do unto the children

i'm sickened by this story from sydney of a nine-year-old girl set alight by two teenage girls. i know that far worse things happen to kids every day, but can someone please tell me what the f**k is this world coming to?
 
since becoming a dad, i've been ultra-sensitive to harm done to children. about six months ago my little girl freya spilled a cup of hot tea on herself that we had carelessly left in her reach. the burns didn't end up being very bad and haven't left any scars, thanks mainly to my wife janette's 0.1 sec dash with baby to the bathroom followed by the administration of copious amounts of cold water, but the hardest thing for us was hearing her screams of agony and incomprehension (what's happening to me? why is it happening? what have i done to deserve this?) and knowing that we couldn't do anything to make the pain stop right now.
 
children are helpless and innocent, and they don't understand why anyone would want to harm them. in my opinion, harming a child is the worst crime on the face of the earth, and anyone who deliberately injures a child should be shot on sight, no questions asked. there can never be any excuse or justification for such an act.

this includes smoking. it should be illegal to smoke in the presence of a child or of a pregnant woman, especially in a confined space such as a house, and any pregnant woman who smokes should be locked up. i know it sounds harsh, but we know that cigarette smoke harms children, especially the unborn, so how can we continue to tolerate it and just advise people against it. its obvious that people aren't heeding the advice, so the government needs to step in to protect these helpless victims.
 
another thing i'm thinking about here is war. the unceasing reports of death and injury to children and their parents in iraq make me sick, especially when they're a result of coalition force action. i know its not a simple issue, but these things are the direct and foreseeable consequence of the invasion, and so its our fault as the invaders, not saddam hussein's. of course, there's a time and place for protecting the helpless and innocent from tyrants, but the invasion of iraq was never about that (except in history-rewriting hindsight). may god have mercy on george w bush, tony blair and john howard for the innocent blood on their hands, and the rest of us citizens of the 'coalition of the willing' for not doing more to stop the madness.
 
the world is not black and white, and no child will ever grow up free from harm of some sort, but as their elders and protectors, its our responsibility to do all we can to minimise this harm, to the best of our knowledge and ability.