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I’m not sure why the story of Ashley bothers me. All I know is that it does.

Ashley is a nine year old girl – called “Pillow Angel” by her parents – who has static encephalopathy. She has the mental ability of a three month old baby. Her condition is not expected to improve and after consultation with doctors her parents decided to have her uterus and breast buds surgically removed and estrogen administered to seriously restrain her growth.

The reasons given for these procedures are outlined in the linked BBC report and at first all seem logical; the doctors felt they were ethically justified and would allow Ashley a better quality of life.

So why am I disturbed by this story?

Basically, because there appears to be an anomaly. The parents, who I am convinced felt they were making the right decision, said:

“…….the central purpose of the treatment is to improve Ashley’s quality of life.”

Later, they say:

“………the girl lacks the cognitive capacity to experience any sense of indignity.”

To me, those two statements are contradictory. If Ashley has little or no cognitive capacity, then she can hardly recognize any change in her quality of life. Hence, the medical procedures could be of no benefit to the child, but would drastically aid the parents in looking after her.

As an animal welfare worker for many years, I was keen to persuade dog and cat owners of the advantages of neutering their pets. I was fully aware of the stray animal problems besetting the UK and anything done to reduce the numbers had to be worthwhile. But I was under no illusion that the benefits were of anything but a social nature – advantageous to the owners and society in general, rather than to the animals themselves. Dogs and cats, whatever their owners may feel, have limited cognitive capacities and accept mating and the birthing of litters as a matter of instinct. Of course, pet neutering does have the advantage to the animal of removing its instinctive need to roam in search of a mate, but that is hardly relevant in this instance.

I have nothing but sympathy for the parents of “Pillow Angel”, but I believe the doctors were wrong when they agreed to carry out the procedures. Parents are not always the best people to make decisions in this type of situation, and by deferring to their wishes the doctors failed to uphold medical ethics.

The parents of Ashley are attempting to keep her in a child’s body all her life, and I have to reluctantly agree with Agnes Fletcher of the UK’s Disability Rights Commission who, when asked for her opinion, called it a case of “…….unnecessary medical treatment to deal with what is essentially a social problem”

We have no compunction about spaying our dogs and cats at an early age, but when doctors take such drastic decisions with human beings – even those as handicapped as Ashley – to alter natural processes and prevent maturity, I think it is time to express concern.

Filed under: Difficult decisions

So the Iraqi government is in a spin and the US government is rapidly disappearing over the horizon as it tries to distance itself from the disgusting actions recently highlighted by a cellphone camera at Saddam Hussein’s execution.

“It was nothing to do with us,” cried the American military, “We would have done it better.”

Sorry, American military, but that just isn’t good enough. Both American politicians and the US military hierarchy are expert at passing the buck. The Iraq war has given them plenty of practice.

Saddam Hussein was your prisoner, and the execution took place inside an American military base. In an interview shown on the BBC, the US military chief at the base as good as said he and his men went outside for a smoke while the Iraqis carried out their dirty deed. Technically, American bases are part of America. Saddam was, to all intents and purposes, executed on American soil.

It’s yet another shining example of how the US has acted without professionalism and with banana republic-style politics in Iraq, and once again tried to lay the blame at someone else’s door.

Remember Guantanamo Bay Detention Center and the accusations of torture?

“We do not torture!” was the shrill cry of George W Bush, defending himself to the rest of the world.

Sorry, Mister Bush, but you do torture. Your own FBI insist that you do.

The BBC states that:

“……….the FBI asked 493 employees whether they had witnessed aggressive treatment that was not in line with agency policies.

It says it received 26 witness statements detailing abuse that included:

* Rooms kept so hot that a detainee was rendered almost unconscious, with a pile of hair next to him that he apparently pulled out.

* Detainees left for over 24 hours chained to the floor hand and foot in foetal position, with no chair, food or water – most urinated or defecated on themselves.

* Sleep deprivation interviews with strobe lights and loud music, apparently lasting up to 4 days.

* A detainee brought into an interview room appearing to have broken fingers and facial injuries.

* A detainee gagged with duct tape that covered much of his head after reportedly chanting the Koran non-stop.

* A detainee draped in an Israeli flag in a room with loud music and strobe lights.”

“WE DO NOT TORTURE!”

The American people must make up their own mind whether they have a liar for a president.

The rest of the world already has.

Filed under: Coward’s way

George W Bush has announced a pay increase of just 2.2% for the American military this year, their lowest annual salary increase in eighteen years.

Is that a measure of how good a job he really thinks they are doing in Iraq and Afghanistan?

While a captain in the armed forces with four years of service will earn less than $53,000, and a staff sergeant with six years of service a paltry $27,900, members of the House and senators will see their salaries go up from $165,000 to $168,000.

Given the amount of time politicians spend doing their job, and the unholy mess they make of it, those figures don’t seem quite fair, somehow.

Filed under: Unfair world