War-disabled Iraqi boy arrives in Taiwan for medical treatment

[dArKeR]

A 12-year-old Iraqi boy who was maimed during the U.S. bombing of Iraq arrived in Taipei yesterday to receive medical treatment that may include fitting prostheses.

According to the Eden foundation, Khaldon-Kh-Thiab was playing with two of his younger brothers in the courtyard of their house when U.S. bombers swept across the skies of Fallujah near Baghdad.

The boys fled the courtyard and went inside their house where they waited. After about one hour, when the bombing had stopped, they ventured outside. The boys began investigating what turned out to be unexploded ordinance. The subsequent detonation killed the two younger boys instantly and maimed Khaldon-Kh-Thiab.

Khaldon-Kh-Thiab's family has 28 children. Three have been killed in the war. Only eight of them have been able to attend school with their father's subsistence wage of US$5 a month.

http://www.etaiwannews.com/Taiwan/2003/10/28/1067304003.htm

[thebigidea]

1. not to quibble with this horrific story, but...

"Only eight of them have been able to attend school with their father's subsistence wage of US$5 a month."

is there some exaggeration going on here?

I don't believe ONE person can get by for a month in Iraq on 5 bucks, much less send 8 kids to school.

I thought the unemployment payout was $50 a month or somesuch.

Any one want to clear this up?

[dArKeR]

2. I just know everything is better because CNN told me that yesterday.

4 months later 'Electric is on some of the time in Baghdad, not outlying areas, and water is supposed to be on sometimes. So the Iraqi people are living in a good environment now.' end CNN Whore quote.

[thebigidea]

4. more people dead? Shit, that just means we're "making good progress"

[Kinkistyle]

3. Hmmm... seems low, but here are some other articles.

Article from 1998: Desperate Iraqis sell belongings to make ends meet

from 2002:Iraqs middle class wiped out

We're obviously talking about the low-end of salaries here, in Southern Iraq, but its not surprising considering the sanctions and warfare.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

5. Similar things happened in Russia after the shock transition to capitalism

People's salaries and pensions were suddenly nearly worthless, so they survived by selling off their possessions and doing a lot of bartering, and when that failed, hoping that someone had set up a soup kitchen nearby.

Besides, in that particular case, if there are 28 people in the family, then chances are that some of the rest are working, too.

[VaLabor]

6. hmm...

The way I read it was...

At 5 bucks a month, only 8 of 28 children could afford (not working and) going to school.

So, at 5 bucks a month, the other 20 children had to work in some way to help the family.

Who knows.