U.N. resolution on Iraq: Continue the war but speak for peace

by MC17 and MC234

January 2000 marked the ninth anniversary of the Gulf War, the 
U.$.-led attack on Iraq which left the country's infrastructure 
devastated. Since the all out war the U.$. and its imperialist 
allies have continued regular bombings, killing Iraqis and 
destroying resources. The imperialist-imposed economic sanctions 
have caused lasting destruction to the health and well being of 
the Iraqi population.

The United Nations passed a resolution on December 17 calling for 
a suspension of the sanctions on Iraq if it cooperated with a new 
weapons inspection and disarmament plan. Iraq dismissed the 
resolution as impractical and an attack on its independence. The 
new arms inspection body, the U.N. Monitoring, Verification and 
Inspection Commission, which would replace the U.N. Special 
Commission, would be charged with dismantling Iraq's prohibited 
weapons. Iraq has not allowed U.N. weapons inspectors into the 
country since mid-December 1998 and claims that it has long been 
rid of any weapons of mass destruction.

This supposedly new committee is really just a reincarnation of 
the old commission that prolonged sanctions and ensured 
imperialist control of Iraq. Rolf Ekeus, who led the original 
commission, was even nominated to head the new commission. The 
U.$. and other leading imperialists do not want to end the war 
against Iraq until it accepts complete imperialist domination and 
becomes another good lackey in the Middle East. 

Desert Storm, the 1991 attack on Iraq, "Desert Fox", the renewed 
bombing of Iraq in December of 1998, and the on-going sanctions 
against Iraq are NOT about ensuring world democracy. All of these 
attacks on Iraq are about continuing the U$ war policy of policing 
the world and killing innocent people to ensure economic control.

Bombings continue

Since January of 1999, the u.$. and England have conducted more 
than 200 air strikes against Iraq. The UN Secretary General 
reported in February 1999 that $500 million in humanitarian aid to 
Iraq could not be funded because of lack of oil revenues. On 
February 28 the U.$. bombed two communication centers for a major 
oil pipeline.

Throughout the on-going bombings the Clinton administration has 
argued that the attacks are in self-defense. The imperialists say 
the Amerikan warplanes are defending the no-fly-zones in northern 
or southern Iraq. But these "no-fly-zones" were not established by 
a United Nations resolution or international law, nor were they 
part of the Gulf War cease-fire agreement.

The no-fly-zones were imposed by the United Snakes who claims to 
be protecting northern Kurds and southern Shiites. But the U.$. is 
silent when Turkey flies into Iraq to bomb Kurds. Turkey is an 
ally of the u.s. while the u.s. is still fighting to control 
Iraq.(1) Clearly the international policies of the UN do not 
ensure safety from imperialist militarism, but the fact that the 
U.$. makes up its own rules to fit the situation is revealing. The 
U.$. is engaging in self-defense in Iraq: self-defense of 
imperialist interests. But there is nothing democratic or 
humanitarian about bombing people because their country will not 
act as a good lackey for U.$. imperialism. 

Sanctions cause death and destruction

In the current oil for food deal authorized by the U.N., Iraq can 
sell $5.26 billion worth of oil to buy needed goods. However the 
U.$. and other countries have interfered with the importing of 
goods into Iraq and many necessities are banned in spite of the 
lack of any connection between these goods and any potential use 
for weapons. Even the UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has 
complained about the number of contracts submitted to the Security 
Council's sanctions committee that have been blocked by the 
U.$.(2)

Due to the embargo on necessities, the U.N. is now reporting that 
Iraq's oil production is likely to drop unless the Security 
Council approves contracts for equipment. Exports are likely to 
fall about 200,000 barrels a day unless the situation changes.(2) 

Secretary of State Madeleine Albright wrote an editorial in 
January in the medical journal Annals of Internal Medicine 
defending the public health effects of the embargo on Iraq.(3) 
About Saddam Hussein she wrote "there is no greater enemy to 
public health in Iraq than he." She claimed that Iraq is not 
spending the money set aside for nutritional supplies for children 
and pregnant and nursing wimmin. But she failed to address why 
many medicines sit unapproved in warehouses waiting for the 
Sanctions Committee to allow distribution. She also purposefully 
omitted note of the infrastructure destruction as a result of 
sanctions and continued war.

Refrigerator trucks are banned in Iraq because the Sanctions 
Committee says they can be used for military purposes. Without 
these trucks medicine and food cannot be distributed in a country 
that is regularly above 100 degrees in the summer. Since the 
imposition of the sanctions these trucks are practically non-
existent in Iraq.

Imperialist-imposed sanctions have also prevented Iraq from 
repairing electrical power, the sewerage system and the water 
supply.(4) There are electrical shortages in every city, and water 
and sanitation facilities have collapsed. Iraq cannot produce food 
for lack of trucks, seeds and fertilizer. After almost ten years 
of sanctions, Iraq's health services system has been devastated 
and cannot afford the drugs needed to treat its people much less 
the cost of preventing diseases. The greatest threat to the health 
of the Iraqi people is not Saddam Hussein, it is the imperialist 
war killing Iraqis. According to the Iraq Health Ministry, more 
than 1.25 million Iraqis have died because of the embargo.(4)

The United Nations Children's Fund said in a report in August that 
deaths among children under five had doubled over the past decade 
in central and southern areas of Iraq. According to Iraqi 
officials, allied forces used 300 tons of depleted uranium 
munitions against Iraq(4), a toxic ingredient which is associated 
with lasting health and environmental destruction. 500,000 
children have died as a result of sanctions and 143 people have 
been killed in the past year by the on-going bombing campaign 
against Iraq. According to an April 1998 UNICEF report, since the 
imposition of sanctions 200 Iraqi children under 5 years of age 
die each day.(5)

Under the current oil deal there is no way Iraq can meet the basic 
needs of its people. Iraq needs at least $30 billion a year and 
after allocations are taken out of oil revenues to finance Gulf 
War reparations and UN administrative expenses, about 25 cents per 
person per day reaches the Iraqi people.(1)

In the name of imperialist world domination the U.$. and their 
imperialist allies continue policies that amount to genocide 
against the Iraqi people. And then the U.$. criticizes Iraq for 
having an undemocratic government. It should be clear to all 
readers of MIM Notes that the U.$. international policies are 
decided entirely by economic and political interests, not by what 
is best for the majority of the world's people. 

Notes:

1. (http://www.nonviolence.org/vitw/myths%20and%20realities.html)

2. Reuters, January 18, 2000

3. AP, January 18, 2000

4. Reuters January 15, 2000

5. USA Today, Dec. 09, 1999 Page 18A.

See MIM Notes Iraq archive for on-going coverage of the 
imperialist war against Iraq: 
http://www.prisoncensorship.info/archive/etext/mn/iraq/