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"If there are children dying...
Exposing the Myths of U.S. Policy Towards Iraq

....it's Saddam Hussein's fault," said James Rubin, U.S. State Dept. -- in defense of the July 17th bombing that killed 19 Iraqis, mostly civilians. "In these operations," said Mr. Rubin, "every effort is taken to avoid any casualties..." (Reuters, 7/17/99)

Other pronouncements we commonly hear from U.S. officials: the Iraqi government, specifically Saddam Hussein, is hoarding medicine; U.S. no-fly-zones are in place to protect the Kurds and Shiites; UNSCOM was a neutral investigator of Iraqi weapons; and, economic sanctions are having an effect on Saddam Hussein's power.

Quickly it becomes apparent that the U.S. is not only dropping deadly bombs daily on Iraq, and, enforcing economic sanctions that have laid waste to a half a million children -- but the U.S. is also waging a high-intensive propaganda war. Clearly the U.S. is winning this war.

Yet, there must be many little voices in our big land who wonder -- is the U.S. telling the truth? Let's dispel these myths one by one.

Myth: It's all Saddam's fault. If he would just behave, we are told, the bombings and starvation would have never happened. On April 3, 1991, just days after the Persian Gulf War ended, the U.N. Security Council passed Resolution 687. It stated that once Iraq complied with the weapons inspection regime, the sanctions shall have no further force or effect."

Why then six years later did Secretary of State Madeline Albright state: "We do not agree with the nations who argue that if Iraq complies with its obligations concerning weapons of mass destruction, sanctions should be lifted. Our view, which is unshakable, is that Iraq must prove its peaceful intentions... And the evidence is overwhelming that Saddam Hussein's intentions will never be peaceful." (Institute for Public Accuracy, 11/13/98)

Later that year, after Iraq evicted the weapons inspectors for nearly a month, President Clinton affirmed Albright, stating: "What he [Saddam Hussein] has just done is to insure that the sanctions will be there until the end of time or as long as he lasts." (IPA, 11/13/98).

**Forty-Five of the Hundreds of Items Iraq is Banned From Importing Due to the U.S. and Britain**
Ambulances Batteries Bicycles Books Busses Candles Detergents Dresses Drills Easels Envelopes Eyeglasses Fabrics Flashlights Forks	Glue Hairpins Hammers Hats Hearing Aids Hoses Ink Instruments Knives Light Bulbs Magazines Matches Microscopes Paint Paper	Pens Photocopiers Rulers Sandals Shampoo Shirts Shoes Soap Socks Telephones Toilet Paper Toothbrushes Toothpicks Toys (Source: Int'l Action Center)

Yet, by several reputable accounts, the weapons inspections were quite successful and nearly complete by 1995. The original requirements for ending sanctions had been met. One former U.N. Weapons Inspector, Prof. Raymond Zalinskas, in an interview with Nat'l Public Radio, said that inspectors had already wiped out any possible chemical and biological weapons sites in Iraq by 1995. Zalinskas, a Professor at the Biotechnology Institute at the Univ. of Maryland, also said that it is simply "impossible" to completely monitor and verify research on biological and chemical weapons. (Iraq Action Center, N.P.R., 2/13/99)

Similar results from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). "As I reported to the General Assembly last year," said IAEA's Director General to the U.N., "it is our conclusion that the essential components of Iraq's clandestine nuclear weapon program have been identified and destroyed, removed or rendered harmless." (11/1/95) In 1998, after three more years of inspections, the IAEA made the same assertion. (Washington Post, 6/1/98)

Myth: "Every effort is taken to avoid casualties." -- James Rubin. Have you ever read George Orwell's book, 1984? If you repeat something often enough, people will believe it. And, why doesn't Mr. Rubin use more appropriate words instead of "casualties? Words like "deaths" or "people killed by our bombs." There's nothing "casual" about being indiscriminately killed.

During the ten weeks of bombing in 1991, the U.S. used laser-guided "smart bombs" to destroy water treatment plants, electrical power grids, homes, schools, pharmaceutical plants, milk factories, granaries, bomb shelters, hospitals, bridges --- the list goes on. During the last weeks of the bombardment, tens of thousands of Iraqi soldiers in retreat back to Baghdad, were mercilessly bombed in what one U.S. pilot called a "turkey shoot."

Since December 1998's heavy bombing, the U.S., with British help, has dropped over 1,100 missiles on Iraq, and flown "two-thirds as many missions as NATO pilots flew over Yugoslavia in 78 days of around-the-clock war there." (NY Times, 8/13/99) Iraq claims 134 Iraqis have been killed by U.S. bombs.

And, just this past August, U.S. missiles made direct hits on a 4th Century Christian Monastery and the home of the Kattouf family, killing several people at the monastery and all 14 members of the Kattouf family. (Reuters, 8/10/99, 8/18/99) Whether the bombs were hitting their targets or not, the result was and is people are killed and infrastructure damaged or destroyed -- thereby eventually killing more because Iraq is not allowed to import spare parts.

