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Gordon Brown had a lot to say about children in his speech this week to
the Labour Party Conference, quoting from the Bible, “Suffer the little
children to come unto me”, and ending with this plea, “Surely in this 21st
century human compassion can lift the pain from the face of a suffering
child.”
Unless, of course, they are children in Iraq, which got just a single
mention in Brown’s speech. Little wonder, because what has the Iraq war –
which Brown has supported without reservation from its outset to the
present day – brought to the children of Iraq?
- Iraq’s Ministry of Health estimates that half of the country’s children
UNICEF, 10 percent of Iraqi children under five are acutely malnourished,
while another 20 percent are chronically malnourished. As many as 260,000
children have died as a result of the occupation, according to one
estimate reported by The Independent.
- Less than a third of Iraq’s children now attend school, compared to 100
school, a recent survey of Baghdad primary schools showed that 70 percent
of them suffer symptoms of trauma-related stress, due directly to the
destruction, mass slaughter and chaos caused by war and occupation.
- The war has orphaned countless numbers of Iraqi children and, as the
Iraq...survive by begging, stealing or scavenging garbage for food. Only
four years ago, the vast majority of these children were living at home
with their families.”
- The virtual collapse of the Iraqi health service – once the highest
for Iraqi children. Earlier this year, 100 prominent British physicians
wrote an open letter to Tony Blair expressing their extreme concern over
the impact of the occupation on Iraqi children: “We are concerned that
children are dying in Iraq for want of medical treatment. Sick or injured
children, who could otherwise be treated by simple means, are left to die
in their hundreds because they do not have access to basic medications or
other resources. Children who have lost hands, feet and limbs are left
without prostheses. Children with grave psychological distress are left
untreated.”
If Gordon Brown is sincere in his concern for children, he has a real
opportunity on Monday 8 October in his speech to Parliament on Iraq to
make a difference. Instead of continuing to support an American foreign
policy which has brought nothing but disaster to the children of Iraq, he
can announce in that speech that all British troops will be withdrawn from
Iraq immediately. He can also announce that in the interests of the
children of Afghanistan, all British troops will be withdrawn from the
other unwinnable war where Britain is doing George Bush’s bidding. And
Brown can state categorically, in the interests of the children of Iran,
that Britain will not support any attack by the USA on that country, as is
now looking increasingly likely.
The vast majority of people in Britain are opposed to this country’s
support for George Bush’s warmongering, whether it be in Iraq, Afghanistan
or Iran. The Stop the War Coalition aims to maximise the pressure for a
change in government policy that reflects this majority view. Our
activities over the next two weeks include:
- A NATIONAL DEMONSTRATION outside Parliament on Monday 8 October, when
- A MASS WRITE-IN to Gordon Brown on Wednesday 3 October, using a postcard
below);
- A FULL PAGE IN THE GUARDIAN on Wednesday 3 October to publish our Open
(details below).
- A NATIONAL LOBBY OF MPS – Contacting local MPs in the next two weeks to
from Iraq now.
We are urging everyone who has watched in horror as our government has
followed slavishly wherever American war policies have beckoned, to attend
this demonstration and to participate in the mass write-in to Gordon
Brown. Please help publicise these activities as widely as possible and
encourage everyone you know, who opposes Brown’s war policies, to join us.
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