November 15, 2000, Wednesday METROPOLITAN EDITION

              SECTION: CITY; Pg. 2 ;MARY SANCHEZ

              LENGTH: 694 words

              HEADLINE: Despite Saddam Hussein, Iraq's people can't be ignored

              BYLINE: MARY SANCHEZ

              BODY:
              The first time I wrote about Iraq, I was frustrated. The second   time my editor was shocked.

              For even educated Americans know little of Iraq's current   situation, nearly 10 years after the Persian Gulf
              War. To many of us   it is little more than a target for our hatred of the evil Saddam   Hussein. Our
              conversations about Iraq are mired in the rhetoric of   war - fly zones, stealth bombers, surgical strikes and
              cruise   missiles.

              We distance ourselves from war's long-term effects.

              Here's a conservative estimate, based on UNICEF studies and other   reports: In this country of 23 million
              people, 2,000 to 3,000   children younger than 5 years old are dying ach month. The reason is   largely the
              U.S.-imposed economic sanctions limiting the sale of   necessities to Iraq, including many medical supplies,
              mechanisms to   purify water, construction materials. Remember, we bombed Iraq in
              1990, obliterating sewage systems, water treatment plants, hospitals, the infrastructures that allow people
              to live in good health.

              Without such things, raw sewage gathers in the streets, water is   contaminated. Remember hearing about
              the "Gulf War Syndrome,"   mysterious ailments suffered by soldiers who fought in Iraq? If   military
              people are so affected from their relatively short exposure   to bombs and toxins, think about what is
              happening to people who live   there, the babies who were born there. Abnormally high cancer rates   are
              a concern among many.

              But it is hard to get people to listen to these issues. Last   weekend proved that fact to three south Kansas
              City women.

              Stepsisters Safa and Rasheeda Abdur-Rahim and Sakeena Abdul-Haqq   organized Kansas City's portion
              of a national protest.

              It was billed as a National Day of Silence for the Children of   Iraq. The women, all students at Johnson
              County Community College,   contacted the local media, sent out fliers, made phone calls to   television
              stations, this newspaper.

              No one showed up. The silent protest dissolved into an exercise   of preaching to the choir, discussions
              and prayer among other   already-informed Muslims.

              "Civilians are suffering," said Sakeena Abdul-Haqq. "There are   people dying of curable diseases and if
              the sanctions are kept up, it   will continue to have drastic outcomes."

              She is not alone in her criticism.

              Denis Halliday, a former United Nations assistant secretary   general, is often quoted with this statement:
              "We are in the process   of destroying an entire society. It is as simple and terrifying as   that. It is illegal
              and immoral."

              Many people like to point the finger back at Hussein. He is evil.   He causes pain to his own people and
              those in other countries. But   why is that a justification for the United States' actions? Isn't it   obvious the
              sanctions haven't weakened his power?

              American Muslims tend to be supportive of
              possibly-President-elect Bush, believing he may be more open to using   other, less lethal, means to
              pressure Hussein. America does have a   reason to be interested in Iraq. For Americans, Iraq won't go
              away.   We do have oil concerns here, and Hussein's retaliative hatred for   the Kurds and Shiite Muslims
              should offend our national sense of   justice.

              Last weekend's protest coincided with Veterans Day. The   demonstrators here and in other cities wanted
              to link the war's   longtime effects with efforts to honor our nation's soldiers.

              The first time I wrote about Iraq I had been assigned to cover a   homecoming rally for soldiers shortly
              after the Gulf War ended.   People lined the streets of Kansas City, Kan., with flags, signs and   banners.

              Hundreds attended. Yet I had trouble finding anyone knowledgeable   enough to quote. Most wanted to
              spout slurs about what our troops had   done to "those camel jockeys."

              Several years later, I wrote of the sanctions' effects on Iraqi   children, after a local Muslim leader visited
              there.

              My editor read the piece and decried, "But this sounds like a   genocide!"

              Yes, and it continues today.

              To reach Mary Sanchez, minority affairs reporter, call (816)
              234-4752 or send e-mail to msanchez@k...

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