On Wed, 2 Aug 2000 23:26:29 -0500 (CDT) MichaelP <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
And the bombings go on - as do the sanctions and the starvation
MichaelP
[Does anyone in Washington/London remember the
"do-as-you-would-be-done-by" concept. Or is it - that in the New World
Order there are the "doers" and the "done" and there is no plan to switch
roles ?
Cheers
MichaelP
==============
GUARDIAN (London) Wednesday August 2, 2000
Time to see the truth about ourselves and Iraq
Denis J Halliday
** Denis J Halliday, a visiting professor at Swarthmore college in
Pennsylvania, is a former UN assistant secretary general and UN
humanitarian coordinator in Iraq 1997-98
Here we are in the middle of the millennium year and we are responsible
for genocide in Iraq. Saddam Hussein certainly gave Bush and Thatcher a
gift when he invaded Kuwait in 1990. He facilitated the opening of the
much-needed respectability of a UN umbrella for a US-led alliance to
destroy Iraq.
Why? Because despite the costly debacle of the war with Iran, Saddam
Hussein remained the only Arab head of state capable of providing Arab
leadership and resistance to neo-colonial US/UK and western domination of
the Middle East, and its oil.
The war was always about controlling oil supplies, and never really about
Kuwait. But Saddam's invasion of Kuwait, in breach of international law,
provided the opportunity for showing American military muscle, damaged by
the Vietnam defeat; for experimentation with depleted uranium; and for the
destruction of Iraq, combined with impoverishment of the rich Arab world .
All of us that live in the silent democracies are responsible for
sustained genocide in Iraq. Today the prime minister, Tony Blair, is on
the defensive on a range of largely domestic issues. He does not appear to
be on the defensive over genocide. His unending endorsement of the
Clinton/Albright programme for killing the children of Iraq is seldom
mentioned.
Have decision-makers learned nothing from the Pinochet humiliation? Or do
they still feel immune under international law for crimes against
humanity?
What does that say about us all? Does it say that, after 10 long
decimating years of the UN economic embargo on the people of Iraq, we
simply do not care? We do not care when Unicef reports that 5,000 children
under five years old die each month unnecessarily from embargo-related
deprivation. And Unicef does not count the teenagers, the adults and the
aged that die.
Do we not care that the UN allies, in breach of Geneva conventions,
destroyed the lives of civilians through direct bombing and destruction of
electric power capabilities, clean water systems, sanitation and health
care?
Do we not care that Iraqi society, culture and learning, rooted in the
cities of Mesopotamia, is dying alongside its people? Are we really that
racist? Are we really that anti-Islamic? Could Britain stand by and watch
the same holocaust within a white Christian state?
What can be done? Why not set aside US propaganda and demonisation and do
a Nixon to China, or a Clinton-Putin outreach to Pyongyang - ie,
communicate. Begin to understand what is happening in Iraq, and begin
perhaps to influence change and better relations within the Middle East.
Why not address the concerns of the Kuwaiti and Saudi leadership, who fear
a resurgence of Iraqi regional ambition, by encouraging their political
collaboration with Baghdad? At the same time ease fears through control of
purchasing by, and sales to, Iraq of offensive weapons of mass or other
forms of destruction. Demand the removal of weapons of mass destruction
from the region, including Israel, as in the US-drafted paragraph 14 of UN
Resolution 687.
Critically, end the economic embargo and allow the Iraqi economy to
resurface. End malnutrition and high child mortality rates. Get people
back to work. Re-establish the dinar and its purchasing power. Repair the
power, water and urban sewage systems. Rebuild agricultural production,
health care and education.
End the killing now. Remove any excuse that Baghdad has today for the
ongoing catastrophe. End human rights abuses by the UN via the embargo.
Demand an end to civil and political rights abuses by Baghdad.
Acknowledge we have reduced the Iraqis to refugees in their own country,
being fed inadequately despite use of their own oil revenues.
Let us not be blinded by wasteful expenditures on palaces or luxury cars.
Should we expect a higher standard in Iraq when the UK spends millions of
pounds on a dome while British people are homeless and hungry?
