[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 61 (Tuesday, April 17, 2007)]
[House]
[Pages H3445-H3447]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  CHILDREN: UNCOUNTED IRAQ CASUALTIES

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Washington (Mr. McDermott) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. McDERMOTT. Mr. Speaker, I had intended to rise this evening to 
focus my attention on the suicide bombing last week in Baghdad that 
killed and wounded several members of the Parliament, including Osama 
al-Nujafii. He was a member of the Iraq Parliament who participated in 
a historic live teleconference I hosted last month linking several of 
my House colleagues with several Iraq Parliamentarians. I wish him and 
the others wounded in the attack a speedy recovery.
  That attack occurred inside the Green Zone, and it confirms that no 
one is safe in Iraq, no matter how many checkpoints or blast walls or 
press releases out of the White House. It confirms that the President's 
military escalation has only escalated the violence and the casualties. 
It confirms that the President has no control whatsoever on the events 
on the ground. And it confirms that the American people are right to 
demand that the President work with the Democratic Congress and 
establish a firm timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. troops.
  For now, most Americans are grimly aware of the weekend of bombings 
and killings across Iraq. But the situation is even worse. The Iraq war 
will live long after the U.S. forces leave the country.
  As a child psychiatrist, I was shocked to learn of a new study 
looking at the effects this war is having on Iraqi children. I submit 
the story from USA Today for the Record. It is the first comprehensive 
look at the impact the war is having on innocent Iraqi children. The 
Ministry of Health surveyed 2,500 primary school kids in Baghdad, and 
70 percent of those young kids displayed symptoms of trauma-related 
stress. As the USA Today reported, many Iraqi children have been 
physically wounded, and many are psychologically scarred. They are the 
uncounted casualties of the Iraq war. Thousands of innocent Iraqi 
children

[[Page H3446]]

are uncounted casualties. But for all these innocent Iraqi children, 
this war will rage on for them for years to come. They will face a life 
of anguish, and, in fact, will be the ones who, in the future, are the 
future violent ones we worry about.
  For all these innocent Iraqi children, this war will rage on for 
years to come. In some cases, these children will face a lifetime of 
anguish and suffering, and not one of these children is being counted 
as a casualty.
  These children routinely walk through carnage on their way to school, 
when they go at all.
  These children are routinely exposed to random violence and killings 
that burn images in their minds that will scar them for life.
  As a child psychiatrist, I can only echo the conclusions of one Iraqi 
doctor who was interviewed by USA Today.
  ``Some of these children are time bombs,'' said Said al-Hashimi, a 
psychiatrist who teaches at an Iraqi Medical School.
  In this excerpt from USA Today, al-Hashimi said he is concerned Iraqi 
children could become the next generation of fighters and fuel violence 
for years to come.
  Because of what they are living through as youngsters, ``they may 
think it's better to martyr themselves for religion or country,'' al-
Hashimi said.
  The only hope for these uncounted casualties is treatment.
  But, as the USA Today story points out, there is only one government 
run psychiatric hospital in Baghdad--a city of 6 million people, or put 
more accurately, a city of 6 million casualties.
  And then there are the uncounted casualties of Iraqi children in 
Basra, Rumadi, Najaf, Karbala, Mosul, Kirkuk, Fallujah, Baqubah, and 
all the other places Iraqi children live.
  Until the war ends, there is virtually no chance that thousands of 
innocent Iraqi children will be treated for their war wounds.
  We can only estimate how many thousands of Iraqi children need urgent 
psychological attention. We know they are not going to get it until 
this war ends.
  There is a timetable for doing just that, and the President should 
stop listening to his discredited Vice President and start listening to 
reason and reality.
  Now, in the face of that, our Speaker has led this Congress to set a 
time line that the President says, I will ignore. The President said, I 
will ignore the people, I will ignore the vote of 2006. No matter what 
the Speaker does, I am going to attack her.
  So the Speaker took the Iraq Study Group's book that said we ought to 
talk to the people in Syria. For those of you who don't know, Syria is 
right up next to Iraq. And it is on the border. And there are 
Presidential accusations that people are coming in from Syria into 
Iraq, creating trouble and killing our troops. This is on its way to 
being the most deadly month in 5 years.
  Now, for the Speaker to take her time and carefully plan and go over 
and talk to the leadership of Syria about attacks being made on 
Americans is, in my view, it is part of her legislative responsibility 
to the people, not only of her district, but the entire country. And 
for someone to come out here and accuse her of a violation of the Logan 
Act. Now this is a 200-year-old act that no one has ever been 
prosecuted under because there are real questions as to whether it 
prevents Members of the Congress from using their first amendment 
rights to talk out on behalf of the people that they represent.
  In 1980, the State Department maintained that a visit to Cuba by 
Senators John Sparkman and George McGovern was not inconsistent with 
the Logan Act. Nothing in the act, they said, ``would appear to 
restrict Members of Congress from engaging in discussions in pursuance 
of their legislative duties under the Constitution.''
  In 1976 the State Department was asked to weigh in as to whether 
former President Nixon violated the Logan Act by visiting China. The 
Department stated that Mr. Nixon's trip was taken entirely in his 
capacity as a private citizen and that the Department ``was unaware of 
any basis for believing Mr. Nixon acted with intent prohibited'' by the 
act. The Department has noted that no one has ever been prosecuted 
under this act.
  This kind of attack on the Speaker will be answered in full again and 
again. Make no mistake about that.
  The article previously referred to follows:

