I thought that folks would want to read the news below from an Arabic paper about the U.S. and Iraq that Kathy Kelly of Voices in the Wilderness just forwarded to me.
Regards, Seth Sandronsky
---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Tue, 1 Sep 1998 12:48:49 -0700 (PDT) From: Kathy Kelly <kkelly at igc.apc.org> To: kkelly at igc.apc.org Subject: economic warfare; future bombing?
September 1, 1998
Dear Friends,
Last night, an article from the _Arabic News_ came to our attention which seems not to have been picked up by the mainstream press. The article, dated August 31, states that diplomatic sources in Cairo "expect the U.S. to direct a military strike at Iraq in October "should Baghdad continue its refusal to cooperate with the UNSCOM weapon inspectors. (See www.ArabicNews.com)
If the U.S. does move toward bombing Iraq, it's crucial that we help U.S. people better understand that:
i-- UN/US economic sanctions have been striking blows at Iraq, relentlessly, throughout eight years of the most comprehensive state of siege ever imposed in modern history.
ii-- the sanctions themselves have been a weapon of mass destruction; if the U.S. finds itself isolated in its foreign policy toward Iraq, it is in large part due to the fact that in most other countries awareness of the devastating and lethal effect of the sanctions has not been suppressed. An April, 1998, UNICEF report, entitled "Situation Analysis of Children and Women in Iraq" states that there has been an "increase of approximately 90,000 deaths yearly due to the sanctions (more than 250 people die every day), p. 42.
Planning to bomb a populace already suffering the agonies of intense economic warfare is cruel and cowardly.
Voices in the Wilderness members who've traveled to Iraq with previous delegations look forward to assisting with education, outreach and organizing efforts in September, 1998.
Please don't hesitate to get in touch with us if you think our speakers, banners or literature would be useful to you. Many groups are already planning for actions during the first week of October.
Our next delegation leaves for Iraq on September 17, and will be followed by an October 5 delegation. If your local media would like to stay in touch with these travelers, please let us know.
September 19 - 28 marks the dates of a nine day fast in Duluth, MN, eight days to represent each of the years the sanctions have been imposed, and the ninth day as a all for hope and renewal of efforts to end these sanctions.
Finally, it's not too late to contact your congressional representative immediately, urging that he or she sign the Conyers/Bonior letter to President Clinton calling for an end to economic sanctions against Iraq. Urge your Senator to give support to a similar initiative, one which Minnesota's Senator Wellstone has indicated he would favor.
Sincerely,
Kathy Kelly for Voices in the Wilderness tel. 773-784-8065 1460 West Carmen Chicago, IL 60640 Voices in the Wilderness A Campaign to End the US/UN Economic Sanctions Against the People of Iraq 1460 West Carmen Ave. Chicago, IL 60640 ph:773-784-8065; f: 773-784-8837 email: kkelly at igc.apc.org