Mitch Landrieu: “Recent reports indicate that the percentage of civilians killed and wounded as a result of armed conflict has risen from…”

“Recent reports indicate that the percentage of civilians killed and wounded as a result of armed conflict has risen from 5 percent at the turn of the century to almost 90 percent today, which means that in war it is not just the soldiers who are being killed, the men and women in uniform, but also civilians. That is a new occurrence in this century. It is something that this amendment attempts to address by directing our resources--not adding money, not authorizing new language, but simply directing, within the context of this bill, some attention to be given to this fact. War is not what it used to be. Its horrors are experienced by more than just the soldiers fighting on far-off battlefields. It is experienced by women and children. It is taking a brutal toll on these civilians, most of them women and children. Over 30 wars are now being waged around the world. One in four of the world's children live in war zones. In the past decade, more than 2 million children were killed during wartime, more than 4 million were wounded, and 1 million have been orphaned or separated from their families as a result of war. It is estimated that over 300,000 children have been forced to serve as soldiers. These are children as young as 7, 8, and 9 years old serving as soldiers, including an alarming number of girls serving as combatants, cooks, and, unfortunately, sex slaves.”