The Hidden Victims OF War

Nawal al-Samarraie talks to The Associated Press about her decision to resign as Iraq's state minister of women's affairs during an interview in Baghdad, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2009. Women lawmakers called on al-Samarraie, to reverse her decision to resign. Al-Samarraie, a Sunni, said she had asked to step down due because her office was not a full ministry and had been given insufficient authority and resources to help the widows and other women facing great hardship in the country. (AP Photo/Karim Kadim)

Iraqi Women's Minister Resigns In Protest -- Yahoo News/AP

BAGHDAD – Iraq's state minister for women's affairs has quit to protest a lack of resources for a daunting task — improving the lives of "a full army of widows" and other women left poor or abandoned by war.

In an interview Sunday with The Associated Press, Nawal al-Samarraie described how her office's budget was so tight that she often found herself dipping into her own pockets for the women who came begging for help.

She said she finally submitted her resignation last week in part because her budget was slashed from $7,500 to $1,500 per month — part of overall government spending cuts forced by plunging oil prices. The figure didn't include staff salaries.

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My Comment: The misery of these people .... women, children, the crippled and disabled .... in Iraq, Darfur, Afghanistan, Somalia .... defies explanation.

For Iraq it is even more troubling. With billions of petrodollars produced in the region and salted away in banks administered by the U.S. and Iraq .... they are quibbling over $6,000.