Triage

"There is no pattern to who lives or dies in war... In war people die because they do. There is nothing more to it than that."
[First lines]

"I suppose that's why a lot of photographers have been killed throughout the years. Looking through the camera it's easy to forget that the things that are happening in front of you are actually real, you know?"

"I like to think of myself as a scholar of the human spirit."

Mark Walsh: "You must have a lot of regrets."
Dr. Talzani: "Regret what, Mr. Walsh? That I spared them a few days of terrible suffering 'cause I have no way of saving them or easing the unbearable pain? You think I kill those poor men because I enjoy it?"

"Well that makes perfect sense. You feel that you're responsible because to a great degree, you are. You think I'm too harsh? How many people have you told this story to, Mark? Four? Three? Two? Twenty? And what do they say? 'Oh you mustn't blame yourself' 'Oh no, it was not your fault' 'Oh no, there was nothing you could do'. Am I correct? You have looked to others for forgiveness but, as you have discovered, this is something they cannot give you. We cannot let go of the pain, we have to carry it with us forever. That is what it means to live. Now, I can help you to live with this pain. Look at me!
[Mark Walsh turns his eyes to look at him]
I am eighty-six years old. I lost my entire family, I lost my parents, I lost my brothers and sisters and I lost my wife. And yet, I am still here, I can still smile, and the world is still, a wonderful place."

Dr. Talzani: "Beautiful place isn't it? This place is beautiful. You know, in my lifetime alone we had eight wars. Two with the Turks, three with the Iranians, and three with the Iraqis. And if I go back to when my father was alive, or my father's father, each time we've been beaten. That's what we Kurds do best, get beaten."
Mark Walsh: "So why do you stay?"
Dr. Talzani: "Where am I to go, Mr. Walsh?"

"Elena, be nice to him. We don't know what it's like to go to those places and come back. And anyway, be nice to him, because he is back."

Dr. Talzani: "You were lucky, Mr. Walsh. Very lucky. If there'd been any complications..."
Mark Walsh: "What? You would have shot me?"
Dr. Talzani: "Yeah. For your own good. To stop you from suffering."