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Sanctions take harsh toll on Iraq's children
October 19, 1997
Web posted at: 11:13 a.m. EDT (1513 GMT)KARBALA, Iraq (CNN) -- In a sweltering, crowded hospital south of Baghdad, dozens of children line the beds, their stick-like limbs reflecting a severe lack of food. A mother's wail pierces the room: One of her children has already died and two others are suffering from malnutrition and diarrhea.
Such conditions are prevalent throughout the Arab nation, where aid agencies have issued numerous reports documenting the deteriorating health of Iraqi children since the United Nations imposed sanctions seven years ago.
One in four Iraqi children are malnourished, according to UNICEF. Many of those who survive will suffer permanent brain damage or stunted growth.
CNN'S Ben Wedeman shows us the effect of Iraq's current status on children.
2 min. 30 sec. VXtreme video
Factoid: According to UNICEF, one in four Iraqi children suffers from malnutrition. "It is clear that it's the children who are suffering most from the current situation," U.N. spokesman Eric Falt said.
The U.N. sanctions were imposed when Iraqi troops invaded neighboring Kuwait in 1990. The sanctions restrict flights in and out of the country and prevent Iraq from marketing its oil except under a special oil-for-food program.
The U.N. Security Council has said the sanctions will not be lifted until Iraq complies with Gulf War resolutions demanding the elimination of all the country's weapons of mass destruction.
The U.N. Special Commission, charged with monitoring the sanctions, says Iraq is still withholding information about its chemical and biological weapons programs.
Iraq, however, says it has come clean and that the sanctions must be lifted to help the nation recover from the devastating 1991 Gulf War. The government accuses the United States and its allies of maintaining the sanctions in the hope that the resulting hardship will spark a revolt against President Saddam Hussein.
And children, Iraq's future leaders, have become the focal point of a political dispute that began before most were born.
At a recent demonstration outside the U.N. office in Baghdad, starving children -- most under the age of 10 -- held signs and chanted in protest of the embargo.
Critics of the Iraqi government say such protests are fabricated events to win sympathy and gain support for the lifting of sanctions.
But regardless of where the truth may lie, it is clear that the diplomatic wrangling has come at a huge cost: Until one side gives in, more Iraqi children will die from lack of proper food and medicine.
From Correspondent Ben Wedeman
Related stories:
- Saddam's son on hand to cheer father's rule - October 16, 1997
- U.N. approves Iraqi 'food-for-oil' plan - August 4, 1997
- Iraq health worsens, country pushes for oil-for-food - September 9, 1996
Related sites:
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- Iraq - ArabNet
- UNICEF
- Iraq - Consular Information Sheet - U.S. State Dept.
- Desert-Storm.com
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