wfn.org | Iraq, A Time to Heal

[RByler@igc.apc.org]

For Immediate Release
June 7, 1996

J.Ron Byler
Director of Media Relations
American Friends Service Committee
PH: 215/241-7060
FAX: 215/241-7275
E-MAIL: RByler@afsc.org
http://www.afsc.org

Contact: J.Ron Byler (215/241-7060)

A Joint Message from the Fellowship of  Reconciliation and the American
Friends Service Committee concerning United Nations Resolution 986, the "oil
for food" agreement:

	We rejoice with the people of Iraq and with people of goodwill that an
agreement was finally reached on May 20, 1996, allowing a limited sale of
oil by Iraq to enable the purchase of desperately needed food and medicine.
After deductions, principally for war reparations to non-Iraqi victims of
the war, there should remain $2.6 billion in one year for the purchase of
food and medicine, the distribution of which is to be closely monitored by
the U.N.
	We urgently remind everyone that the overwhelming need of Iraqi civilians
will not be met by this measure alone.  Only the complete lifting of the
embargo and substantial rebuilding will begin to address the very dire
conditions existing because of the Gulf war and six years of sanctions.
	Malnutrition, extreme shortages of essential medicines, and the breakdown
of health care and sanitation systems have led to staggering estimates of
loss of life by the U.N. World Food Programme:  576,000 preventable deaths
of children alone by the end of 1995!  
	It is with a sense of  urgency that we call for these actions:

1)  There must be citizen vigilance and pressure on the United States, the
other member governments of the U.N. Security Council, Iraq, and the
Secretary General of the U.N. to negotiate a speedy end to the sanctions.
In practical terms, this will mean Iraq's cooperation with the United
Nations Special Commission by disclosing and disposing of  weapons of mass
destruction.  For the United States government it will mean a commitment to
add no further conditions to the terms presently imposed upon Iraq by the
Special Commission.

2)  Additional  humanitarian aid through the appeal of the U.N. Department
of Humanitarian Affairs must be maximally subscribed by donor nations,
including the United States.   Beyond  food aid, water purification systems
and basic health and educational institutions must be rebuilt if the
people's health is to be restored.

3)  Private relief efforts should be widely publicized and supported, not as
a substitute for the above, but as a way of personally involving individuals
and groups and increasing  citizen awareness and pressure towards healing
the wounds of war.  We call attention to the relief assistance program of
Church World Service in partnership with the Ecumenical Relief Service of
the Middle East Council of Churches.  [See details below.]

	As organizations dedicated to eliminating war as a means of resolving
international conflict, we are obliged to point out the costs of war.  In
the case of the Gulf War, the costs to the people of Iraq and to future
generations in that country have been immense and out of all proportion to
what the advocates of the war policy claimed to be able to achieve.
	When military action was undertaken by the U.S. and its allies, these costs
were not in mind.  A dictatorial regime had invaded a neighboring country,
and massive, quick military action was put forward as the answer to that
violation of international law.  After a brief period of combat, victory
marches in the U.S. created the impression that war had ended;  but the war
was by no means over for millions of people in Iraq.  The combination of
sanctions and internal disorder has resulted in the present health and
nutritional crisis, the displacement of internal populations, and the
outmigration of many who could contribute to the rebuilding of Iraq.
	The allied participants in the war also paid a price measurable in human
lives, health, and public treasure.  But perhaps the greatest loss to the
people of the United States has been spiritual:  the hardening of our hearts
to the suffering of other human beings.  Once we were encouraged by our
leaders to see the war as a contest against evil forces, it became too easy
to measure everything in military terms:  how many battles won, how
efficient the weaponry, how commanding the generals, and how low our own
casualty rates.  The people of the country against which our nation fought
were dehumanized, disregarded, and written off in their continuing plight.
	With a few outstanding exceptions, U.S. media attention to sickness, hunger
and death in Iraq has been meager.  Lack of awareness and concern has meant
that politicians have felt little accountability on the issue, and all
responsibility for the deaths of Iraqi children was placed upon Saddam
Hussein.  Even now, weeks after the agreement on Resolution 986, media
coverage has not focused on measuring the extent of damage in Iraq and what
will be required to rebuild a shattered society.  Instead, most attention is
given to the effects of the oil for food sale on the price of gasoline for
summer drivers in our country.
	As U.S. peace organizations, we urge citizens, the media, and government of
this country to recognize the humanity of those we attacked in war.  This
agreement must not become an excuse for a further turning away from the
people of Iraq, as if  their problems were solved and our own moral
obligations met.  We must commit ourselves to peacebuilding out of
compassion for a people who have suffered so much and as part of our
vocation to teach governments and peoples the need to abolish war.

Contributions to the Church World Service relief program may be sent to CWS,
P.O. Box 968, Elkhart, Indiana 46515, designated for Iraq emergency relief.
All contributions will be used to provide food, blankets, medicine and
medical equipment for the people of Iraq.  
 
The AFSC Gulf Assistance Fund is receiving contributions designated for Iraq
emergency relief, which will be channeled through CWS.

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J.Ron Byler
Director of Media Relations
American Friends Service Committee
PH: 215/241-7060
FAX: 215/241-7275
E-MAIL: RByler@afsc.org
http://www.afsc.org