Let us be honest. We do not care for democracy in the Middle East as much
too threatening to that oil cow Saudi Arabia and its offspring Kuwait.
Admit the US/UK governments want country stability so that they can invest
profitably and be sure of oil but regional instability so that demand for
arms manufacturing and sales is sustained.
Let us invest in people and peaceful coexistence in the world, including
the Middle East. Let's rally around the world as the one small threatened
unit it is today, just as the Iraqis have rallied around Saddam Hussein
under western attack.
Let us recognise the calamity of the US/UK- driven UN economic embargo on
Iraq. Calamitous not only for Iraq and its people, but for us all,
including the very survival of the UN itself as a credible instrument for
peace and security.
Let us take some risks. Let us even remain ultimately self-serving and yet
visionary - by responding to such global crises as Africa, global poverty,
HIV-Aids, the environment, globalisation ills - the things that really
matter, while allowing the children of Iraq to live.
==============
AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE
Former UN arms "spy" returns to Baghdad sites, aims to de-demonize Iraq
BAGHDAD, July 29 (AFP) -
Former UN arms inspector and US Marine Scott Ritter, once branded a CIA
spy by Iraq, visited suspected weapons sites on Saturday to prepare a
documentary film at Baghdad's invitation.
Ritter told the official news agency INA he aimed to "de-demonize" Iraq
and help achieve a breakthrough towards a lifting of decade-old sanctions
linked to disarmament.
Members of his team said that Ritter, on the first day of his assignment,
already visited four sites in the Iraqi capital that had previously been
subject to UN inspection.
"There has been a lot of what I call irresponsible speculation about what
Iraq is doing today now that weapons inspectors are not in Iraq," said
Ritter, warning that a new UN inspection regime was "doomed to fail".
"I think what we plan to do with this documentary film will go a long way
toward de-demonizing Iraq in the eyes of the American people and in the
eyes of the European people," he said.
Saddam has agreed to provide Ritter and a documentary film crew access to
weapons facilities throughout the country, the Washington Post newspaper
reported on July 27.
"My personal feeling is that Iraq is qualitatively disarmed and
theSecurity Council should reassess its position," Ritter, whose intrusive
inspections often provoked incidents, told the paper.
Ritter, in what the Post described as a "bizarre turnaround", said he was
also hoping to secure a rare interview with Saddam.
The 38-year-old former Marine captain, whom Iraq accused of spying for the
US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), resigned in August 1998 citing lack
of UN and US support for his tough disarmament methods.
And in November of the same year he urged Washington to target Saddam to
force Baghdad to resume cooperation with UN weapons inspectors.
But last month in London, Ritter called for UN sanctions, which were
slapped on Iraq for invading Kuwait in 1990, to be lifted.
"The fact is Iraq no longer possesses these weapons of mass destruction,"
said the former inspector, whom Baghdad dubbed a "cowboy" during his UN
career. "It is time for the world body to do what is right, to do what is
just."
The United Nations evacuated its weapons inspectors from Iraq in December
1998 on the eve of a US-British air war launched to punish Baghdad for
reneging on promises to cooperate with inspectors.
Iraq has since vowed never to allow their return, although a UN resolution
has offered a renewable suspension of sanctions in exchange of full Iraqi
cooperation with a new UN arms control panel, UNMOVIC.
Ritter told INA that resolution 1284, passed in December, was
"unfortunately doomed to fail. It was designed to perpetuate sanctions ...
I don't think UNMOVIC as currently mandated has a chance to succeed."
The Security Council must "redefine Iraq's disarmament obligation and will
have to give a promise of the assurance of the lifting of sanctions should
Iraq agree to allow weapons inspectors back in," he said.
Ritter said his aim was "to initiate some action to break through this
impasse".
He also plans to interview Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tareq Aziz and Oil
Minister Amer Rashid, and visit existing and destroyed weapon facilities
to investigate charges that Iraq is developing new viral warfare agents.
The Washington Post said that "US officials contend Ritter is naively
allowing himself to be used by Baghdad to further its efforts to
reconstitute its weapon programmes."
