PICTURE this. A four-year-old girl is lying in the arms of a doctor. She has just become motherless. Her pink clothes are bloodied and her eyes stare at something only she can see. She has suffered from a bombing （轟炸） near her home in southern Iraq. 　
　
    想象這刻骨銘心的一幕:一個四歲女孩正靠在醫生的懷里。她剛剛失去母親，身上粉色的衣服血跡斑斑。她在專注地盯著什么，但那東西卻似乎只有她能夠看得見。她仍然活在伊拉克南部的家園遭受轟炸的創傷之中。

    Every day we see images like this on our televisions. We see young Iraqi children begging for food and water from American and British soldiers as they move through towns and cities towards the capital, Baghdad （巴格達）。 We see these children following grown-ups, carrying bags of belongings almost the same size as their small bodies as they flee their homes in Baghdad. 　　

    每天我們都會在電視上看到這樣的鏡頭。我們看到伊拉克孩子向那些進軍巴格達的美英士兵乞討食物和水；我們看到這些孩子背著幾乎和他們瘦弱的身體一樣大的行李，隨著大人們逃離他們在巴格達的家。

    They represent just some of the young lives that have been turned upside down by the ongoing war. And they show the terrible price being paid by Iraqi children. 　　

    而我們所看到的也僅僅是遭受戰爭磨難的年輕生命中的一小部分，但僅僅這些就足以表明伊拉克孩子為這場戰爭付出了多么慘重的代價。

    "Dad, why are the Americans striking us？ Are we going to be killed？" asks the son of Abu Sinar, an Iraqi engineer. Abu finds it hard to explain this war to his eight-year-old son. 　　

    “爸爸，美國人為什么攻打我們？我們會死嗎？”，面對8歲兒子提出的這個問題，伊拉克工程師阿布？希那爾（音譯）竟不知道該怎樣回答。

    He tries to comfort him by saying: "The bombs are far away from us. The Americans are fighting the soldiers. We're going to be all right." Even though Abu knows this isn't always the truth. 　　

    阿布安慰兒子說:“轟炸離我們還很遠。美國人是和士兵交戰。我們會沒事的。”但他知道，事實并非總是如此。

    In southern parts of the country, like Iraq's second largest city, Basra, the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund （UNICEF，聯合國兒童基金會） is working to repair the damage caused by fighting. The organization is working to provide clean water and restore electrical power, said Geoffrey Keele, a UNICEF spokesman. 　　

    在包括伊拉克第二大城市巴士拉的南部地區，聯合國兒童基金會正在修復被戰爭毀壞的設施�；�金會發言人杰弗里？科爾（音譯）說，他們正在致力于恢復供水、供電。

    But little else can be done. In Baghdad, parents give their children sleeping pills （安眠藥） to try and let them escape the sound of exploding bombs. And all the schools are closed. 　　

    但僅僅如此而已。在巴格達，為了讓孩子們安睡而不被轟炸聲驚醒，父母們讓孩子服用安眠藥。而且，所有的學校都關閉了。

    "All they can do is listen to and hear the war," said Keele. "There is suffering in Baghdad. It is clear that the bombing is affecting the mental well-being （心理健康） of the children." 　　

    “他們能做的就是湮沒在戰爭的聲音里，”科爾說。“顯而易見，轟炸對孩子們的心理健康有很大影響。”

    Despite UNICEF's efforts, dirty water is being blamed for cholera （霍亂） outbreaks in southern Iraq. Diarrhea （腹瀉） is spreading among the children, sometimes leading to death. 　　

    盡管聯合國兒童基金會進行著不懈的努力，不潔飲用水還是導致了霍亂肆虐伊拉克南部。腹瀉在孩子們中迅速蔓延，有時甚至導致死亡。

    Nearly 50 per cent of Iraq's population is under 15 years old. And 30 per cent of them already suffered before the war from malnutrition （營養不良）, according to international aid organizations. 　　

    伊拉克近一半人口是不滿15歲的兒童。國際援助組織資料顯示，在戰前他們中已有30%飽受營養不良之苦。

    Now the situation is worse, but continual fighting makes it impossible to count the number who are hungry, sick, injured or even dead. 　
　
    現在，形勢更是每況愈下。但持續的戰爭讓人們無法統計究竟有多少兒童在忍饑挨餓，多少受著疾病、傷痛困擾，而又有多少在戰爭中喪生。