DATE=8/24/1999
TYPE=EDITORIAL
TITLE=EDITORIAL: IRAQI HEALTH CRISIS
NUMBER=0-08422
CONTENT=
THIS IS THE ONLY EDITORIAL BEING RELEASED
FOR BROADCAST 8/24/99.
Anncr: The Voice of America presents differing
points of view on a wide variety of issues. Next,
an editorial expressing the policies of the United
States Government:
Voice: On August 11th, the Kuwaiti Coast Guard
intercepted a merchant ship which had just
departed the Iraqi port of Basra bound for the
United Arab Emirates. The ship was carrying two-
hundred-fifty tons of supplies such as baby powder
and baby bottles and cottonseed for livestock.
These illegal exports were destined for sale on
the international black market, with the proceeds
going to the regime of Iraqi dictator Saddam
Hussein.
This is not the first time the Iraqi regime has
misappropriated food and supplies sent by
international donors to meet the needs of the
Iraqi people. The ship captain reported that he
had carried Iraqi contraband to foreign ports
seven times during the past year. There are also
credible reports that the Republican Guard has
appropriated medical supplies from civilian
doctors and hospitals.
These illegal sales exploit the humanitarian
exceptions to the sanctions imposed in August 1990
by the United Nations Security Council in response
to Iraqi aggression against Kuwait. The sanctions
are aimed at the Iraqi regime's military and
secret police and not at the Iraqi people.
Since March 1997, more than ten-million tons of
food worth more than three and a half billion
dollars have been delivered to Iraq. Nearly seven-
hundred million dollars in medical and health care
supplies and some five-hundred million dollars'
worth of material for electrical power,
sanitation, education, and other civilian needs
have been delivered.
The fact that some of the supplies intended for
use by Iraqi civilians are being illegally sold
abroad has had tragic consequences for the people
of Iraq. A recent report by the United Nations
Children Fund reveals that in southern and central
Iraq, infant mortality rates have doubled in the
past ten years. In northern Iraq, where
humanitarian organizations are in charge of
distributing supplies and Saddam does not control
the terrain, infant mortality rates have dropped.
The ultimate responsibility for the suffering of
the Iraqi people lies with Iraq's ruler, Saddam
Hussein. His aggressive wars and savage repression
have wasted the country's resources, destroyed its
economy, and made Iraq an international outcast.
The regime's illegal export of nursing supplies
while Iraqi babies are malnourished is just
another example of its intrinsic brutality. And
that's why international efforts to contain the
Saddam Hussein regime must continue.
Anncr: That was an editorial expressing the
policies of the United States Government. If you
have a comment, please write to Editorials, V-O-A,
Washington, D-C, 20547, U-S-A. You may also
comment at www-dot-voa-dot-gov-slash-editorials,
or fax us at (202) 619-1043.
23-Aug-1999 12:59 PM EDT (23-Aug-1999 1659 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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