A-Infos (en) Sanctions killing Iraqis - Eyewitness report

[Platformist Anarchism <platform@geocities.com>]

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Seven years of the most comprehensive sanctions in 
modern history have reduced Iraq and its people to utter 
destitution.  The UN reported in December of 1995 that 
more than one million Iraqis have died --567,OOO of them 
children -- as a consequence of economic sanctions

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IRAQ: AS THE PEOPLE SUFFER
 By Rick McDowell
CATHOLIC WORKER MAGAZINE - Jan/Feb 1998

"The hidden nature of the war being waged against 
Iraq is tragic. Editorials seldom appear, and we see 
no front-page stories, even though these sanctions 
have caused the deaths of more than one million 
people, constituting one of the greatest human rights 
abuses of our time."
  Bishop Thomas Gumbleton

When I returned to Iraq in late May of 1997, nearly 
six months since the implementation of UN Resolution 
986 ("Oil for Food"), I expected to see improvements 
in the availability of food and medicine. I found, 
instead, a deterioration of all conditions necessary 
for the sustenance of life. Traveling to Iraq for the 
third time in nine months, I encountered a resigned 
hopelessness amongst the people, a population 
historically known for its resilience.

Seven years of the most comprehensive sanctions in 
modern history have reduced Iraq and its people to 
utter destitution. The United Nations Security 
Council's economic sanctions, invoked only ten times 
since the inception of the United Nations, and 
applied eight times since the end of the Cold War, 
constitute an extension of the devastating Allied 
bombing campaign of 1991.

For the 6th time since January of 1991 a delegation 
from Voices in the Wilderness, a campaign to end the 
US-supported UN economic sanctions against Iraq, 
traveled to Iraq in public violation of US law. The 
delegation visited hospitals in Baghdad and the 
southern port city of Basra. Members met the UN and 
relief officials, doctors, government workers, 
religious leaders, and Iraqis from all walks of life. 
Our findings of increasing suffering, death, and 
desperation throughout Iraq are confirmed by recent 
UN reports.

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization reported in 
December of 1995 that more than one million Iraqis 
have died --567,OOO of them children -- as a direct 
consequence of economic sanctions. UNICEF reports 
that 4,500 children under the age of five are dying 
each month from hunger and disease. An April 1997 
nutritional survey, carried out by UNICEF with the 
participation of the World Food Program (WFP) and 
Iraq's Minister of Health, indicates that in 
Central/Southern Iraq 27.5% of Iraq's three million 
children are now at risk of acute malnutrition. To 
date, more children have died in Iraq than the 
combined toll of two atomic bombs on Japan and the 
ethnic cleansing of former Yugoslavia.

The UN's Department of Humanitarian Affairs reports 
that Iraq's public health services are nearing a 
total breakdown from a lack of basic medicines, 
lifesaving drugs and essential medical supplies. The 
lack of clean water -- 50% of all rural people have 
no access to potable water -- and a collapse of water 
treatment facilities in most urban areas are 
contributing to the rapidly deteriorating state of 
public health.

Airborne and waterborne diseases are on the rise, 
while deaths related to diarrhea diseases have 
tripled in an increasingly unhealthy environment. The 
World Health Organization (WHO) reports a six-fold 
increase in the mortality rate for children under 
five, an explosive rise in the incidence of endemic 
infections, such as cholera and typhoid, and a 
markedly elevated incidence of measles, poliomyelitis 
and tetanus. Malaria has reached epidemic levels. The 
WHO further states that the majority of Iraqis have 
subsisted on a semi-starvation diet for the past 
several years.

The use of depleted uranium during the Gulf War -- 
which may be a contributing factor of Gulf War 
Syndrome -- may also be linked to increases in 
childhood cancers, including leukemia, Hodgkin's 
disease, lymphomas, congenital diseases and 
deformities in fetuses, along with limb reductional 
abnormalities and increases in genetic abnormalities 
throughout Iraq.

 The vaunted "Oil for Food" resolution is a failure, 
its promise of food and medicine having proved to be 
too little, too late. According to the WFP by the end 
of May, 1997, Iraq had exported 120 million barrels 
of oil and received 692,000 metric tons of food, 29% 
of what had been expected under the deal. Of the 574 
contracts submitted to the Sanctions Committee for 
exports of humanitarian supplies to Iraq, 311 were 
approved, 191 placed on hold, 14 blocked, and 38 were 
awaiting clarification.

Of the $2 billion in Iraqi oil revenue authorized for 
a six-month period, 30% is designated for war 
reparations, 5 to 10% for UN operations, 5 to 10% 
covers maintenance and repair of the oil pipeline, 
and 15% is earmarked for humanitarian supplies for 
the Kurdish population in northern Iraq. About 
$800,000 is available for Central/ Southern Iraq or 
approximately 25c per person per day for food and 
medicine. Regardless, UN Resolution 986 does not 
provide for critically needed parts to repair Iraqi 
water sanitation and medical infrastructure, which 
was devastated during the Gulf War. The importation 
of such basic items as chlorine, fertilizers and 
pencils is prohibited. 

[unfortuanatly the article I received ends here]

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