Defending Saddam's good name?
Claims that Saddam Hussein has withheld food and medicine from his people are complete garbage:
Here are some Iraqi's who disagree with you:
iraqifd.org
... liberated area outside Saddam’s control is doing a lot better than Iraq. Hospitals receive medical supplies; shops receive food despite the difficult circumstances that surrounds this region. Why is the mortality rate among children living under the Opposition much lower than the ones living under Saddam, despite the extremely limited resources available to Kurdistan-Iraq? Wouldn’t this lead us to deduct that Saddam is misusing Iraq’s funds for building his palaces and rebuilding his military program? ...
iraqifd.org
Dear Sir/Madam
I am an Iraqi-American currently residing in Long Beach California. I recently received news about your upcoming National Week of Action to protest the sanctions against Iraq (April 25th through May 1st). To investigate your planned activities, I visited your web page. I was disheartened to find out that none of the planned activities are designed to put the spot light on Saddam and his regime and to highlight their portion of the responsibility for the plight and continued misery of the Iraqi people.
While your efforts to remove the sanctions against Iraq are to be commended, it is also your responsibility to highlight Saddam's regime responsibility for the continuation of the sanctions. All one hears is that nine years of sanctions have not removed Saddam and therefore the sanctions are not working. I don't hear that seven of the nine years were directly caused by the irresponsible actions of the Iraqi Government. It is the Iraqi Government you need to remember to denounce. The UN had nothing to do with it. On the contrary, the UN has been trying harder to help feed the Iraqi people. There are numerous reports that indicate that the Iraqi regime is keeping food and medicine out of the hands of ordinary Iraqis. Food stuffs and medicine is hoarded and given to the supporters and sympathizers but is denied to those who need it most, as these are invariably the oppressed masses of Iraqis in the South and North.
Furthermore, the misery of the Iraqi people predated the UN sanctions by decades. Immediately after Saddam Hussein took over the presidency in July of 1979, he initiated an ethnic cleansing program aimed at Iraqi Shiites by confiscating their property, based on the claim that they are not pure Arabs and have Persian blood, a system similar to that adopted by the Nazis to segregate the Jews from German society. Entire families were uprooted (approximately 250,000 Iraqis) and deported. During the eighties, Saddam committed genocide against Iraqi Kurds by destroying their villages; bombarding entire areas with chemical weapons (the eleventh anniversary of this atrocity in the City of Halabcha was in March 99); and executing many. It is estimated by UN sources that approximately 182,000 civilians were annihilated under the "Anfal" operations. After the end of the Iraq-Iran war, the government of Iraq embarked on yet another genocide in the South, this time against the Marsh Arabs under the guise of irrigation development. About 100,000 Iraqi civilians were affected with their water poisoned and their villages bombarded. Many were executed trying to escape.
Instead of investing the country's wealth in education, social programs, agriculture and industry, the government of Iraq chose to waste billions of dollars on military hardware and armament. The huge military expense was later translated into military aggression against neighboring Iran and Kuwait, resulting in death and destruction for millions of people of the area. That is besides the abuses of political, religious and human rights within Iraq itself.
The government of Iraq uses the UN sanctions to further inflict harm on the Iraqi people by deliberately withholding food and medicine donated by international organizations for Iraq and by foot-dragging in implementing the oil-for-food program. They are using the plight of the Iraqi people as arguments to lift the entire sanctions program. They care not a bit about feeding the people, what they want most is additional income to finance their war machine.
I urge you to continue your work towards lifting the economic sanctions against the Iraqi people, but I also urge you to work towards maintaining a diplomatic and military embargo against the Iraqi regime. Just saying that the Iraqi people are hurting from the UN sanctions is half the truth. The other missing half that needs to be said, is that Iraqis are paying the price for Saddam's foolish and risky policies. It is the irresponsible actions of Saddam and his regime that caused the UN sanctions to be imposed in the first place.
I hope that this makes matters clearer for you and ask you to take all the above into consideration when making your points in public on the issue of the sanctions. It is only when all the aspects of this tragedy are highlighted that a picture emerges which can be seen clearly by all, Saddam was, is and remains the downfall of Iraq and the root of it's peoples suffering.
Sincerely,
Azzam Alwash, Ph.D.
iraqifd.org
March 27, 1999
Harriet Griffin
Research Assistant
Environmental Change Unit
University of Oxford
Dear Ms. Griffin,
We, The Iraqi Forum for Democracy (IFD), an International Organisation promoting democracy for Iraq, would like to raise your attention to some matters of serious concern to us and Iraqis in general.
There have been many occasions lately in which people like yourselves and others concerned with the plight of Iraqi civilians have spoken against the UN sanctions on Iraq.
In March of this year, a 23 - City National tour took place in the USA in which speakers focused on the plight of the Iraqi people under UN sanctions.
More recently, in Georgetown University, a presentation titled "What is Happening in Iraq?" was held with speakers like Father Sam Sara SJ, H.E. Bishop Thomas Gumbleton, Detroit, The Honourable Edward Peck, former US Ambassador to Iraq, Dr. Peter Pellet, University of Massachusetts, UN finding Mission, Dr. Leila Richards, UNICEF, Ms. Kathy Kelly, Voices in the Wilderness, and Mr. Nabil Mijalli, ADC. It was reported that the atmosphere was against the Sanctions but Pro Saddam, the Ambassador reportedly suggested that the USA hold a dialogue with Saddam and start a relationship with his regime! An eye witness to the presentation said "If Nizar Hamdoon (Iraq's ex Ambassador to the UN) was there himself he could not have done a better job for Saddam".
