Iraq sanctions, Hiroshima bombing recalled in ceremonies in Houston,  around world
By ED ASHER
Copyright 2000 Houston Chronicle

On the 10th anniversary of economic sanctions against Iraq and the 55th
anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima, Americans and Japanese marked
the
events in separate ceremonies.

In Houston, about 50 people gathered in Hermann Park on Sunday to
protest
what they called the U.S. government's complicity in the deaths of
hundreds
of thousands of innocent civilians in Iraq.

The tolling of a lone bell and then the voices of singing children in
Hiroshima, Japan, marked the day 55 years ago that the United States
unleashed "hell on earth" on the people of Hiroshima.

In Washington, D.C., an estimated 3,000 people braved driving rain to
vent
their frustration with the United States, Britain and other Western
powers,
which led international efforts 10 years ago to impose sweeping U.N.
sanctions against Iraq after its invasion of Kuwait.

The Houston group marked the events with a presentation of origami
peace
cranes Houston children had made.

"We can't live comfortably with the knowledge we have," said Herbert
Rothschild Jr., coordinator of the Houston chapter of Peace Action. "No
amount of material glitter or temptation can put us at ease when we
know
this nation is inflicting unnecessary horror on other people and
threatening
anybody who stands in our way with the same.

"We are determined to impose our will on the whole world so the wealth
of
the world flows into our coffers on our terms, no matter how much
people who
own those resources suffer," he said.

Continued sanctions against Iraq give the United States an excuse to
maintain a "massive" military presence in the region to ensure the flow
of
oil to this country, Rothschild said.

Because of the sanctions, Iraq has been unable to rebuild its water and
sewage systems, which has led to widespread disease, he said.

The group that gathered at the park claims the sanctions are
responsible for
the deaths of 5,000 to 8,000 Iraqi civilians per month.

The suicide rate among men also has increased, said Selina Ahmed, a
professor at Texas Southern University.

"The suicide rate is very high in Iraq," Ahmed said. "When men cannot
take
care of their family, they feel they are not fulfilling their religious
and
moral obligations to their family. There are no jobs available to care
for
the family. As a result, more men are dying or committing suicide.

"I want to raise awareness in our community that we are going in the
wrong
direction. I hope in a small way to inspire people to see what is the
right
thing to do for Iraq."

Similar protests were held across the country.

The ceremony in Hiroshima included 60 seconds of silent prayer
commencing at
8:15 a.m. -- the moment that a U.S. B-29 bomber dropped an atomic bomb
on
the city Aug. 6, 1945.

"It has been precisely 55 years since one single atomic bomb created a
hell
on earth," Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba said in the city's annual peace
declaration. "Unfortunately, our most fervent hope, to see nuclear
weapons
abolished by the end of this century, has not been realized."

Fifteen hundred doves were released into the sky at the ceremony, which
is
televised nationally every year. Three hundred children sang a song of
peace.

The bomb killed about 140,000 people. Three days later, the United
States
dropped a second atomic bomb on Nagasaki, Japan, killing 70,000 people.
Japan surrendered Aug. 15, 1945, ending World War II.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.