US-led sanctions against Iraq have caused untold suffering and death. The efforts of Chicago-based Voices in the Wilderness to stop the sanctions have received international news coverage but are virtually ignored by the US media.

By Theresa Kubasak

Did you read in your local paper about the eight Americans who flew in the 'no-fly' zone in Iraq? Was it on your local evening news?

On December 23, 2001, members of Voices in the Wilderness, a Chicago-based group that breaks the sanctions by traveling to Iraq, flew on Iraqi Airlines from Baghdad to Basra. A two-member Al Jazeera television crew filmed the event, traveling with the Voices delegation to Basra where they celebrated midnight mass with the Chaldean Christian community and their Archbishop, Djabriel Kassab.

Did you hear about these same Americans giving blood at the Al Monsour Pediatric Hospital in Baghdad? Breaking sanctions, they used blood bags brought in from donors in the US. Six Americans donated blood in the ward with the children waiting for blood. Associated Press and CNN were there to film it. Was it shown in the US?

Chicagoans Kathy Kelly, Theresa Kubasak and Gabe Huck were three of the people who committed civil disobedience by traveling to Iraq. They kept up a steady stream of political actions during the weeks they were in Iraq, all designed to catch the eye of the media.

Both actions described above were preceded by press releases to BBC, International CNN, AP, Reuters, Agence France Presse and other news agencies based in Baghdad. But little of the wire news reports made it to the American public.

Why is the American media afraid to tell the truth about sanctions-busting activities of Voices in the Wilderness that have been sending US delegations to Iraq since 1996? Why does it fail to document those citizens who are committed to nonviolent solutions?

The sanctions have caused great suffering and death among the Iraqi people for over 11 years. During the Gulf War, the US bombed the entire infrastructure of Iraq, not just military targets, taking out utilities and water and sewage treatment plants. Then the sanctions were slapped on, preventing replacement parts from getting into the country.

Iraq's oil sales in the l970s and l980s brought about a large middle class, free education to university level (including for any study abroad), and excellent medical care in up-to-date facilities. Now there is barely any middle class, the hospitals have little medicine and virtually no working equipment, and the schools are most often without working plumbing or electricity.

Iraq sold oil and imported what it needed until 1990. Now the US puts holds on replacement parts and necessary chemicals which would restore the power plants and so much else. The poor water is the major cause of disease because the treatment plants lack parts and chemicals. Simple chlorine is banned by the US/UN sanctions as a 'dual use' item. Bad water kills Iraqi children. The most conservative estimate for deaths of children under five caused by the sanctions since 1990 is 350,000. Why doesn't the US press report this 'mass destruction'?

Statistics from UNICEF that Voices gathered in December reveal that the child mortality rate has gone up by two and a half times in the last decade, from First World level to Third World level. Only four other countries in the world lost ground – and not much – in this decade, and it's because of AIDS. The progress made in child survival in Iraq during the 1990s is minus 160%. The leading cause of death among Iraqi children is complications of diarrhea, caused by bad water. This in a country that was almost a First World nation before the war.

The UNICEF document states, 'At a time when there is a global movement to protect the child's rights, this unacceptably high increase in Iraq's child mortality rate calls for urgent action.'

Voices in the Wilderness calls for urgent action: end the economic sanctions against Iraq. Malnutrition is a key underlying cause of child mortality in Iraq. The UNICEF-supported Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey 2000 has shown that 30% of children under-five suffer from chronic malnutrition. Voices members have photos and slides taken on the December trip documenting children in hospitals and elementary schools. Accompanying us in Iraq was an internationally published photographer who sent material to Newsweek. So far none of his photos has appeared.

UNICEF maintains that one out of every eight Iraqi children die before their first birthday. The under-five mortality rate has increased from 56 per 1000 in 1985-89 to 131 in 1995-99. One in four newborns has low birth weight. Small wonder two-thirds of all infant deaths take place in the first month of life.

This data revealing the effect of the sanctions on children is significant in light of the Geneva Conventions, which state that citizens are not to be targeted. Yet the US continues to use the sanctions as a strategy against Iraq.

Former UN weapons inspector Richard Butler said that the sanctions are the direct cause of the sickness and death of the Iraqi people. Scott Ritter, another former weapons inspector, maintains that more than 95% of all sites needed to be examined were covered and that Iraq lacks the capability of producing weapons of mass destruction. This is not what Americans hear in the US media.

One of the political actions Voices carried out was mailing a letter to President Bush from the central post office in Baghdad. In late fall Bush had made a well-publicized statement that Saddam Hussein would 'find out' what would happen to him if he didn't readmit inspectors into Iraq.

The letter from Voices said that the President's concern had been heeded. These Americans had come to Iraq to search for such weapons of mass destruction and were anxious now to report their findings to the President: 'We have found a weapon of mass destruction here in Iraq, Mr. President. It is the sanctions,' the letter read. 'Be bold, Mr. President. End the Sanctions. Stop the death of Iraqi children.'

The international press in Iraq covered this. When did the mainstream American press report anything about it?

If any statistics in the UNICEF report disturb you, ask yourself why. Why is the disturbing truth of the sanctions is kept from the American public? Remember, Iraq appears to be the next target for our never-ending 'War on Terrorism.' The US media are preparing the American people for just such an eventuality. As those bombs begin to drop, we, as a people of conscience, must ask who are the true terrorists? here

Please write to your congressional representative and your senators. Ask them to introduce legislation ending the sanctions against Iraq and demand that the US restrain from further bombing. For more information about the sanctions or to arrange for a presentation, go to www.vitw.com.