Sick children in Iraq, now pawns in a deadly game caught between the cynicism of their leader and the impact of sanctions. Hundreds of thousands have died of disease, malnutrition and the effects of the war a decade ago. Britain and America argue that food and medicine have never been prevented from coming in, but sanctions are now being reviewed.

BRIAN WILSON, BRITISH FOREIGN OFFICE MINISTER: There`s always a potential to keep looking at the way they operate, to make sure that there are not unintended consequences, and also to ensure that the very pernicious propaganda machine which Saddam Hussein runs is not able to convince anybody, maybe gullible people, maybe well-intentioned people who are deluded into believing that because we are stopping him building weapons of mass destruction, that we are also responsible for the humanitarian consequences which he attributes to that.

But joining those Mr Wilson calls the gullible and well-intentioned now are many governments who are persuaded by UN agencies that sanctions are to blame for deaths in Iraq.

Friday`s bombing raid has provoked insecurity in the region. Israelis are dusting off their gas masks, but that only serves to remind Arab radicals in neighbouring countries that after they backed America against Iraq 10 years ago, there is still no peace.

Some observers say sanctions are now unsustainable.

PROFESSOR PAUL ROGERS, PEACE STUDIES, BRADFORD UNIVERSITY: Given the state of affairs in the Middle East as a whole, I think the whole sanctions process is now collapsing. It`s very unlikely they can hold this kind of process with any success at all within the next 2-3 months. That`s about as long as it can possibly last, I would think.

But tonight the pentagon revealed their planes flying over Iraq have been targeted since the bombing and they could retaliate.