The Other War
With the war in Yugoslavia dominating the news, we should not forget that
the United States government is also still actively engaged in a second
bloody and horrific war, in Iraq. The destruction created by U.S. bombings
-- and especially, the brutal sanctions -- have been utterly devastating to
the innocent civilians of that country, who have no say in the policies of
Saddam Hussein.
During the 1991 Gulf War, U.S. bombs completely
wrecked Iraq's entire civilian infrastructure -- including electric, water,
health, education, sanitation and sewage systems. And the subsequent
sanctions have prevented the rebuilding of these crucial life-and-death
necessities.
The results have been nightmarish. Hospitals lack even the most basic
equipment and supplies. The embargo even bars chlorine for purifying water.
In 1989 there wasn't a single case of cholera in Iraq. Now there are
thousands. Anguished Iraqi pediatricians cannot prevent infants from dying
from diarrhea and other easily treatable conditions. Small infections become
life-threatening ailments, especially for the young, elderly, sick, and poor.
UNICEF estimates that more than 500,000 children under
age five have died from lack of access to food, medicine, and safe water.
That's right, half a million tiny children dying as a result of U.S. policy.
(Some put the figure considerably higher.) Perhaps a million or more Iraqis
of all ages have died. Millions more are suffering from illness,
malnutrition, lack of education, severe poverty, and other achievements of
the sanctions. About one in four children are chronically malnourished.
UNICEF estimates 250 Iraqis die every day due to the sanctions.
There is no indication that any of this has weakened Saddam Hussein's hold
on the country.
In 1996, ''60 Minutes'' asked then-Ambassador Madeleine Albright if
the price of 'containing' Saddam Hussein was worth the deaths of more
children than were killed in Hiroshima. She replied that it was 'a very hard
choice,' but 'we think the price is worth it.'"
( Sources: "A new policy needed for Iraq" by Denis J. Halliday and Jennifer
E. Horan, Boston Globe, March 22. // Charley Reese: "U.S. Inhumanity." //
Iraq Action Coalition. Much more information on the Iraq war, as well as the
Yugoslavian war, can be found at the excellent Web site of the Committee
Against U.S. Intervention:
http://www.antiwar.com
The site includes
viewpoints from liberals, conservatives, and libertarians.)
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