_________________________________________________________________
====================
GUARDIAN (London) Tuesday August 1, 2000
Sands of time erode support for sanctions
Tomorrow is the anniversary of Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait. Iraq
is still paying the price, and it is rising
Ewen MacAskill, Brian Whitaker and Jonathan Steele
Saddam Hussein began the Gulf war 10 years ago tomorrow when he launched
his forces across the desert into Kuwait. Officially, the war ended seven
months later with the liberation of Kuwait. Yet last week British and US
planes were in action over northern and southern Iraq, as they have been
for the past year and were the year before that.
"There is a sortie going on at the moment in the north and there is an
engagement," a British commander said last week, describing how Iraqi
anti-aircraft batteries locked on to a British jet.
To him it was a routine day, one of many in a conflict which is
under-reported, mainly because Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, which provide the
bases, do not want too much attention drawn to it.
Iraq claims that more than 300 civilians were killed in raids in the past
two years. The US and Britain, which send planes over Iraq on average
every second day, insist that most of those listed as civilians were
soldiers manning anti-aircraft weapons.
British and US ships are also in the Gulf, trying - largely unsuccessfully
- to police the embargo imposed on Iraq, the toughest sanctions regime in
history.
What has been achieved by 10 years of war and sanctions? President Saddam,
63, is still in power, presiding over a police state with one of the worst
human rights records in the world.
The 30-country coalition raised against him is falling apart as the Gulf
states and others normalise their relations with Iraq. The sanctions are
increasingly difficult to maintain. Iraq's borders with Jordan, Syria,
Turkey and Iran are porous. Trade is increasing. Eighty countries plan to
attend the Baghdad trade fair in November.
Because of the sanctions' impact on civilians, the US and Britain face
moral disapproval from a growing alliance of organisations as diverse as
the Italian parliament and the Church of England.
To those with money, just about anything is available in Baghdad's shops.
The rest of Iraqi society is struggling, caught between President Saddam's
tyranny and the implacable attitude of the US and Britain. Education is
suffering as children drop out in droves. Income has been slashed. Iraq,
which once boasted one of the best health services in the Middle East, now
has one of the worst.
Children have suffered disproportionately. Unesco estimates that half a
million children have died in the past 10 years, partly as a result of
malnutrition, poor sanitation and lack of medical services.
The sanctions have left Iraq's infrastructure in an "appalling" state, the
programme director for Save the Children in northern Iraq, Peter Maxwell,
said.
"It is questionable whether the successful implementation of the UN's
humanitarian programme should be made so dependent upon progress made in
military and security matters."
Church of England representatives were horrified by social conditions in
Iraq. In a report last month they suggested that the UN should aim the
arms embargo and financial sanctions at the ruling elite. "Such an
alternative might be more effective than the current sanctions policy,
which is unlikely to yield further political dividend without creating
further suffering."
Publicly the US, the main proponent of sanctions, remains determined to
put President Saddam and his cronies on trial for war crimes. But behind
the rhetoric a change is taking place. Bill Clinton and those around him
no longer insist that sanctions cannot be lifted until President Saddam
has gone.
Iraq's moment of truth, when it will show whether it will cooperate with
the new team of UN weapons inspectors and get the sanctions suspended, is
almost at hand, according to Hans Blix, the team's Swedish chairman. If it
agrees to meet him,the conflict may be resolved. If it refuses, there will
be another standoff with the UN.
"Towards the end of August we should be ready to open up in Iraq," Mr Blix
told the Guardian. "It is not in our mandate to harass, humiliate or
provoke Iraq, and we shall not do that."
Iraq complained that the previous team (Unscom) had an open agenda which
meant that sanctions would never be lifted. Mr Blix said: "We want to be
firm but correct. We have given Iraq a marked trail towards suspension, so
there's a path they can follow."
The new team is not dominated by the west. "The complaint that Unscom was
lopsided in a western way is correct," Mr Blix said. Previous inspectors
were not recruited by the UN, as the new team is, but seconded by their
governments, and western states were more generous.