                            [From USA TODAY]

          70% of Iraqi Schoolchildren Show Symptoms of Trauma

                           (By James Palmer)

       Baghdad--About 70% of primary school students in a Baghdad 
     neighborhood suffer symptoms of trauma-related stress such as 
     bed-wetting or stuttering, according to a survey by the Iraqi 
     Ministry of Health.
       The survey of about 2,500 youngsters is the most 
     comprehensive look at how the war is affecting Iraqi 
     children, said Iraq's national mental health adviser and 
     author of the study, Mohammed Al-Aboudi.
       ``The fighting is happening in the streets in front of our 
     houses and schools,'' al-Aboudi said. ``This is very 
     difficult for the children to adapt to.''
       The study is to be released next month. Al-Aboudi discussed 
     the findings with USA TODAY.
       Many Iraqi children have to pass dead bodies on the street 
     as they walk to school in the morning, according to a 
     separate report last week by the International Red Cross. 
     Others have seen relatives killed or have been injured in 
     mortar or bomb attacks.
       ``Some of these children are suffering one trauma after 
     another, and it's severely damaging their development,'' said 
     Said Al-Hashimi, a psychiatrist who teaches at Mustansiriya 
     Medical School and runs a private clinic in west Baghdad. 
     ``We're not certain what will become of the next generation, 
     even if there is peace one day,'' Al-Hashimi said.
       The study was conducted last October in the Sha'ab district 
     of northern Baghdad. The low- to middle-income neighborhood 
     is inhabited by a mix of Shiites and Sunni Arabs. Al-Aboudi 
     said he believes the sample was broadly representative of 
     conditions throughout the capital.
       In the study, schoolteachers were asked to determine 
     whether randomly selected students showed any of 10 symptoms 
     identified by the World Health Organization as signs of 
     trauma. Other symptoms included voluntary muteness, declining 
     performance in school or an increase in aggressive behavior.
       The teachers received training from Iraqi psychologists on 
     how to identify and help students cope with trauma-related 
     stress, al-Aboudi said.
       The study ``shows the impact of the violence and insecurity 
     on the children and on children's mental health,'' said 
     Naeema Al-Gasseer, the Iraqi representative of the WHO. 
     ``They have fear every day.''
       The Iraqi government is aware of the problem but largely 
     unequipped to address it, said Ali al-Dabbagh, a government 
     spokesman. ``Until we have proper security in Baghdad, 
     there's not much we can do to help these children,'' Al-
     Dabbagh said in Washington.
                                  ____


                Iraqis Fear War's Long-Term Cost to Kids

                           (By James Palmer)

