Bombings Continue, and Public Health Conditions are Set to Worsen in Iraq

opinion by Ruth Wilson

On June 6, Saddam Hussein suspended the UN oil-for food program. This means that Iraq has essentially stopped exporting oil, and is not earning money to purchase food, agricultural supplies or medicine. If this situation continues, eventually Iraq will start running out of food and its people will go hungry again. Iraq contains the second largest reserves of oil in the world.

It appears that US leaders are going along with Saddam’s decision to stop oil exports. Why? One possibility is that American corporations stand to profit from this decision. If Iraq stops exporting oil, and Saudi Arabia takes over its quota, as happened essentially from 1990-1999, American companies will make billions, since the Saudi rulers invest heavily in the US economy.

During and after the 1991 Gulf War, 500,000 children died (under age 5) in Iraq, according to UNICEF estimates. Iraqi children died due to the war and to the destruction of Iraq’s infrastructure, which led to contaminated water and malnutrition. The oil embargo against Iraq, which began before the Gulf War, continues today. The only hole in the embargo has been the oil-for-food program, and this did not begin until 1996, and has only risen to a semi-adequate level in the past two years.

In addition, the US Airforce is still bombing Iraq fairly regularly. The bombings ordered by President Bush in February received news coverage, but generally the bombardment of Iraq is scarcely noticed by the press. Since December 1998 the bombs have killed over 346 civilians and wounded over 971, according to Iraqi figures. The latest incident was on June 20, when 23 young people were killed and 11 wounded when US warplanes targeted a soccer field in a northern Iraqi town. US officials immediately denied responsibility for the deaths.

What you can do

Call the Congressional Switchboard: (202)-224-3121. Ask for your Congressman, the State Department and President Bush. Tell them it is time to end the oil embargo on Iraq, stop the bombings, and help Iraqi children by sending food and medicine. Tell them we should repay Iraq and repair the damage of the Gulf War.

Contact the Education for Peace in Iraq Center (EPIC) 1101 Penn. Ave SE, Washington, DC 20003 202-543-6176; 202-546-5103 (fax) saveageneration.org

For more information, see Yahoo news and the Jan.1999 issue of the Washington Free Press at www.wafreepress.org.