Is the U.S. planning to resume bombing?

              The Blade
              August 19, 2000

              An Aug. 8 wire service article correctly reported that 250 demonstrators in
              Washington protested the systematic killing of Iraqi children by U.S.
              sanctions. The resisters called the policy "Holocaust II," referring to the
              nearly 2 million deaths resulting from 10 years of sanctions. However, the
              report's oft-repeated rationale for the United States' continuation of
              sanctions - Hussein's intransigence - is incorrect.

              Although the inspections were actually in violation of Iraq's sovereignty,
              the Iraqi government did allow them - for eight years - even though the
              United States knew that 80 per cent of Iraq's weapons were dismantled after
              the Gulf War, and that Iraq had no means to make a nuclear weapon, much less
              deliver one.

              It was the United States, after all, that had been supplying Iraq with
              weapons for years before declaring war against it. Iraq, which has never
              bombed the United States, has been made defenseless against incessant
              attacks by us. The further irony is that many of the "weapons inspectors"
              were later discovered to be CIA agents seeking sensitive sights for future
              bombing.

              In November, 1998, the inspectors were recalled - not by Iraq - but by the
              State Department, as it was indeed preparing resumption of full-scale
              bombing. This is verified by chief inspector Scott Ritter. And the United
              States has been bombing ever since that time, almost daily, regularly
              killing innocent Iraqi citizens, including children.

              The latest fear of the Washington protesters is that this administration -
              worried about Al Gore's poor standing in the polls - is planning yet another
              full-scale bombing campaign this fall in order to "show muscle." The media's
              misleading accusations against an already suffering Iraq are sadly becoming
              more prevalent lately as if to lay the groundwork for yet another massive
              assault.
 

              ANNE ABOWD
              Brookside Drive