The economic sanctions imposed on Iraq (1990-2003) were more devastating to the country and its people than the two Gulf Wars together. They wrecked the economy of a country whose schools and health care system had been the pride of the Middle East. Children were the casualties. As early as 1992, UNICEF reported that thousands of children under five were dying every month from malnutrition and preventable diseases. I went illegally to Iraq in 1999 under the auspices of Voices in the Wilderness to see for myself what was going on and to bring back firsthand impressions of the children’s lives.
