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U.S. Congressmen Slam Barbaric Sanctions Against Iraq
Three anti-war U.S. congressmen on a rare visit to Iraq on Sunday, September 29, criticized the 12-year U.N. sanctions regime as âbarbaricâ, saying that open weapons inspections must resume to ensure it is lifted. They weren't lifted when weapons inspections were in force because the inspectors were hindered at every turn... Democrat representative David Bonior of Michigan spoke of âthe horrific and barbaric suffering ... particularly children are undergoing,â after visiting a hospital, a pediatric clinic and two desalination plants in this southern Iraqi port city. He stressed along with colleagues Jim McDermott of Washington state and Mike Thompson of California âthe absolute necessity to end the sanctionsâ through âfair, open, unrestricted [weapons] inspectionsâ by the United Nations. Yep. Any time now. âIf we go to war again we will simply double or triple the problems we have created in 1991,â from the Gulf War, said McDermott.âThe theory was that if we put pressure on the Iraqi people somehow they would throw out [President] Saddam Hussein, all that has done is punish the Iraqi people. It did not work and I think that it is not right what we are doing and that it must stop.â Well, okay then. And pray tell just what should we do? If we can't attack him and throw him out, and we can't use sanctions because of The Children™, what other options are open, other than "pretty please with honey on top"? Representative Bonior is a long-time opponent of the sanctions devastating the Iraqi people. He has during his tenure held numerous press conferences criticizing the brutality aimed against Iraqi civilians. He also co-sponsored a letter to former president Bill Clinton asking that the sanctions be lifted. He also lost his bid for governor — heh heh! — and he ran for governor because it looked like he was gonna lose his House seat. Seems he has a lot of support. McDermott also noted claims that the use of depleted uranium weapons during the Gulf War had increased âmalformations and leukemia in children, and we wanted to see for ourselves what that was about.â How many malformed and leukaemic children did they visit? They had heard in Baghdad from Health Minister Omid Medhat Mubarak that the embargo had caused the deaths of more than 1.7 million Iraqis since it was imposed in 1990. Posted by: Fred Pruitt 2002-09-29 |
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