BAGHDAD, July 1 (UPI) -- Some wounded Iraqi war veterans say the Iraqi government has turned its back on them, providing little, if any, financial and medical assistance.
Iraqi government officials say the wounded are treated well and a law is being drafted to provide for veterans' care, The New York Times reported. In the meantime, wounded veterans receive full salaries.
"We are waiting for the Service and Pension Law for the veterans from the Iraqi Parliament, but they still get paid during that time," an Iraqi Defense Ministry spokesman told the Times.
The exact number of wounded Iraqi veterans isn't known but a 2006 U.S. report indicated about 8,000 Iraqi police officers were injured in a two-year period. Iraqi commanders told the Times that figure doesn't include Iraqi soldiers, who suffered more injuries at a greater rate.
Veterans interviewed by the Times said they receive less than half of their military salaries and must turn to more expensive private medical facilities and doctors.
Dr. Waleed Abdul Majeed said he thinks Iraqi war wounded receive adequate care but concedes they have to wait for it partially because three military medical centers that had been run under the Saddam Hussein regime are closed.
"Now the burden is on civilian hospitals," he told the Times. "It would be better if we had a military hospital. The soldiers are taken good care of in the beginning but there is no follow-up."
