Threat of war is affecting mental health of Iraqi children, says report

The vast majority of Iraq's 13million children will be affected if the war between Iraq and the West goes ahead, a report released by a Canadian led team of health experts concludes.

The report, based on a humanitarian fact finding mission in Iraq that included interviews with 100 families in Baghdad, Karbala, and Basra in January 2003, warns that Iraqi children are at grave risk of starvation, disease, death, and psychological trauma.

Casualties are predicted to be in the tens of thousands in the …