Of Palestinians rejoicing

[calbert at hslboxmaster.com]

"Otto" <o.sell at telda.net>

> 
> Agreed, if this includes the end of the violence against Iraqui
> children. I must admit that I was shocked by this:

I don't think it is to cheer for infanticide to point out that these 
sanctions have a reasonable purpose.......Furthermore, self 
flagellation at the expense of analysis may be soothing to the 
conflicted soul, but it should not obscure the role played by the  
more immediate enabler.....

Impact of Sanctions

      Summary
      Sanctions were imposed on Iraq by the international 
community in the wake of Iraq's brutal invasion of
      Kuwait. They are intended to prevent the Iraqi regime access to 
resources that it would use to reconstitute
      weapons of mass destruction. Sanctions can only be lifted 
when Iraq complies fully with all relevant UN
      Security Council resolutions. 

      Saddam Hussein's regime remains a threat to its people and 
its neighbors, and has not met any of its
      obligations to the UN that would allow the UN to lift sanctions. 

      The international community, not the regime of Saddam 
Hussein, is working to relieve the impact of
      sanctions on ordinary Iraqis. 

      Impact of Sanctions 

      Sanctions are not intended to harm the people of Iraq. That is 
why the sanctions regime has always specifically
      exempted food and medicine. The Iraqi regime has always 
been free to import as much of these goods as possible. It
      refuses to do so, even though it claims it wants to relieve the 
suffering of the people of Iraq. 

      • Iraq is actually exporting food, even though it says its people 
are malnourished. Coalition ships enforcing the UN
      sanctions against Iraq recently diverted the ship M/V 
MINIMARE containing 2,000 metric tons of rice and other
      material being exported from Iraq for hard currency instead of 
being used to support the Iraqi people. 

      • Baby milk sold to Iraq through the oil-for-food program has 
been found in markets throughout the Gulf, demonstrating
      that the Iraqi regime is depriving its people of much-needed 
goods in order to make an illicit profit. 

                   Photo 1: click here or on image for enlargement and 
caption 

      • Kuwaiti authorities recently seized a shipment coming out of 
Iraq carrying, among other items, baby powder, baby
      bottles, and other nursing materials for resale overseas (see 
photo 1). 

      Saddam Hussein's priorities are clear. If given control of Iraq's 
resources, Saddam Hussein would use them to rearm
      and threaten the region, not to improve the lot of the Iraqi 
people. 

      There is ample proof that lifting sanctions would offer the Iraqi 
people no relief from neglect at the hands of their
      government 

      • Sanctions prevent Saddam from spending money on 
rearmament, but do not stop him from spending money on food
      and medicine for Iraqis. 

      • Saddam's priorities are clear: palaces for himself, prisons for 
his people, and weapons to destroy Iraq's citizens and
      its neighbors. He has built 48 palaces for himself since the 
Gulf War. He would not use Iraq's resources to improve the
      lives of Iraqis. Saddam Hussein would use them to rearm and 
threaten the region.

http://usinfo.state.gov/regional/nea/iraq/iraq99.htm

love,
cfa