The Duty to Secure

One of the fundamental responsibilities of an occupying army is to ensure the security of the civilian population. That never happened in Iraq and today the country is probably less secure than at any time since the American conquest.

The failure to secure Iraq over the past four years will plague the country for years, possibly decades to come. Well over a million Iraqis have left, many of them never to return. Among their ranks are many of Iraq's professionals, particularly physicians.

As The Guardian reports, the unchecked violence on Baghdad streets is creating a generation of "children of war":

"The car stopped at the makeshift checkpoint that cut across the muddy backstreet in western Baghdad. A sentry appeared. 'Are you Sunni or Shia?' he barked, waving his Kalashnikov at the driver. 'Are you with Zarqawi or the Mahdi army?'

"'The Mahdi army,' the driver said. 'Wrong answer,' shouted the sentry, almost gleefully. 'Get him!'

"The high metal gate of a nearby house was flung open and four gun-toting males rushed out. They dragged the driver from his vehicle and held a knife to his neck. Quickly and efficiently, the blade was run from ear to ear. 'Now you're dead,' said a triumphant voice, and their captive crumpled to the ground.

"Then a moment of stillness before the sound of a woman's voice. 'Come inside boys! Your dinner is ready!' The gunmen groaned; the hapless driver picked himself up and trundled his yellow plastic car into the front yard; the toy guns and knives were tossed by the back door. Their murderous game of make-believe would have to resume in the morning.

"Abdul-Muhammad and his five younger brothers, aged between six and 12, should have been at school. But their mother, Sayeeda, like thousands of parents in Iraq's perilous capital city, now keeps her boys at home. Three weeks ago, armed men had intercepted their teacher's car at the school gates, then hauled him out and slit his throat. Just like in their game.

"'That day they came home and they were changed because of the things they'd seen,' said Sayeeda as she ladled rice into the boys' bowls. 'The youngest two have been wetting their beds and having nightmares, while Abdul-Muhammad has started bullying and ordering everyone to play his fighting games. I know things are not normal with them. My fear is one day they will get hold of real guns. But in these times, where is the help?'"

Aid organizations in Iraq report that the mental and emotional health of many Iraqi children has been damaged and, worse, neglected. It goes largely unmonitored and untreated.

A report by the Association of Iraqi Psychologists estimates that millions of Iraqi children are suffering psychologically and this has now turned into a generational problem. Unfortunately, the same lack of security that has allowed sectarian violence to flourish and traumatize the young has also kept international relief agencies at bay.

The security situation is compounded by the fact that many of Iraq's best physicians have either fled or been killed.

One of Iraq's most prominent child psychologists, Dr. Harith Hassan told The Guardian, "It's all some of them think about and know. The dangers are they will internalise the violence and then reproduce it later."