Doug Lorimer
"Malnutrition among Iraqi children has reached alarming levels, according to a UN-backed government survey showing people are struggling to cope three years after US-forces overthrew Saddam Hussein", Reuters reported on May 15.
The survey found 9% of children aged between six months and five years suffered acute malnourishment. A total of 4 million Iraqis, roughly 15% of the population, were in dire need of humanitarian aid, up from 11% in 2003, the survey of more than 20,000 Iraqi households found.
The study was conducted by the Iraqi planning and health ministries, supported by the UN World Food Program and the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF).
David Singh, a spokesperson for UNICEF's Iraq Support Centre in neighbouring Jordan, told reporters that the number of acutely malnourished children had more than doubled to 9% in 2005, up from 4% in 2002, the final year of Saddam Hussein's regime, which had been subject to 13 years of crippling UN-imposed economic sanctions.
On the same day that the survey was released, Reuters reported that "Iraq's main Sunni religious grouping accused US forces on Monday of killing 25 civilians in raids near Baghdad in the past two days, rejecting the US account that only suspected insurgents had died".
In a statement issued early on May 15, the US miliary claimed that its troops had destroyed three houses and killed at least 41 "suspected terrorists" in and around the villages of Latifiya and Yusifiya over the previous two days. It also said a US helicopter had been shot down, killing two US soldiers.
The US military statements made no mention of any civilian deaths, but said several women and children were "wounded".
The Sunni Association of Muslim Scholars accused the US forces of attacking civilian houses and killing residents as they tried to flee. The AMS said 25 civilians were killed in Latifiya during US attacks over the May 13-14 weekend.
The US occupation forces routinely deny Iraqi claims that their military operations result in civilian deaths.
From Green Left Weekly, May 24, 2006.
Visit the Green Left Weekly home page.