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Politics : DON'T START THE WAR -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Raymond Duray who wrote (12269)	2/24/2003 1:20:17 AM
From: PartyTime	Respond to of 25898

Iraqis live on, despite war threat By John Kerin, Baghdad February 24, 2003 FOR the people of Baghdad, the sign of approaching war is not one of troops and sandbags in the streets. The roads are full of civilians, the traffic throbs and building sites are humming. No, pointers to war are the regular announcements of new concessions from Saddam Hussein and the presence of Miss Germany, Alexandra Vodjanikova, who after winning her title on January 19 nominated the Iraqi leader as the head of state she would most like to meet. On the streets of Baghdad, many believe US President George W. Bush has already made up his mind to attack their country with or without UN approval. Not surprisingly, they cite Iraq's vast oil reserves and not Hussein's 12-year defiance of UN attempts to disarm him as the reason for the looming invasion. "I think there will be war no matter what happens at the UN," one said. Another, speaking at a soccer friendly between a group of human shields from Barcelona and a local university team, asks why "your John Howard keeps supporting the US so strongly?". In some ways the Iraqis believe they are better prepared for the onslaught than in 1991; they have been promised six months' supply of flour, rice and sugar, wells are being drilled and generators have been installed. In a country where 18 months of military service is compulsory, each household has been encouraged to keep at least six loaded guns handy. With military training under way out in the desert, on the surface people in Baghdad are getting on with their lives. People are out shopping, wedding entourages wind their way through the city, traffic bustles along the boulevards and the wealthy are frequenting restaurants and nightspots. The prospect of bombardment is defied in a flurry of construction. New suburbs are being built as well as, not to be forgotten, the Saddam the Great mosque, which promises to be the largest in the Middle East when it is completed in 2008. Iraqis take seriously the arrival of human shields and celebrities such as Vodjanikova. Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz met the team from Barcelona last week, and Miss Germany toured the 300-bed Al-Mansour children's hospital, where she met children suffering from leukemia and other cancers. "Do all you can to stop another war for the sake of the children," says the hospital's director, Luay Kasha. The Iraqis say children die needlessly because health authorities cannot get costly chemotherapy drugs because of economic sanctions imposed after the Gulf War. The US says this is because, for domestic propaganda purposes, Hussein has not fully used his entitlements under the UN oil-for-food and medicine program. And in a country where patriotic songs stream from the TV and radio, there is, of course, scant acknowledgement that Hussein's full co-operation with UN weapons inspectors could bring an end to the sanctions and avert the war that promises to create another generation of maimed and diseased children. theaustralian.news.com.au