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News :: Miscellaneous |
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Kathy Kelly of Voices in the Wilderness speaks on the US sanctions against Iraq |
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by Nancy Dietrich-Rybicki
Email: nancydietrich (nospam) juno.com (unverified!) |
02 Apr 2001
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Kathy Kelly of Voices in the Wilderness spoke last month on the University of Illinois campus about the continuing war on the citizens of Iraq via US sanctions. Voices in the Wilderness is a group which forms delegations to travel to Iraq with desperately needed medical supplies to help break the siege against them. |
Kathy Kelly of Voices in the Wilderness spoke last month on the University of Illinois campus about the continuing war on the citizens of Iraq via US sanctions. Voices in the Wilderness is a group which forms delegations to travel to Iraq with desperately needed medical supplies to help break the siege against them. By doing this, they bring attention
to the ongoing situation in Iraq, in spite of threats from
the US Treasury Department of up to 12 years in prison and $1 million in fines for violating the sanctions. Ms. Kelly stated that Voices in the Wilderness was created to \"fight back the wilderness of unconcern\" for the Iraqi people.
Ms. Kelly noted during her lecture that, \"The Gulf War never ended, it just changed.\" She went on to say that Economic warfare is different from Military warfare in that Economic warfare is discriminate. \"It discriminates against the most vulnerable (of citizens),\" she explained.
Statistics have shown that OVER 500,000 IRAQI CHILDREN UNDER 5 YEARS OF AGE HAVE DIED AS A DIRECT RESULT OF SANCTIONS. She stated that if you want to see where the weapons of mass destruction are kept in Iraq, just
go to any pediatrics ward, where children are dying of common diseases due to the sanctions keeping out needed medical equipment & supplies. Kelly described these pediatric wards as \"a death row for infants.\"
Ms. Kelly also described a horrifying incident which happened during the Gulf War: Towards the end of the military conflict, during a supposed \"cease-fire,\" American soldiers flew overhead in military planes, showering the retreating Iraqis with deadly ammunition. As the Iraqis
retreated, they tried to hide in trenches they had previously dug in the desert. But this didn’t stop the Americans. They were instructed to drive their large \"Bradley\" vehicles into the desert where the Iraqi
soldiers were hiding in trenches, scoop up tons of sand, and fill the trenches with the Iraqis still inside. American troops buried these soldiers alive, when a cease-fire had been declared. One of these soldiers driving a Bradley vehicle, burying the Iraqis, later told his aunt, \"Killing Iraqis was hard at first, but after awhile, it got easier.\" This soldier was Timothy McVeigh, who later buried hundreds more victims in the Oklahoma City bombing. Ms. Kelly asked rhetorically, \"Who taught him to kill?\"
Kathy Kelly stated that we must insist that our representatives in Congress be knowledgeable about the issues surrounding Iraq and the Middle East. It is difficult for representatives to support disarmament
in the Middle East region when the two largest lobbies in Congress are the Defense lobby (#1), and AIPAC, a pro-Israeli Political Action Committee (#2). It is also difficult to uncover the truth when the media do not treat the situation as newsworthy. \"My family knows every detail
about (the slaying of)Jon Benet Ramsey, and are outraged, as they should be, \" Kelly remarked. Most Americans probably know more about the Ramsey case than about the plight of Iraqi citizens, because this case received
so much more coverage than the plight of Iraqi citizens suffering under the UN/US sanctions. She also noted that the US media, Congress, Military, and corporations are all \"in bed\" together; more concerned with profits than
people. \"When the US wants Iraqi oil back on the market, then the sanctions will be lifted,\" Ms. Kelly stated.
For more information on Voices in the Wilderness and the UN/US sanctions against Iraq, VITW has an excellent website at:
www.nonviolence.org/vitw. This site discusses the myths and realities regarding the sanctions, photos, resources, alternatives to sanctions, and more.
\"An embargo has advantages over armed conflict; no Americans need die, no international furor over smart bombs incinerating people in shelters. Its simple and cheap, a noose tightens and children and the aged and sick die
in great numbers. This must be countered. Voices in the Wilderness is doing just that - cutting the noose.\"
......Daniel Berrigan
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See also:
www.nonviolence.org/vitw
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