wfn.org | Background on Moderator's Letter on Iraq

[PCUSA.NEWS@pcusa.org]

11-March-1997 
97117 
 
             Background on Moderator's Letter on Iraq 
 
[Editor's note: When last summer's General Assembly asked moderator the 
Rev. John M. Buchanan to send a pastoral letter to the Presbyterian Church 
(U.S.A.) on Iraq, it recommended that the following background material be 
included with the letter.  The letter was published in the March 7 edition 
of "NEWS BRIEFS." -- Jerry L.Van Marter] 
 
     Following the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in August 1990, the United 
Nations imposed economic sanctions against Iraq in an effort to force Iraq 
to withdraw from Kuwait (Security Council Resolution [SCR] 661, Aug. 6, 
1990).  After approximately five months, Operation Desert Storm, permitted 
by United Nations SCR 678, drove Iraq from Kuwait.  While it is debatable 
whether the sanctions would have worked, it is clear that the sanctions had 
affected the people of Iraq.  The heavy devastation of the war brought even 
greater and more lasting hardship because the social infrastructure of Iraq 
was destroyed. 
 
     After Operation Desert Storm, the United Nations continued the 
sanctions (SCR 687).  The sanctions were contingent upon fulfilling demands 
that Iraq's military capacity, as related to nuclear, chemical and 
biological weapons, and ballistic missile delivery systems, be totally 
dismantled.  That same resolution made Iraq liable, under international 
law, for losses, damage, injury and depletion stemming from the war. 
 
     The conditions Iraq was to meet in order to have sanctions lifted have 
been changed over a five-year period.  Some have argued that the ultimate 
purpose was to bring about the removal of Iraq's President Saddam Hussein. 
The difficulties in meeting the requirements were complicated by the 
mistreatment of the Kurdish and Shiite populations in Iraq. 
 
     The sanctions exclude humanitarian necessities, such as food and 
medicine.  However, the process and oversight governing such exemptions are 
difficult and time-consuming.  The absence of oil income limits the 
purchase of needed humanitarian goods.  Furthermore, the claims against 
Iraq for compensation have reached $180 billion -- an impossible sum 
without the resumption of oil sales. 
 
     The sanctions have now been in effect for five years.  They have not 
brought about the removal of President Saddam Hussein.  Whether Iraq can 
ever satisfy every requirement is questionable.  A major problem is the 
line drawn between an imposed demilitarization and infringement of national 
sovereignty. 
 
     United Nations agencies, the Food and Agriculture Organization, World 
Health Organization, United Nations Children's Fund, humanitarian agencies, 
and independent studies have documented the suffering of the people of 
Iraq.  Recent data suggests that children are the most vulnerable. 
Twenty-nine percent of the children in Baghdad are underweight, 23 percent 
experience stunting and 12 percent wasting.  Monthly cases of kwashiorkor 
and marasmus have increased to approximately 5,000 since 1990.  There is 
increased child mortality due to causes such as diarrhea and malnutrition. 
This averaged 4,475 per month in 1995.  There have also been increases in 
the number of cholera and typhoid cases. Widespread contamination of water 
is still reported since sewage disposal in some places is nonfunctioning. 
Other data are equally sobering. 
 
     United Nations sources suggest that it would take at least two years 
to import the supplies necessary to begin the recovery process, even under 
the best of circumstances.  It would take an additional six years to 
implement the rehabilitation programs that will be required.  
 
     The May 1996 agreement (SCR 986) to allow Iraq to sell $2 billion 
worth of oil every six months is a helpful step.  However, careful controls 
were placed on the use of the income received from the sale.  A third goes 
to compensate Kuwait and other war victims.  Another part is to pay for 
monitoring the military situation, and the balance is then to be used to 
provide food, medicine and other basic humanitarian needs of the Iraqi 
people.  This amount is insignificant in relation to the need. 
 
     The dilemma reflects a struggle between humanitarian obligations and 
political objectives.  The result has been that the people have been 
sacrificed for political leverage.  The United Nations, with good intent, 
is caught in the clash of the opposing goals of humanitarian activity and 
the political agendas of members of the Security Council.  The church 
should not find itself in the position of supporting any political policy 
that, for the sake of maintaining political and economic power, tolerates 
the suffering of children and of other innocent persons. 
 
     There is increasing use of economic sanctions by powerful nations as a 
primary tool of foreign policy.  Fundamental issues with ethical and moral 
implications are at stake.  What instruments are available to the 
international community for coercing parties whose behavior requires 
response or intervention?  Who is to determine the nature and character of 
such impositions?  Who will determine whether the strategies chosen have 
become counterproductive, or even immoral in consequence, bringing about 
great suffering, not to the guilty, but to the innocent?  Does the behavior 
of a leader or a government justify the punishment of a people who 
themselves are victims? 

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