The US Military inteactions with Iraqi kids

Military's interaction with foreign kids will be long remembered
published 12/28/05

This is a story about children in foreign lands and how Americans interact with them. The first part is from ABC News.

A little boy was brought to the station where the paramedics were working in a remote valley in Kashmir. He was lifeless in his father’s arms, and the paramedics from New York City could not even find a vein to start an IV due to his dehydration.

They started an IV into his shin, while the child showed no indication that anyone had touched him. A half hour later, the child was crying and protesting the strange men speaking a strange tongue who were sticking needles into his arm. As he tried to escape the strange (heat-retaining) blankets to get to his father, these same strange men would not let him. But he could clearly see his father, who had a smile on his face as he cried tears of joy. His son was clearly going to live.

Now that child did not understand the situation he was in, but it is clear that when he grows up, his father will see to it that he knows what happened.

He will know who exactly saved his life after he got sick with double pneumonia and became severely dehydrated. The father had already lost his wife and daughter to the earthquake, and his joy at seeing his son survive was very obvious and heart warming.

Another story involving children and American men came from the pages of the Asheville Citizen-Times, a story about U.S. troops interacting with Iraqi children. That article stated: “Soldiers generally believe the presence of children lowers the chance of enemy attack.” To believe such a thing, and to then go to where children are, would indicate that the soldiers are willing to use the children as human shields. I sincerely hope this is wrong.

Children are generally delightful, and I am sure that is true no matter what part of the world they come from. In the article called “Winning Small Hearts and Minds in Iraq” the soldiers were giving candy and toys to the children in Iraq. At first, the children reacted with fear to their presence, which in light of the fact that they are in a war zone, would be the normal and expected response. They soon warmed up to the men, and it appears all had a good time.

However, it was not prudent on the part of the soldiers to reduce the children’s fear of getting close to U.S. troops. It puts them at risk, since there are 80 to 100 attacks per day against U.S. troops in Iraq. (This is the overwhelming majority of attacks, by the way, even though we hear more about the attacks against civilians, which result in a higher death toll.) One teacher at this school stated very plainly: her primary concern was the sewers. It matters not if the children get candy and trinkets if they get sick from the unclean water and lack of sanitation.

The soldiers and their families gathered the toys and the candies that were handed out that day. I applaud them for trying to brighten the children’s lives. However, I do not feel it is prudent or safe (at this time) for them to personally hand out these items or interact with the children. They could certainly place the items in boxes with a note saying they are from the Americans, and drop the boxes off with the teachers.

I have heard many painful stories of children around U.S. troops who have fallen victim to the violence overwhelming Iraq at this time. The fact that they are near U.S. troops marks them as targets for the terrorists. Recently there was a report of a terrorist bombing directed toward U.S. troops handing out toys to children in a hospital in central Iraq.

We must do everything possible to keep these children alive and provide them with a future. I would like to see our U.S. Congress, particularly Sen. Elizabeth Dole, R-N.C., who serves on the U.S. Armed Services Committee, redirect our troops’ efforts in Iraq. The troops should focus on providing security, clean water, sewers, electricity and medical services in Iraq, all of which are in dire need of improvement.

They can collect and distribute toys and candy for children, but their interaction with the children should be limited to providing direct medical care only in the event of an emergency. Playing with the children, and interacting with the children, will have to wait until the day when peace comes to Iraq.

And when these children grow up, their parents will see to it that they understand and remember what happened when they were too young to understand.

Link to publication.