Additionally, UNICEF reported a doubling of infant-mortality from 1991-1998 and that at least 1/2 million Iraqi children had been killed by U.S. imposed sanctions

Myth: Saddam Hussein is hoarding medicine and other supplies. There have been accurate reports that Hussein is illegally selling relatively small amounts of oil to pay for the decadent lifestyle he and his close family and friends enjoy. But there have also been many false reports, such as a recent Washington Post editorial (8/16/99) that, without a shred of proof, misinforms us: "With what [U.N. food-for-oil] funds became available, Saddam Hussein, rather than serve the health of his people, instead built new palaces and new weapons of mass destruction."

In Dec. of 1996 Iraq agreed to U.N. Resolution 986 -- a deal that allows Iraq to sell $5.26 billion worth of oil during every six months. With 53% of the proceeds Iraq can buy medicine and food -- with the approval of the U.N. Sanctions Committee. The other 47% goes to pay reparations to Kuwait and U.N. expenses. Saddam Hussein has no control over this money.

"Every penny from oil sales goes into the hands of the United Nations," said the former U.N. Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq, Dennis Halliday," into a United Nations bank account, and is released by the United Nations directly to the contractors -- American, Russian, French, Chinese, whatever they may be--who provide the foodstuffs, medical equipment, medical supplies. There's no possibility of funds being siphoned off whatsoever."

The current Humanitarian Coordinator, Hans Von Sponeck, recently stated: "We have no evidence there is a conscious withholding of medicines ordered by the government." (Reuters, 7/22/99)

Myth: The U.S. enforces the no-fly zones over Northern and Southern Iraq to protect the Shiites and Kurds. These "no-fly-zones" are an invention of the U.S. and Britain. The U.N. has never agreed to these zones. In addition to the fact that U.S. bombs, since 1991, have killed hundreds of Iraqis they are allegedly protecting, there are some quirks that don't quite add up. Like, why over the last eight years has Turkey been allowed to invade Northern Iraq not once or twice, but several times? Why? Not to do damage to Saddam Hussein -- no, Turkey was bombing the Kurds who are viciously repressed in Turkey -- all with U.S. weapons and support.

And, why, back in March of 1991, did the U.S. make an agreement with Saddam Hussein allowing the depleted Iraqi military to use helicopters and short range missiles to put down a highly popular rebellion -- which was occurring in Northern and Southern Iraq? Never heard of this uprising? At the time the U.S. was promising all kinds of assistance to the rebellion, which by the end of March controlled more than 2/3 of the country. Quickly the promised assistance disappeared and the rebellion was crushed.

"Well, what were we trying to do with sanctions--help the Iraqi people out? No."

So, why the no-fly zones? Current U.S. policy is to "contain" Saddam Hussein, meaning keep him in power. "Containment doesn't bring about a decisive resolution quickly," said a White House official. "It's unsatisfying and ungratifying by its nature. But 40 years of containing the Soviets in the cold war paid off. You've got to be patient."(NY Times, 1/3/99) Meanwhile "patient" Iraqis are killed off by "unsatisfying" diarrhea and "ungratifying" malnutrition at the rate of over 100,000 per year.

Myth: UNSCOM was a neutral investigator of Iraqi weapons. Last December's bombing of Iraq was sold to the American public on the basis that Iraq was not complying with UNSCOM weapons inspectors. This was only partly true -- according to a Nov, 1998 UNSCOM's report, Iraq was 95% in compliance.

Iraq had been claiming for several years that the U.S. was using UNSCOM to spy on Iraq, and had asked the U.N. to rid UNSCOM of U.S. and British personnel. The U.S. ridiculed and flatly denied the accusation. But then, on Jan. 7, 1999, the NY Times reported that anonymous "U.S. officials said today that American spies had worked undercover on teams of U.N. arms inspectors ferreting out secret Iraqi weapons programs."

The next day a U.N. official anonymously conceded: "The U.N. has been and continues to be a focal point for espionage by everybody." Intelligence officers from most of the world's nations use the organization as a base of operations, he said. To downplay the fact that the U.S. had been lying for years, "officials" repeated several times that this "should come as no surprise..."

Since this fiasco leaked, more anonymous high-ranking officials have said they "believed that the inspection team would never return to Iraq in its original form." Yet, the official U.S. position still demands Iraq allow the weapons inspections to resume as before. (NY Times, 1/8/99)

Myth: Economic Sanctions are having an effect on Saddam Hussein's power. According to U.N. observers and the few western reporters writing from Iraq, Saddam Hussein's power has been enhanced by the sanctions. He is seen as the last bulwark against U.S. imperialism. Strange as it may seem, he is even seen as a moderate in Iraq. Apparently, he gets plenty of pressure to take even tougher stands against the U.S.