Seattle Times: Another round of misery for the children of Iraq

[Raster]

By César Chelala
Special to The Times

Before the Iraq war, Physicians for Human Rights had warned about the serious public-health and human-rights risks to the already vulnerable Iraqi population, should the war take place.

Its predictions have been recently, and sadly, confirmed by an article in the medical magazine The Lancet. According to the article, there have been in excess of 100,000 civilian deaths since the invasion of Iraq in 2003, including a substantial number of children. Carol Bellamy, UNICEF's executive director, has called the death of 34 children in recent bomb attacks "an unconscionable slaughter of innocents."

This is the third time that Iraqi children have been victims of war in that country's recent history. The two conflicts previous to the present one were the eight-year war with Iran in the 1980s and the Gulf War in 1991, which caused considerable damage to Iraq's infrastructure.

In addition, the country has suffered from over 12 years of comprehensive United Nations' sanctions and from Saddam Hussein's perverse policies to use funds for personal gain rather than to improve the basic-services infrastructure in the country.

Prior to the present conflict, Iraqi children were already highly vulnerable to disease and malnutrition. One in four children under 5 years of age was chronically malnourished, and one in eight children died before their fifth birthday. This was happening in a population with almost half the inhabitants under the age of 18.

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http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/opinion/2002097353_chelala22.html
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To the good christian bush* backers: According to UNICEF, over 100,000 Iraqis have been slaughtered since the start of the immoral bush* war, a good portion of them children. Children. Children just like yours. Picture your beautiful little children lying by the side of the road broken and bleeding. Broken and bleeding because they had the misfortune of living in a place that possessed something others wanted. Anyone that tells you the Iraqis are better off now than under saddam is a liar.

NO PRESIDENT THAT INITIATES THIS KIND OF SLAUGHTER SPEAKS WITH GOD. No man that initiates such a travesty for "political capital" deserves to be the President of the United States.

[keopeli]

1. I just have to say F*%K the Seattle Times. They endoresed Bush* in 2000!

They are a wolf in sheeps clothing. They have some of the best Kool-Aid in town. It's organic!

Signed,

Angry Seattlite

[indepat]

2. Maybe those of the religious right interpret this as "suffer ye little

children," a fulfillment of God's will being done on earth right before the world's eyes.