All War is War On Children

Modern wars, undeniably, are wars against children.

First there is the invasion; next the occupation, the resistance, the endless conflict. There is also the world that war leaves behind, one certainly not agreeable to Earth's most precious and important resource: children. Throughout any war children become a primary victim, their lifeless bodies riddled with bullets and scattered amidst the debris. Often times children are deliberately targeted, or perhaps they are made into little soldiers themselves, clinging to a M15, at last empowered. And yet betrayed. Sexual abuse and exploitation of children are also common with war; we can't forget, after all, that war, and its natural results, allow a dense fog which hides the most perverse human behavior from the rest of the world. Thus, we hear about abuses on small Iraqi girls by American soldiers, representatives of a supposedly moralistic foreign policy and a democratic, altruistic, forward-moving nation.   

And the smartest of weaponry, even those employed by the most sophisticated military power, the United States government, still have a devastating and gruesome impact on children. Cluster bombs saturate whole areas---defenseless children often get the worst of it--and all throughout Iraq and Afghanistan unexploded cluster bombs, which essentially become landmines, litter neighborhoods.

This leads to the next stage in war's terrible toll on children: the aftermath. Once war finally subsides then there is the perpetual punishment a broken, devastated society has on its children. The economy is likely in shambles, but so too is the educational system, the health care system, and any other social institution that might otherwise promote a child's well-being. This is the tragic reality in Iraq today, for instance. There is no stable economic, political, social structure in place and therefore there is no hope---there is especially no hope for Iraqi children.

Long after war ravages the land children suffer without family: those that have been lost to the war, and namely parents. Many children affected by war end up in in refugee camps, or on the streets, or worse. They are our hope for a better world, they are our future, and yet they are so viciously disposed of because of politics. The final consideration should be the psychological effect, though surely it is not the least alarming effect of war on children.

The following is an excerpt from an article on the psychological toll of war on Iraqi children:

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"Iraq's conflict is taking an immense and unnoticed psychological toll on children and youth that will have long-term consequences," said Bilal Youssif Hamid, a Baghdad-based child psychiatrist.

"The lack of resources means the social impact will be very bad and the coming generations, especially this one, will be aggressive," Hamid added.

According to UNICEF, half of Iraq's four million people who have fled their homes since 2003 are children. Many were killed inside their schools or playgrounds and gangs routinely kidnap children for ransom.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73258

We might all be guilty of cheering on some war at some time in our life. But could we possibly cheer on war if our children stood somewhere in the middle?