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BTL:Iraqi People Facing Humanitarian Crisis As... |
Current rating: 0 |
by Between the Lines' Scott Harris
Email: betweenthelines (nospam) snet.net (verified)
Address: BETWEEN THE LINES c/o WPKN Radio 89.5 FM Bridgeport, Connecticut |
03 Apr 2003
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...Pentagon Controls Aid Distribution, Excluding Relief Agencies. Interview with Between the Lines' Denis Halliday, former United Nations Under-Secretary General and coordinator of Iraq's Oil for Food Program conducted by Between the Lines' Scott Harris |
Iraqi People Facing Humanitarian Crisis as Pentagon Controls Aid Distribution, Excluding Relief Agencies
Interview with Between the Lines' Denis Halliday, former United Nations Under-Secretary General and coordinator of Iraq's Oil for Food Program conducted by Between the Lines' Scott Harris
As U.S. and British soldiers fight for control of southern Iraq on their way toward a crucial battle in Baghdad, civilians in large cities like Basra and smaller towns are confronting severe shortages of water, food and medicine. But with the American military insisting that they alone will control the distribution of aid, international relief organizations are reluctant to participate, not wanting to be identified with a U.S. invasion viewed by many as illegal and launched without U.N. Security Council authorization. The fact that much of the territory now occupied by U.S forces remains un-secure, makes the distribution of supplies by the Pentagon itself that much more difficult and chaotic.
Aid agencies from around the world have demanded that President Bush place the humanitarian relief effort under the supervision of United Nations agencies and personnel with many years of experience in Iraq. With an eye toward post-war administration of Iraq, the Security Council recently voted to transfer control of Iraq's oil for food program to U.N. Secretary General Koffi Anan.
Between The Lines' Scott Harris spoke with Denis Halliday, a former Under-Secretary General at the U.N. who administered Iraq's oil for food program before he resigned in protest against economic sanctions in 1998. Halliday discusses the current humanitarian crisis confronting the people of Iraq and the legal obligation of the American and British invasion force to provide immediate aid to the desperate and frightened population under their control.
To get more information on the international campaign to protect Iraq's long suffering civilian population, call Voices in the Wilderness at (773) 784-8065 or visit their Web site at www.vitw.org
LISTEN to this week's half-hour program of Between The Lines by clicking on one of the links below:
http://66.175.55.251/btl041103.html
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Re: BTL:Iraqi People Facing Humanitarian Crisis As... |
by Michael Lindeman
mlindema (nospam) uillinois.edu (verified) |
Current rating: 0
03 Apr 2003
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(taken from http://www.interaction.org/library/detail.php?id=1441)
InterAction - Library
Posted Date: April 3, 2003
Statement on Military Control of Iraq Relief; Reconstruction
In a December 20, 2002, letter to President Bush, InterAction urged that the responsibility for administration and implementation of relief activities in Iraq by the U.S. government be placed under civilian authorities. The position of InterAction, the largest American alliance of nongovernmental organizations conducting overseas relief and development, was clearly not accepted by President Bush, or his most senior advisors at the Department of Defense. The president subsequently authorized the creation at the Pentagon of an Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance for Iraq, under a team of recently retired generals. On behalf of its 160 member organizations, InterAction restated its position on this matter in a Feb. 5, 2003, letter to President Bush and challenged the suggestion of Defense officials that this program was under civilian supervision since retired Lt. Gen.Jay Garner and his top aides were no longer on active duty.
The relief professionals at the U.S. Agency for International Development and at the Department of State, not members of the military establishment at the Pentagon, know best how to conduct emergency assistance operations. Having been deeply involved for decades with nongovernmental organizations that provide humanitarian assistance around the world, U.S. AID and State are familiar with the principles of independence and impartiality under which we must operate.
The Department of Defense’s efforts to marginalize the State Department and force nongovernmental organizations to operate under DoD jurisdiction complicates our ability to help the Iraqi people and multiplies the dangers faced by relief workers in the field.
© 2002 InterAction
1717 Massachusetts Ave. NW, Suite 701
Washington, DC 20036
(202) 667-8227 ia@interaction.org
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