US Wrong On Iraqi Sanctions
              Published on Sunday, September 10, 2000 in the Milwaukee Journal

              by Waleed Najeeb and Tom Seery

              As part of a delegation on a recent fact-finding mission to Iraq, we feel compelled to respond to continued official
              support of the devastating international sanctions being imposed on the Iraqi people. This policy was outlined in
              comments made by Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, who recently visited Milwaukee to address the
              Veterans of Foreign Wars convention. Although none of us who were part of the delegation came from Iraq, all of
              us felt a need to understand the impact of the sanctions, particularly as they related to the deaths of so many of
              Iraq's children.

              Before we left, our small group expected to have our travels strictly controlled by the Iraqi regime. We found the
              exact opposite to be true.

              We delegation not only traveled freely, but we often changed our own itinerary on the spot. There were many
              times that the delegation members split up and went in different directions. This allowed us to meet more ordinary
              Iraqi citizens and delve further into their lives than we had ever expected.

              Being fluent in the language and culture allowed us to work independent of government translators and made it
              quite easy to sift through statements that were government rhetoric and those that reflected true human despair.

              UNICEF indicates that at least 300,000 Iraqi children have died from illness, hunger and disease as a result of the
              sanctions imposed after the Gulf War. This number was given as a minimum; other sources go as high as
              1.5 million Iraqis.

              The United States government believes that lifting the sanctions will not solve these problems. To the contrary, it
              would solve the most important problem, which is saving the lives of innocent children.

              The problem of Saddam Hussein has not been solved after 10 years of sanctions. We are convinced this will not
              be solved even if sanctions remain in place for another 100 years.

              Even if Hussein were to die, the Ba'ath Party ruling Iraq will come up with another person just like him, who will
              have grown up under the sanctions, developing a great hatred of the United Nations, the United States and Great
              Britain.

              Claims that the "oil-for-food" program is sufficient neglects important information. First of all, more than 34% of
              the money goes to Kuwait for war reparations and to bankroll U.N. programs, including weapon inspection.

              There also are severe problems tied to delivering the food and medicine in the country that needs them most. The
              Iraqi infrastructure has fallen apart and cannot be repaired due to the sanctions. How can you deliver food and
              medicine that needs to be refrigerated if there are no refrigerated delivery trucks and no equipment to repair
              demolished roads and bridges?

              This doesn't even begin to address the many other necessities of life that are denied the Iraqi people. How long
              could Americans endure without soap, detergent or toilet paper?

              Even if Hussein is the primary reason for the immense suffering of the Iraqi people, we cannot whitewash our own
              complicity. Nor can our responsibility be ignored. Is it humane to force the entire population of a country to teeter
              on the edge of starvation? Have sanctions ever made a good leader out of tyrant?

              The U.N. policy has backfired, giving Hussein an excuse for not allowing weapons inspectors into Iraq. An
              increasing number of critics around the world - permanent members of the U.N. security council, countless
              political figures, Nobel laureates, religious leaders - are blaming the United States for leading the genocide of Iraqi
              children.

              A lack of creativity in finding other ways to contain Hussein does not justify continuing an ineffective and immoral
              policy that is creating a whole set of long-term problems, not only for the Iraqi people, but also for the entire
              world.

              Iraq does not have 23 million Husseins. There is only one. But there are 23 million innocent victims. The sanctions
              must be lifted now. The price being paid is definitely not worth it.

              Waleed Najeeb is a physician from Mequon and Tom Seery is program director for Peace-Action Wisconsin, a
              group that traveled to Iraq on a fact-finding mission that was reported in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinelearlier this
              summer.

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