An archive of angles on the war
involving children and young people

At the time of writing, the fighting in the war to rid Iraq of Saddam Hussain and his government is over, and the long task of reconstruction has barely begun. The conflict has been strange because of the high level of media involvement, which has created an expectation that information should be instantly available and that everything must happen quickly, with instant gratification, as if the war were a sort of computer game, only real, not virtual.

For the children and young people involved or affected, the war will no doubt be a powerful memory that will last their lifetimes. There could well be people in the twenty-second century saying, “I remember when…” What will their memories be? What understanding will they have of the events with hindsight? For all the differences between adults in countries round the world, it is the children who will live with the consequences, for good or ill.

We are presenting an archive here of some of the pictures of children and young people involved or affected by the war.

- There were children who waved their fathers and mothers goodbye as they went to fight, and some never saw them again. Some did, and were able to greet them on their return.

- Some demonstrated against their governments because they thought the war should not be fought. It was the first where children and young people in numbers took such action.

- There were children who were killed, or injured, some terribly maimed. Some became icons of suffering and had to put up with celebrity status, as photographers crowded their hospital wards, powerless to be rid of their intrusion.

- Some lost their homes. Some watched the war go by. Some were in the cheering crowds who welcomed the change of regime.

Last month, Terry Hoon said, “War should now be a thing of the past.” The Iraq War was covered extensively by the media, but it is not the only part of the world where fighting is going on. Over two million people have been killed in recent fighting in the Congo, for example, attracting much less publicity.

For children’s sake, though, we agree with Terry Hoon, and we hope that people will start to act before states slide into war, whether internal or between nations. In every country round the world, we need to leave a legacy to our children of which we are proud, and it is a legacy of peace of which we should be truly proud.