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Universal Health Care: We Already Gave it to Iraq

Constitution America fought to give Iraq guarantees its citizens health care

By Rob Quinn, Newser Staff

Posted Sep 10, 2009 6:40 AM CDT

(Newser) – Many US lawmakers opposing health care reform need to be asked why it's OK for Iraqis but not Americans, Mark Dorlester writes for the Huffington Post. Article 31 of the Iraqi Constitution—made possible by the war, and hailed as a victory by the Bush administration—guarantees every Iraqi state-funded health care, a provision Dorlester thinks would be slammed as out-of-control socialism by right-wingers if it applied to Americans.

Operation Enduring Freedom has cost America $864 billion so far, most of that in Iraq, Dorlester notes, a fortune that could easily have guaranteed sufficient health care here. If your local House rep or senator voted to put funds toward the Iraq war but opposes providing health care as a civil right to Americans, Dorlester writes, "you might consider less hypocritical representation."

[Images (2)]

[Quotes (1)]

A doctor briefs Iraqis about swine flu and how to prevent its spread at a hospital in Baghdad, Iraq last month. (AP Photo /Adil al-Khazali)

An Iraqi doctor who returned from exile in Jordan last month examines MRI scans with a colleague at a hospital in the Tunis area of northern Baghdad, Iraq. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)

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Every citizen has the right to health care. The State shall maintain public health and provide the means of prevention and treatment by building different types of hospitals and health institutions. - Article 31 of the Iraqi Constitution

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COMMENTS

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Showing 3 of 18 comments

WakeTheFuckUp

Mar 20, 2010 9:39 AM CDT

It's okay for Iraqi's because it rushes their entire country into the cycle of generational debt in less than a month.

IndependentThinker

Sep 14, 2009 8:37 AM CDT

@Reader65069154: So what your saying is we should make universal health care a constatutional amendment. Sounds brilliant!

PosterNutbag

Sep 11, 2009 6:25 AM CDT

muleskinner is right, they do the work that most of us are unwilling to do. @autorob, the key word IS illegal, which is why you hear that word used so much. Try thinking 'undocumented' instead. I think most illegals are looking to work and would prefer to be legal/documented if they could. Also, consider that mexico has its own disturbing legacy of racist colonialism, and take a close look at the faces of the illegal mexican immigrants in your town, how much of it is native/pre-colombian blood that you are looking at? Take a serious look at US history, particularly in the west, and then reflect on what I hear a lot of mexican-americans saying, "we didn't cross the border, the border crossed us."

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Universal Health Care: We Already Gave it to Iraq