Mr. Denis Halliday has participated in many such events. Here is a quote from one "Four thousand to 5,000 children are dying unnecessarily every month due to the impact of sanctions. We are in the process of destroying an entire society. It is as simple and terrifying as that."
We are heartened that there are people out there who care about the plight of the Iraqi people. However, based on the record to date, it is our opinion that only one side of the story is being told. It is imperative that the root of the problem in Iraq be discussed and not just the embargo.
Most audiences in the West do not even know that the Iraqi government refused to implement the current oil-for-food program until March 1997. By refusing to implement the oil-for-food program, the sanctions were effectively imposed by the Iraqi government (not the UN) form August 1990 through March 1997.
The history of the program goes back to a point shortly after the Gulf War. The original sanctions resolution, which was adopted by the Security Council immediately after Iraq's invasion of Kuwait (Resolution 661, 6 August 1990), allowed Iraq to import food and medicine without restriction. Since Iraq was prohibited from selling oil, it lacked the foreign exchange necessary to buy these items. Prior to the sanctions, Iraq depended on the sale of oil for 85% of its foreign exchange.
On 15 August 1991, the Security Council adopted Resolution 706 which provided for the sale of up to 1.6 billion dollars worth of oil every 180 days. The program was dependent on Iraq's co-operation, since Iraq would have to produce the oil and would have to be involved in the distribution of the food and medicine. The government of Iraq refused to accept Resolution 706 and three and-a-half years went by during which Iraq was pressed to accept some alternative scheme.
Eventually, on 14 April 1995, the Security Council adopted Resolution 986 which Iraq, after more months of hesitation, accepted in the latter part of 1996. Under Resolution 986, which is currently in effect, Iraq is permitted to sell up to 5.256 billion dollars worth of oil every 180 days. The first proceeds of the sale of oil were deposited in the UN’s “Iraq Escrow account” on 15 January 1997. The first shipment of humanitarian commodities entered Iraq on 20 March 1997.
All we hear is that Nine years of sanctions have not removed Saddam and therefore the sanctions are not working. We don't hear that Seven of the Nine years were directly caused by the irresponsible actions of the Iraqi Government. It is the Iraqi Government you need to remember to denounce. The UN had nothing to do with it. On the contrary, the UN has been trying harder to help feed the Iraqi people. There are numerous reports that indicate that the Iraqi regime is keeping food and medicine out of the hands of ordinary Iraqis. Food stuffs and medicine is hoarded and given to the supporters and sympathisers but is denied to those who need it most, as these are invariably the oppressed masses of Iraqis in the South and North.
Furthermore, the misery of the Iraqi people predated the UN sanctions by decades. Immediately after Saddam Hussein took over the presidency in July of 1979, he initiated an ethnic cleansing program aimed at Iraqi Shiites by confiscating their property, based on the claim that they are not pure Arabs and have Persian blood, a system similar to that adopted by the Nazis to segregate the Jews from German society. Entire families were uprooted (approximately 250,000 Iraqis) and deported. During the eighties, Saddam committed genocide against Iraqi Kurds by destroying their villages; bombarding entire areas with chemical weapons (we just recently passed the eleventh anniversary of this atrocity in the City of Halabcha); and executing many. It is estimated by UN sources that approximately 182,000 civilians were annihilated under the "Anfal" operations. After the end of the Iraq-Iran war, the government of Iraq embarked on yet another genocide in the South, this time against the Marsh Arabs under the guise of irrigation development. About 100,000 Iraqi civilians were affected with their water poisoned and their villages bombarded. Many were executed trying to escape.
Instead of investing the country's wealth in education, social programs, agriculture and industry, the government of Iraq chose to waste billions of dollars on military hardware and armament. The huge military expense was later translated into military aggression against neighbouring Iran and Kuwait, resulting in death and destruction for millions of people of the area. That is besides the abuses of political, religious and human rights within Iraq itself.
The government of Iraq uses the UN sanctions to further inflict harm on the Iraqi people by deliberately withholding food and medicine donated by international organisations for Iraq and by foot-dragging in implementing the oil-for-food program. They are using the plight of the Iraqi people as arguments to lift the entire sanctions program. They care not a bit about feeding the people, what they want most is additional income to finance their war machine.
We urge you to continue your work towards lifting the economic sanctions against the Iraqi people, but we also urge you to work towards maintaining a diplomatic and military embargo against the Iraqi regime. Just saying that the Iraqi people are hurting from the UN sanctions is half the truth. The other missing half that needs to be said, is that Iraqis are paying the price for Saddam's foolish and risky policies. It is the irresponsible actions of Saddam and his regime that caused the UN sanctions to be imposed in the first place.
We hope that this makes matters clearer for you and ask you to take all the above into consideration when making your points in public on the issue of the sanctions. It is only when all the aspects of this tragedy are highlighted that a picture emerges which can be seen clearly by all, Saddam was, is and remains the downfall of Iraq and the root of it's peoples suffering.
Sincerely,
Muhannad Eshaiker,
President |
