Malnutrition in Iraq - What the New UNICEF Study Shows

Malnutrition rates amongst Iraqi children are falling, according to a new UNICEF report. Ramzi Kysia of the Education for Peace in Iraq Center explains what the study shows. His conclusion:

Unfortunately, recent improvements are likely to be short-lived. There is currently a multi-billion dollar shortfall in the money available for the Oil-for-Food program. In order to stem the “crumbling” of sanctions, the U.S. has begun enforcing a policy on oil sales called “retroactive pricing.” Under this policy, purchasers of Iraqi oil are not allowed to know the price of the oil they have bought for up to a month after they’ve received it. Given the volatility of the oil market, this uncertainty has led to steep declines in sales. According to the UN Development Program’s June 2002 brief for Iraq, “the Oil-for-Food Programme is increasingly facing a financial crisis due to the substantial drop in revenues received from Iraqi oil exports and to uncertainties regarding the pricing mechanism.” If this crisis isn’t quickly reversed, the program will falter, and malnutrition rates will again begin to rise.

The other major problem on the horizon is the war George Bush keeps promising to deliver. If the U.S. bombs electrical plants, and water and sewage treatment centers in Iraq, as was done during “Desert Storm,” the result is going to be even greater epidemics than Iraq is currently suffering from. If civil war breaks out, or if the U.S. bombs roads, rail, and all the bridges, as was done during “Desert Storm,” the result will be country-wide famine.

...If we care about the children of Iraq, then we need to stop this war from happening. But, in the end, the only thing that will truly end Iraq’s humanitarian crisis, and put an end to malnutrition once and for all, is if we stop the war that is already going on. Economic sanctions are intended to damage economies and increase poverty. Increased poverty means increased malnutrition. And - no matter how hard UNICEF, or the Iraqi government, or anti-sanctions activists try - there's no way around that.

FYI: I referenced the UNICEF report last Friday, although not in an entirely serious context.