A bomb wounded Iraqi Child, 1 year later. (tags)
Ibtihal Jassem was 9 years old when U.S. bombs came crashing into her neighborhood in Basra, Iraq. Those bombs killed her mother, father, three brothers and two sisters... and also dozens of neighbors. Ibtihal was found in the rubble... her right leg almost severed. The grisly Associated Press photo of Ibtihal being carried to a hospital by her uncle, her shattered leg dangling horrifically from her bloody clothes, was flashed all across the world. I remember posting that photograph to several Indymedia websites. Disbelieving war supporters hurled the accusation that the photo was a fraud... a "photoshop job" created by "unpatriotic" Americans. One year later Ibtihal Jassem struggles to adjust as a victim of war in a country that is occupied and in shambles. In the photo, the girl as she was 1 year ago (left), and as she is today (right). Mohammed Chiyad attaches a plastic leg onto his 10-year-old granddaughter Ibtihal, outside her home in Basra. Born deaf and mute, Jassem has lived with her grandparents since the March 22 2003 U.S. bombing of the Mshan neighborhood. (AP Photo /Hussein Malla)