A REPORT from UNICEF on May 14 stated 300,000 Iraqi children are facing death from acute malnutrition. This is twice as many as under deposed leader Saddam Hussein.

In the same report patients in Umm Qasr are told to "grit their teeth" or bite down on rolled-up cloth because there are no painkillers.

Why are these horrors not widely reported? Are these issues not news- worthy? Is the excitement over? Can we now carry on consuming our way to victory?

Why is my MP, Hugh Bayley, who abhors human rights abuses, not asking these easy questions? Why is that bastion of fairplay and decency, the BBC, not asking these questions?

There are enough reporters.

Where in the name of Allah are those weapons of mass destruction?

James Stewart,

Beech Grove, York.

Updated: 10:22 Thursday, May 22, 2003