The new team is also determined to avoid the accusation that it is a tool
of western intelligence or Iraqi defectors. Iraq made this claim against
Scott Ritter, an American member of Unscom. "We will want to examine
everything with a critical eye, because there is almost as much
disinformation as there is information," Mr Blix said. "Unscom had people
with information from various groups and different channels. It's clear
Ritter had channels directly, and I don't want to accept any of that. I
want that to be under control."
Mr Blix is a former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency,
with long experience of checking nuclear safeguards in closed societies.
"They [Iraqis] may believe sanctions will crumble . . . Many ministers
have been visiting Baghdad and sympathising; but I have not seen any of
them suggesting there should be a breach of sanctions."
But the Iraqi deputy prime minister Tariq Aziz showed no sign of
conciliation when visiting Moscow last week.
"There is nothing new regarding [UN] resolution 1284, [which set up the
new team], which is still unacceptable because it does not provide any
solution to the Iraqi cause."
Despite the public intransigence on both sides, there is a 50-50 chance of
a deal. In a significant change of tone, the British foreign minister
Peter Hain provided the kind of assurances that those trying to achieve a
deal have been looking for. "Baghdad has to understand we are serious
about wanting sanctions suspended, and all that is required is for the
Iraq government to allow Blix's team in," Mr Hain said.
When that happened, details of how the suspension of sanctions might be
triggered could be discussed with the Iraqis.
He denied that US-British policy towards Iraq had been a failure. "The
biggest achievement of the strategy is to contain Saddam Hussein. That is
a very significant one. He has not invaded any country in the last 10
years."
Meanwhile, the Gulf states are re-establishing diplomatic relations with
Baghdad. Four - Bahrain, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates - have
done so this year.
If a diplomatic compromise can be agreed and sanctions are lifted, Iraq,
once one of the most economically successful countries, will take a long
time to recover. Professor Anoush Ehteshami, director of Middle East
studies at Durham University, said: "You can rebuild the infrastructure in
20 years or so, but not the people."
TURBULENT DECADE
1990 Aug 2 Iraq invades Kuwait Aug 6 UN imposes sanctions
1991 Jan 16 US-led coalition launches air war against Iraq Feb 26 Allies
retake Kuwait Feb 28 Ceasefire announced
1992 Aug 27 "No-fly" zone imposed over southern Iraq
1993 Jan 7 Allies attack missile sites and nuclear facility
1994 Nov 10 Saddam fully recognises Kuwait sovereignty
1996 Sep 4 Bill Clinton extends no-fly zone to Baghdad suburbs Nov 25 Iraq
agrees oil-for-food deal with UN
1997 Nov 13-14 Iraq expels US members of UN arms inspectorate. UN
withdraws all inspectors in protest. US and Britain build up Gulf forces
Nov 20-21 Inspectors allowed back. Iraqis have destroyed equipment
1998 Jun 24 Chief arms inspector Richard Butler says Iraq put VX nerve gas
in warheads Aug 4-20 Butler refuses to certify Iraq's weapons of mass
destruction destroyed Dec 16-19 Air strikes by US and Britain begin
1999 Jan 6 Butler denies that his team spied for US. Colleague Scott
Ritter claims US used information compiled by UN
======================
*** NOTICE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is
distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving
the included information for research and educational purposes. Feel free to
distribute widely but PLEASE acknowledge the source. ***
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The end is in the means as the tree is in the seed.
- Mahatma Ghandi
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Abraham Lincoln, letter to Wm. F. Elkins Nov. 21 1864
Arthur Shaw ed. The Lincoln Encyclopedia 40 {1950}
"We may congratulate ourselves that this cruel war is nearing
it's nd. It has cost a vast amount of treasure and
blood.........It has indeed been a trying hour for the
Republic, but I see in the near future a crisis approaching
that unnerves me and causes me to tremble for the safety
of my country. As a result of the war, corporations have been
enthroned and an era of corruption in high places will
follow, and the money power of the country will endeavor to
prolong it's reign by working on the prejudices of the
people until all wealth is aggregated in a few hands and the
Republic is destroyed. I feel at this moment more anxiety
for the safety of my country than ever before, even in the
midst of war."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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