Tuesday, April 17, 2007

Children Of War

About 70% of primary school students in a Baghdad neighborhood suffer symptoms of trauma-related stress such as bed-wetting or stuttering, according to a survey by the Iraqi Ministry of Health. Many Iraqi children have to pass dead bodies on the street as they walk to school in the morning, according to a separate report last week by the International Red Cross. Others have seen relatives killed or have been injured in mortar or bomb attacks.

"Some of these children are suffering one trauma after another, and it's severely damaging their development," said Said Al-Hashimi, a psychiatrist who teaches at Mustansiriya Medical School and runs a private clinic in west Baghdad. "We're not certain what will become of the next generation, even if there is peace one day," Al-Hashimi said.

The low- to middle-income neighborhood is inhabited by a mix of Shiites and Sunni Arabs. Author of the study, Mohammed Al-Aboudi said he believes the sample was broadly representative of conditions throughout the capital.-

This is not surprising this is what war is, which makes it the ultimate crime to choose to attack another country.
h/t Mia Culpa

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