BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Mustafa Karim, a fourth-grader, now lives with family members in a squalid camp in eastern Baghdad where displaced Shias go after fleeing their homes, often after relatives have been killed.
The young boy's eyes fill with tears when he recalls the circumstances that led to his exile.
"They killed my father and uncle in front of my eyes," he says.
He then breaks down sobbing. He can no longer speak. The anguish is unbearable.
Such stories are not uncommon in Iraq four years after the U.S.-led invasion. Health officials say the daily hardships -- bomb blasts, gunfire, killings of family members and sectarian violence -- are taking an increasing toll on Iraq's children.
Hundreds of thousands of children no longer attend school. Others have been forced from their homes to camps, while others have fled the nation with family. (Audio slide show: 'All they've ever known is conflict')
For those that remain behind, there is the constant fear of being killed and the mental toll that warfare takes on its most vulnerable victims.
"Our children are surrounded by violence," said Dr. Saied al Hashimi, a professor of psychiatry at Baghdad's Mustansriya University. "Most of them are traumatized."
He says mass displacement, the death and murder of family members and the constant presence of heavily armed troops, militias and death squads have a long-term impact on the children, especially those in and around Baghdad where violence is most intense. (Watch boy feign death, carried away like martyr)
"I call them the silent victims. Our Iraqi children are the silent victims," he told CNN.
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I make no pretense that my presence in the Woyano community is for anything other than spreading the word that we ought to be more informed about -- and more involved in -- the world and our global economic, social, political, and military policies.
Yes, I know I just posted something this morning that has absolutely no informational value (my posting on "RELIX"). LOL. I couldn't resist.
I know it is difficult to focus on so much bad news in the world, and I have nothing against posting things that are entertaining or amusing.
But I'm glad to see you are as moved by some of these stories as I am. I hope you keep posting such stories as you find them. Thanks so much.
In a future post I will post a bit about an American woman who helped save Iraqi children. Especially Iraqi children orphaned by this war.
Hey you know AdGuy always gets the last word! ;)