Perspective: Use of weapons is child’s play in Iraq

FALLUJAH: Ahmed Ghazi has little reason to stock Christmas toys at his shop in Fallujah. He knows what children want these days.

“It is best for us to import toys such as guns and tanks because they are most saleable in Iraq to little boys,” Ghazi told IPS. “Children try to imitate what they see out of their windows.”

And there are particular imports for girls, too, he said. “Girls prefer crying dolls to others that dance or play music and songs.”

As children in the United States and around the world celebrate Christmas, and prepare to celebrate the new year, children in Iraq occupy a quite different world, with toys to match.

Social researcher Nuha Khalil from the Iraqi Institute for Childhood Development in Baghdad told IPS that young girls are now expressing their repressed sadness often by playing the role of a mother who takes care of her small daughter.

“Looking around, they only see gatherings of mourning ladies who lost their beloved ones,” said Khalil. “Our job of comforting these little girls and remedying the damage within them is next to impossible.”

Hundreds of thousands of children have faced trauma of some sort. And for others, the lack of a normal life is trauma enough.

Just a lack of entertainment is developing into a serious problem. There are only 10 cinemas in Baghdad, and two dilapidated public parks.

These are no longer safe for children.

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