The UN is already in Iraq, with the US, the WB, the IMF, and US-based multinationals. The UN compound got bombed, and the top UN rep in Iraq Sergio Vieira de Mello got killed. That will be Iraqi responses to "UN troops" as well.
***** Date: Wed, 20 Aug 2003 15:08:05 -0400
People may find these talking points from several people useful.
--Hany Khalil
Talking Points on the Attack on UN Headquarters August 20th, 2003
By Phyllis Bennis, Institute for Policy Studies (D.C.) pbennis at compuserve.com
Bennis is author of "Calling the Shots: How Washington Dominates Today's U.N." and "Before and After: U.S. Foreign Policy and the September 11th Crisis."
. . . 3. The UN should never have agreed to participate under the authority of that occupation force; to do so provides a political fig leaf for an illegal occupation. And now we're seeing the inevitable results of that participation, as anti-U.S. militants target anyone working under the auspices of the U.S. -- including American, British and Danish soldiers, Iraqi translators, and now the civilian staff of the United Nations. . . .
The U.N. Role in Iraq: Interviews Available Institute for Public Accuracy August 20th, 2003 ---------------------------------------------------------------- Institute for Public Accuracy 915 National Press Building, Washington, D.C. 20045 (202) 347-0020 * www.accuracy.org * ipa at accuracy.org ----------------------------------------------------------------
NANCY LESSIN, CHARLIE RICHARDSON mfso at mfso.org, http://www.bringthemhomenow.org, http://www.mfso.org
Co-founders of Military Families Speak Out, Lessin and Richardson have a son, Joe, who just returned from Iraq. They said today: "Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson and others are arguing that attacks in Iraq mean we have to send more troops. We have 58,000 names on a wall -- and millions of dead Vietnamese -- to tell us where that road leads."
EMAN AHMED KHAMMAS In Baghdad via: eman at occupationwatch.org, http://www.occupationwatch.org
Khammas is co-director of the Occupation Watch Center in Iraq. She said today: "The U.N. is not very reputable here. Many people consider the U.N. responsible for the suffering of the last 13 years, the sanctions and the deaths of hundreds of thousands. Despite some statements, it was largely silent when Iraq was attacked. In the last month, the U.N. has been friendly with the American authorities. These may or may not be the reasons for this attack, but if this is resistance, and it could well be, these are some of the grievances toward the United Nations.
"Before the invasion, the U.N. was paralyzed and did not stop the U.S. attack. Some people think of it as a department of the U.S. government. Security Council Resolution 1483 basically gave legal cover for the occupation and to legitimize the attack on Iraq. This is a pity, since the U.N. does good work through UNICEF, UNESCO, UNDP and the World Health Organization.... Sergio Vieira de Mello had praised the governing council and was friendly with Paul Bremer."
DENIS HALLIDAY djhalliday at msn.com, http://www.accuracy.org/press_releases/PR032803.htm
Available for a limited number of interviews, Halliday is former head of the U.N. oil-for-food program in Iraq. He said today: "We all think of the U.N. as this benign entity, but in Iraq it's held responsible for a great deal of suffering of the Iraqi people. The U.N. has been particularly corrupted by the Security Council. Resolutions on Israel go unenforced. We love to talk about our good humanitarian work -- and there's certainly truth to that, good people trying to help Iraqis were just killed -- but the Secretary General has implemented programs which are inherently incompatible with the U.N. Charter."
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