Shot by Both Sides writes that I'm an idiot.

Hey, he's not the first.

But more importantly, he does point out that the UN did publish a report in 2002 that claims that malnutrition among Iraqi children had fallen to 4 percent as a result of the oil-for-food program.

I don't believe the figure for a New York second - it seems remarkably self-serving to play up the successes of a program that was lining so many UN and diplomatic pockets - but I can understand now why the BBC might not have challenged the figures.

Nevertheless, to put the unreliability of UNICEF's numbers in stark relief, consider this laugh line from a 1998 UNICEF report:

In the United States, researchers estimate that over 13 million children -- more than one in every four under the age of 12 -- have a difficult time getting all the food they need, a problem that is often at its worst during the last week of the month when families' social benefits or wages run out. Over 20 per cent of children in the United States live in poverty, more than double the rate of most other industrialized countries.

There you have it folks: According to UNICEF, Saddam Hussein was doing a better job feeding Iraqi children in 2002 than Bill Clinton.

Splash, out

Jason