sanctions

Libya: Background

Libya, a mostly desert and oil-rich country on the southern shores of the Mediterranean Sea with an ancient history, has more recently been renowned for the 42-year rule of the mercurial Col Muammar Gaddafi.

Bert Sacks: The U.S. and September 11th

Bert with Iraqi school children

Bert Sacks: Chapter 1

Ongoing Violence: Iraq

A child lies injured in a car bomb attack in Doura
REUTERS/Faleh Kheiber

Iraq's ruinous wars, crippling sanctions and ongoing violence have had a devastating effect on children. Shootings and bombings have killed, injured and orphaned thousands, but the biggest killer is illness transmitted through unclean water and exacerbated by under-nutrition.

  • One in eight children dies before their fifth birthday.
  • Nine percent are acutely malnourished - double the number before the U.S.-led invasion.
  • Hundreds of schools have been attacked and teachers killed.
  • Unexploded ordinance and mines litter the country.
  • Children are injured on dumps looking for metal to sell to help support their families.
"I don't understand why adults do it (wage wars). I would never wish a war upon anyone. I would like to have it that children never have to fear war."

Ali Ismaeel Abbas who lost his parents and both arms in a missile strike in Baghdad.

Suffer the Children: Iraq