US Troops Find Starving Children in Iraqi Orphanage

From Newsday:

"BAGHDAD - One photograph shows a skin-and-bones boy lying on a bare floor, leashed like a dog to the pink bars of an unoccupied crib. Another shows more boys curled naked on the ground, one smeared with human waste.The scenes are ghastly. But almost as jarring was the response of an Iraqi government minister called upon yesterday to explain how a state-run orphanage in Baghdad could have kept two dozen children in such conditions.

"Mahmoud Mohammed Jawad Radi, minister of labor and social welfare, accused U.S. troops and the media of exaggerating the situation and distributing the photographs for political gain."Are they really concerned about how well the children are treated in that shelter, or is it just propaganda for their alleged kindness?" Radi asked reporters after the U.S. military released the photographs. A military statement said the pictures were taken June 10 after U.S. and Iraqi soldiers were tipped off about conditions at the orphanage in western Baghdad."

While Radi's explanation is extremely weak and distracting, there is a sliver of truth in his words. Considering the fact that US troops still haven't reconstructed Iraq's infrastructure, the continued policy of home raids, and the recent revelations that the US has been detaining, imprisoning, and interrogating children, their concern for human rights abuses seems dubious. Still, the overwhelming evidence as shown so far shows that these kids, in particular, were abused and exploited by Iraqis. It may have been in the shadow of the US, but for the love of pete, take some bloody responsibility!