       Baghdad--Ahmed Al-Khaffaji, 6, refused to leave his house 
     for nearly a year after shrapnel from a mortar shell ripped 
     through his left arm, rendering it useless.
       Hussain Haider was only 5 when he stopped speaking after 
     watching his father slowly bleed to death on the living room 
     floor of the family's Sadr City home.
       Iraqi psychiatrists worry about the long-term consequences 
     of a generation that has been constantly exposed to 
     explosions, gunfights, kidnappings and sectarian murders. 
     ``Some of these children are time bombs,'' said Said al-
     Hashimi, a psychiatrist who teaches at Mustansiriya Medical 
     School.
       Mental health professionals such as al-Hashimi say that 
     there is a chronic shortage of trained psychiatrists and that 
     schools are the front line for treating traumatized children.
       Ahmed's skin was badly scarred, and he suffered burns on 
     both legs when a mortar round slammed into his family's south 
     Baghdad home on Jan. 1, 2006.
       His mother, Safia Hussain Ali, said that for nearly a year 
     afterward, her son feared leaving the house and often refused 
     to eat.
       Today, Ahmed attends school, but his behavior occasionally 
     regresses, and he retreats from reality.
       ``Sometimes he refuses to eat and just wants to watch TV or 
     play video games,'' Ali said.
       Haider al-Malaki, 40, a psychiatrist at the government-run 
     Ibn Rushd Hospital, said he has treated children as young as 
     6 with post-traumatic stress disorder. He said he has also 
     seen children with sleeping and eating disorders that can be 
     traced to the violence.


                            More aggression

       ``They have all experienced some kind of psychological 
     trauma, whether they witnessed a murder or survived a 
     kidnapping attempt,'' al-Malaki said. ``When they witness 
     violence, they're more likely to display aggressive and 
     reckless behavior'' later.
       Al-Hashimi said he is concerned Iraqi children could become 
     the next generation of fighters and fuel violence for years 
     to come. Because of what they are living through as 
     youngsters, ``they may think it's better to martyr 
     themselves for religion or country,'' al-Hashimi said.
       Al-Hashimi set up a workshop this year to help teachers and 
     school officials deal with students suffering from war-
     related trauma. He urges educators to get kids to release 
     their emotions through activities such as academic 
     competitions and soccer games.
       ``Schools in hot areas are still functioning,'' Al-Hashimi 
     said, referring to volatile Baghdad neighborhoods. 
     ``Unfortunately, many people don't know how to handle the 
     children in this situation.''

[[Page H3447]]

       Attacks on or near schools have forced Iraqi teachers and 
     other school staff to try to protect their students.
       ``Children are very perceptive of teachers' moods and 
     actions,'' said Hadoon Waleed, a psychology professor at 
     Baghdad University. ``It's very important that teachers are 
     trained to handle their students during stressful 
     situations.''
       Fawad Al-Kaisi, 59, headmaster at the Al-Hurriyah primary 
     school in south Baghdad, said his staff has learned through 
     experience.
       ``When explosions go off in the area, the students become 
     very nervous,'' Al-Kaisi said. ``We try our best to create a 
     positive environment to make them feel safe.''
       Like others among Iraq's professional elite, psychiatrists 
     are scarce, in part because they have been targets of 
     kidnappers and assassins.
       Al-Malaki, the psychiatrist at Ibn Rushd, survived two 
     bullet wounds in his right arm from an assassination attempt 
     in his clinic last year. He is among the few psychiatrists 
     who have remained in Iraq and continued to work.
       The Iraqi Society of Psychiatrists estimates at least 140 
     of the country's 200 psychiatrists were killed or have fled 
     the country in the past four years.


                         little help available

       A shortage of psychiatric facilities further limits the 
     availability of mental health care. Ibn Rushd is the only 
     government-funded psychiatric hospital in Baghdad, a city of 
     6 million people.
       For Hussain Haider, now 7, and other children, the need is 
     urgent. He stopped speaking for months after his father was 
     killed in a crossfire between fighters of the Mahdi Army, a 
     Shiite militia group, and U.S. forces April 6, 2004.
       Hussain's mother, Thuraya Jabbar, said his grades have 
     fallen, and he is awakened frequently by nightmares.
       ``He starts crying whenever we start speaking about his 
     father,'' she said.

                          ____________________