US senator urges Obama to heed Malta's proposal for hospital ship to Libya

Back in Washington after meetings in Valletta with Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi and also with senior members of the National Transitional Council (NTC) in Tripoli, US senator John McCain has formally asked President Barack Obama to supply Libya with a hospital ship and also to provide medical care within US bases around Europe to the hundreds of injured and maimed civilians.

The idea for a hospital ship was put forward by Prime Minister Gonzi during his meeting with McCain at Castille, and later travelled to Tripoli for meetings with Libya’s interim Prime Minister Mahmoud Jibril.

The full letter, as released by the Whitehouse in Washington.

October 12, 2011 

President Barack Obama 
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW 
Washington, DC 20500 

Mr. President, 

We write to urge you to make immediate use of unique U.S. government assets as part of the broader humanitarian effort to address the urgent medical needs of Libyans wounded during the fight to free their country from the grip of the Qaddafi dictatorship. 

As you know, thousands of Libyans have been badly injured in the course of several months of conflict, many requiring advanced treatment and prosthetics. Libya, however, currently lacks the capacity to provide its wounded with the care they need inside their country. As a result, many of the Libyan injured are receiving care in Tunisia, in Europe, and in other friendly countries. The National Transitional Council (NTC), in turn, is providing reimbursement for these medical expenses through the use of Qaddafi-era assets that have been unfrozen and transferred to them for the benefit of the Libyan people. 

The United States military possesses unique humanitarian and medical capabilities that could make a significant and immediate impact in helping our Libyan friends in this moment of need. One idea, which has been discussed with the NTC and the Maltese government, is to deploy a U.S. Navy hospital ship offshore in Libya or Malta to help care for wounded Libyans. Another idea, also supported by the NTC, is to open U.S. military medical facilities in Europe to a certain number of injured Libyans who require more advanced care. The NTC has expressed its willingness to reimburse our government for the costs of providing this humanitarian assistance, as they are now doing in the case of Tunisia. We urge you to take action on these or other such measures. 

In addition to humanitarian considerations, we believe that a visible commitment of U.S. military medical resources would strengthen and consolidate the remarkable pro-American attitude among the Libyan people at this time. It would send a strong message of reassurance to Libyans that the United States—having helped them to free their country from a dictatorship—will now stand with them as they begin to recover and rebuild from that conflict. Such support will also strengthen the authority and legitimacy of the NTC, which faces enormous public pressure to provide adequate care for the war wounded. 

We thank you for your attention to this matter and your steadfast support for the stabilization and democratic transition in Libya. 

Sincerely, 
Senator John McCain