visits were not effective, I informed the regimental commander about the matter in order to discharge my duty and relieve him of this responsibility. Although he punished the guilty after investigating the situation, the situation did not change.
On one of our days off, we went there with the deputy to inspect the barracks. The most important thing that caught our attention during the visit was the regimental prison, where about 20 prisoners were being held. Most of them had been arrested for desertion from the army. The prison consisted of a relatively large room with very small hatches and strong doors. The prisoners slept on the floor, and under them were blankets that were as dirty as the dark color of the floor. As soon as the jailer opened the door for us, the disgusting smell of urine hit our noses. The prisoners were urinating in a large tin container inside the room. When we entered the room, everyone stood up. The deputy asked about their problems and needs. They complained about the current conditions, the filthiness of their bodies, lack of a bathroom, poor quality of food, and the overcrowding of the prisoners. When the head guard's turn came, he also complained to the deputy about the indiscipline, gambling, drinking, and arguments between the prisoners. I could not believe what I was hearing. It was the first time I had met such people. The deputy responded to the complaints and grievances of both parties by insulting and using obscene and disgusting terms about the prisoners. He threatened one of the adventurous prisoners who had a strange craving for the ugly act of sodomy and ordered his friends to do the same thing to him as punishment! Then he called out the names of several people and said that they should leave the prison in accordance with the order of pardon for deserters from the army. The prisoners in question surprised everyone by giving a negative answer and said: “We have not asked for pardon from anyone and we do not want to leave the prison. It is better here than the front.”
The deputy, while swearing, forcibly removed them from the room and ordered the person in charge there to arrange for their dispatch to the front. I whispered in the deputy’s ear: “Your solution to prevent a repeat of the argument is not logical. You want to fix the mistake with another mistake. In this case, the perpetrator should be punished.”
After examining the patients, I ordered everyone to go to the bathroom. I advised the authorities to disinfect their equipment and allow them to go to the only bathhouse in the regiment once a week, which was reserved for officers, to wash off their dirt and grime. I also gave instructions about spraying insecticide to kill insects.
A simple look at their daily lives showed how much hatred of war had penetrated the military establishment, to the point where a prisoner would prefer the miserable conditions of prison to going to the front. On the other hand, it showed that the army was unable to establish a moral program to prevent young soldiers from becoming inclined towards taboos and corruption.
The second time we visited this prison, we saw that the same soldiers who had been released had escaped from there after spending a night at the front and were in prison again. Although their health had improved compared to before, gambling, drinking, and sodomy remained strong. This time, after the deputy's threats, we said goodbye to them.
On the way to the front, the deputy said to me: "Doctor! Do not tire yourself out because of them. They are immersed in a quagmire of moral corruption and have lost their human nature."
After that, every time I sent the deputy to examine the prisoners, I only gave the regiment commander a report on their health status.
The quality of medical services provided to the individuals was very satisfactory in terms of the availability of medicine and medical equipment. In light of the aid sent to Iraq from other parts of the world, all the needs of a doctor for treatment, including medicine and medical equipment - except blood, of course - were met. Many of the medicines were manufactured in the United States and imported through the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and the Gulf countries. I had four stylish Benz ambulances that Iraq had purchased a few months before the war began. The only problem was that the regimental doctor could have a soldier as an assistant. This was subject to the agreement of the company commander and the deputy regimental commander. The purpose of this restriction was to prevent soldiers from becoming complacent and going to the hospital unnecessarily. However, as for the treatment of the wounded, I must say that each company had an armored personnel carrier to provide assistance. Their task was to transport the wounded from the front lines to the medical unit at the regimental headquarters. After initial treatment, we sent them to the 11th Field Medical Unit in special ambulances. Since the mobile medical unit played an important role on the front, it always enjoyed the attention and appreciation of the commanders and officers and provided all our needs in building special shelters and trenches.
To be Continued …
Number of Visits: 8
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