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Did
you know?
 in Iraq, infant and child mortality
has doubled in the past 12 years
1 in 5 children in south and
central Iraq are chronically malnourished
Iraqi hospitals in areas heavily
bombed by US and UK planes during the Gulf War are full of children
dying from a cancer epidemic and many babies are born with congenital
malformations.
The
Iraqi national literacy rate has dropped 22% over the past 12 years
There continues to be
regular bombing of Iraq by the US and UK - wounding and killing Iraqi
citizens.
When
asked whether the death of 500,000 Iraqi children was worth the price
of implementing sanctions, the US Ambassador to the UN, Madeleine Albright,
said “it was worth the price”.
In
December 2002, a confidential UN document predicted a humanitarian disaster
in the event of a war on Iraq - “as many as 500,000 people could require
treatment to a greater or lesser degree as a result of direct or indirect
injuries”. The nutritional status for a further 3 million people would
be ‘dire’ and an estimated 900,000 Iraqis would become refugees.
(all figures from UN agencies)
It is time to stop punishing ordinary Iraqi people.
See
CASI for more information on the
humanitarian impact of an attack on Iraq.
See Iraqis
in Exile Against War for a public statement for Iraqis living in the
UK against an attack on Iraq.
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We campaign as a women-only
group in order to create a space in which women, from all nationalities,
feel comfortable expressing themselves and acting together. In many
ways, sanctions affect women particularly harshly - Act Together aims
to further understanding of life for women under sanctions as well as
campaigning against the devastation of Iraqi society and the humanitarian
crisis that the sanctions regime has maintained. Go to resources
for articles on the effect of sanctions on women.
We believe that:
the economic sanctions which affect ordinary Iraqis must be separated
from diplomatic and military sanctions against the regime
war is not the way to fight terrorism on a global scale, nor is it the
way to improve the plight of the Iraqi people.
Opposing sanctions is not the same as supporting
the Iraqi regime
Opposing sanctions is supporting the Iraqi people
'If
people could hear and see what is being done in their names in Iraq,
they would be outraged. But they don't, so it continues.'
John
Simpson, BBC World Affairs Editor
Why we are against war
Why we are against war Many tens of thousands
of Iraqis died during the conflict of the 1991 Gulf War - it is very
likely that death on such a scale would occur again. In addition, the
military destroyed much of the civilian infrastructure in the Gulf War,
much of it deliberate, which in turn led to many tens of thousands of
'unnecessary' deaths. Just in the first eight months of 1991, an estimated
47,000 Iraqi children died, as a consequence of the War. Aid agencies
are predicting severe wide-spread starvation if food distribution is
disrupted.
Iraq has not recovered from the destruction during the Gulf War, of
vital systems such as electricity, water and sanitation, because of
sanctions. Any further destruction in these areas would have a massive
impact on an already vulnerable population. War has also left Iraq with
the permanent impact of depleted uranium. This is causing unprecedented
numbers of cancers and malformation, particularly in the south of the
country.
Why we are against sanctions
12 years ago Iraq was a rapidly modernising state. It had good health
care and education, modern tele-communications, water treatment and
electricity systems. But it also had a dictatorial, oppressive regime
which the Iraqi people neither elected nor were able to remove from
power. Economic, military and political sanctions were imposed when
Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990 - 'the most comprehensive in history' according
to a US State Department official. 12 years later they are still in
place.
What have sanctions achieved? Far from weakening the government, sanctions
have helped it to keep control over an exhausted and desperate population.
Iraq is now one of the least developed, most damaged countries in the
world. At least half a million children under 5 have died because of
economic sanctions and countless others continue to suffer.
Goods are scarce and prices high. Disease, child mortality and malnutrition
have rocketed because food, essential medicines and clean water are
often unavailable or unaffordable.
Economic sanctions are a weapon of mass destruction.
The UN recently adopted a so-called 'smart sanctions' proposal sponsored
by the US and the UK. 'Smart sanctions' may allow more goods into the
country, but will do nothing to increase the purchasing power of ordinary
people or provide the means to reconstruct the country's shattered infrastructure. In
emphasising the two most import causes of the humanitarian crisis -
poverty and poor public infrastructure - Tun Myat, UN Humanitarian Coordinator
in Iraq said in 2002: "No matter how much you try and modify
(the existing UN humanitarian programme) it is not designed for – and
it will never be - a substitute for normal economic activity... I consider
water and sanitation to be the biggest killer of children in this country.”
Roads, power plants and sewage works were targeted in the Gulf War.
Without resources or spare parts, they remain unrepaired and have a
devastating effect on the health and well-being of Iraqi people. With
the decline in normal economic activity, there has been a huge increase
in poverty, high unemployment and very low salaries. Many people are
so poor that they have to sell part of their food ration.
The destruction of a
country
The affect of war on communities is devastating
but sanctions have also torn at the social fabric of Iraqi life: violent
crime, divorce and prostitution have all increased. Women are risking
backstreet abortions or abandoning their babies because they know they
won't be able to feed them and there has been an increase in street
children.
Iraq has also suffered an intellectual embargo. For 12 years no educational
or research materials have been allowed in and about four million Iraqis
have fled, creating a terrifying brain drain. Participation in education
at all levels has declined and the illiteracy rate has risen sharply.
"We are in the process of destroying an entire society. It is as
simple and terrifying as that. It is illegal and immoral."
Dennis Halliday, former UN Humanitarian Co-ordinator in Iraq, who resigned
his post in protest against sanctions
Any military action will result in large civilian casualties. Further
damage and disruption to the fragile infrastructure and food distribution
systems is likely to result in a humanitarian catastrophe. It’s time
to stop punishing the ordinary Iraqi people.
From a Statement from Iraqis in Exile, UK 2002.
“Real change can only
be brought about by the Iraqi people themselves within an environment
of peace and justice for all the peoples of the Middle East. A change
of this kind, combining truth and reconciliation with legal processes
of punishing offenders is being espoused all over the world. Why shouldn’t
that be the case for Iraq? We call on the UN to put together a timetable
for the lifting of the economic sanctions and do all it can to halt the
drive for war that will only plunge the region into the abyss. We also
call on everyone to challenge the dangerous and irresponsible war plans
of the US administration.”
See the full statement.
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