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Earlier this month, two Iraqi suicide bombers were identified as former psychiatric patients. Now, the U.S. military is investigating whether the head of the hospital where they were treated helped the insurgents recruit them. Fear that insurgents are using mentally ill Iraqis as bombers swept through the hospital.
And as NPR's Peter Kenyon reports, doctors say the panicked reaction has added to their many problems.
PETER KENYON: The al-Rashad psychiatric hospital occupies a large brown stone building in eastern Baghdad. Until this month, it was known as just another struggling medical facility, with some 1,200 patients under the care of just eight doctors.
Then, on the first of this month, two women exploded suicide vests at pet markets in Baghdad, killing 99 people in the bloodiest attack in more than nine months.
Nine days later, U.S. forces raided the hospital, arresting acting director Dr. Sahi Aboub and confiscating computers and medical records. Some media quoted anonymous officials as saying the two suicide bombers had Down syndrome and speculated that the director may have been supplying mentally ill patients to insurgents.
Several days later, military spokesman Rear Admiral Gregory Smith said there was no evidence that the women suffered from Down syndrome. But, he said, they had been treated for depression or schizophrenia, and the military still thinks al-Qaida in Iraq was pursuing mentally ill patients, possibly through the Rashad doctor, who is still in custody.
Rear Admiral GREGORY SMITH (U.S. Army): We believe that there are individuals in al-Qaida who may have approached this gentleman and began to work out a relationship where he would provide information about patients. Whether or not he's associated with these two particular bombers, or more broadly, we don't know yet.
KENYON: At the hospital, fear is now making a bad situation worse. Some doctors are staying home, doors are locked to keep patients from wandering, and services are declining for the lack of a director.
Two doctors here say the problems started when the previous director was shot and killed outside his home. The Ministry of Health couldn't find anyone to take the job, meaning salaries here weren't being paid and medicines weren't being restocked. Finally, Dr. Aboub was persuaded to take over on a temporary basis in mid-January.
One psychologist, who was afraid to give his name, said Dr. Aboub wasn't a specialist in psychology and hadn't been there long enough to understand the workings of the hospital. He is skeptical about the theory that this newcomer was collaborating with al-Qaida in Iraq.
Unidentified Man #1: (Through translator) It's a kind of fantasy, frankly speaking. It's true - we don't know much about this man. But logically, he had no right to admit patients. Plus, he barely knew how the hospital worked, so how could he be selling or smuggling patients? This is so hard to believe.
KENYON: Still, the possibility that Rashad hospital patients could somehow be linked to suicide bombings has many families wondering what to do.
A patient fiddles with the radio in the men's section of the hospital while another ponders his future.
A hovering security guard won't let this man give his name, but he says he's been here two months, suffering from memory loss and depression. He says his family wants him released.
Unidentified Man #2: (Through translator) Of course they are afraid because there is a lot of talk out there. My family is trying to get me out, God willing, especially because my case is stable now.
KENYON: While al-Rashad psychiatric hospital struggles without a director, the Iraqi Interior Ministry has ordered police to clear the homeless and mentally ill off Iraq's streets. The campaign has reinforced rumors on the street that the mentally ill could be used in insurgent attacks and has added another layer of fear to daily life here.
Peter Kenyon, NPR News, Baghdad.
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