Invasion Robs Childhood

A visitor stumbled upon a small cluster of 4-year-olds just in time to hear Ahmed Yousif casually explain: ''Yeah, I saw it on the Internet, but the guy with the long hair wasn't fully decapitated."

Ali Najee, all of 5 years old, was frustrated because even with the authentic three-round burst sounds he made to accompany the shooting of his friends with a toy AK-47 rifle, the game lacked realism. Then he hit on an answer. As he shot, he tossed water onto his friends' clothing. ''There's your blood. Now you're dead," he said.

Three-year-old Safa played with a doll at the feet of her mother, who muttered while solving a crossword puzzle, ''The name of an Iraqi prime minister?" Safa blurted out, ''Jaafari." When her mother asked what she knew about prime ministers and politics, the little girl, barely able to pronounce the words, said, ''Well, I've been wondering about the constitution. Is it a good thing?"

Childhood innocence may not be dead in Iraq, but teachers, parents, and government officials agree that it has taken a bad hit and may not recover without immediate and intensive attention.

Khaldoon Waleed, a Baghdad child psychologist, said a generation of children is growing up with post-traumatic stress disorder. The disorder is commonly associated with soldiers, and Waleed said it could cause everything from nightmares to an inability to connect with people.