In the aftermath of the Gulf War, with continued sanctions and an ongoing standoff over weapons inspections, analysts say it is the Iraqi people who have suffered the most. Parents rely on rations to stretch meager paychecks. Iraq's clinics and hospitals are in such poor condition that children often receive inadequate health care.
Many young people beg on streets for money to feed their families.
Although Baghdad is allowed to sell unlimited quantities of oil to buy food, medicine and other humanitarian supplies for the Iraqi people, Iraqi cabinet ministers have frequently charged that goods bought with the oil proceeds usually are slow to arrive, offering little overall benefit to Iraqi citizens. U.S. officials say Iraqi officials, including Saddam Hussein, probably are skimming millions of dollars from the proceeds. Here is a demographic look at Iraq before and after the war.