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PRIOR TO 1991
“Just a decade ago, Iraq boasted one of the most modern
infrastructures and highest standards of living in the Middle East. The
world’s second largest oil producer, it had in recent decades used oil
revenues for ambitious projects and development programers, as well as
to build one of the most powerful armed forces in the Arab world. It
had established a modern, complex health care system, with giant
hospitals built on Western models and using the latest equipment. It
had constructed sophisticated water-treatment and pumping facilities.
It had an extensive school and university system.”i
BOMBARDMENTS AND EMBARGO
- The effect of the
embargo against Iraq cannot be appreciated without taking into account
the prior destruction of the civilian and economic infrastructures of
the country during the “Gulf War” in 1991.
- Indeed, violating all international conventions, the bombing
campaign against Iraq in January and February 1991 has systematically
targeted bridges, roads, food warehouses, irrigation systems, water
treatment plants, the electric production and distribution system,
refineries, pipelines, etc.
- “The human toll of the Persian Gulf war –as many as 100 000
death, five million displaced persons, and over $ 200 billion in
property damage– ranks this conflict as the single most devastating
event in the Middle East since World War I”.ii
- The sanctions regime imposed against Iraq since August 6,
1990, is the most severe in the history of the United Nations. It has
systematically prevented the country from rebuilding its destroyed
infrastructures and repairing damages caused by gradual wearing out,
resulting in a catastrophic humanitarian situation which still does not
improve.
INFRASTRUCTURES AND AN ENTIRE ECONOMY WASTING AWAY
- ECONOMY. The Iraqi economy has collapsed. The middle class
has literally vanished. “The country has experienced a shift from
relative affluence to massive poverty”. Whereas annual per capita
income was around $3 500 US in 1988, it had fallen to $1 500 in 1991,
and then at $1 036 in 1998.iii The Iraqi dinar is only worth 1/6000 of its value ten years ago.iv Skyrocketing inflation and epidemic unemployment have caused a tragic increase of begging, prostitution and violent crimes.
- OIL. Before the embargo, oil accounted for 61% of the GNP
and for 95% of foreign exchange entries. In their March 2000 report,
international oil experts concluded: “The oil industry is degrading,
safety is below conventionally accepted standards, the environment is
endangered, and the ultimate recovery potential of oil and gas in the
fields is jeopardized. The current situation, if left unchanged, will
lead inexorably to the demise of the oil industry”.v
- AGRICULTURE. At the time when sanctions were imposed,
Iraq was depending on imports for 70% of its food. In the
past, this country had been the #1 exporting country for
dates; today, half of its 30 million date trees are dead.
In 1998-1999, an epidemic of Hoof and mouth disease
caused the infection of one million animals (sheep and
cattle). The only laboratory which produced the vaccine
against this disease had been destroyed in 1993, because
the USA insisted that it could be used to produce
chemical and biological weapons… Finally, we note
that a very important drop in rainfall since the Winter
of 1998-1999 has caused the most severe drought in
decades.
- DRINKABLE WATER. In 1991, before the war, 90% of the
population in urban areas and 75% of the population in
rural areas had access to potable water. In 1999, these
proportions had fallen to 61% and 41% respectively.vi
- ELECTRICITY. The United Nations Development Program
(UNDP) estimates that it would cost $ 7 billion US only
to restore the electric production sector to its 1990
capacity.vii
- DEVELOPMENT. In general terms, Iraq has once again become
a poorly developed country. In 1990, it ranked 55th
on the scale of the Human Development Index (HDI)
established by the UNDP; in 1995, it had fallen to the
106th rank, and in 2000 to the 126th
rank.
A HUMANITARIAN CATASTROPHE, A REAL GENOCIDE
- MALNUTRITION. According to UNICEF, cases of acute
malnutrition among children under 5 years of age have
more than tripled between 1990 and 1999.viii
- MORTALITY OF CHILDREN. Because of problems related to
contaminated water, malnutrition and the shortage of
medication, the number of children who die uselessly in
Iraq is appalling: according to a rigorous survey
conducted by UNICEF, 500,000 children under five years of
age have died because of the war and sanctions between
1991 and 1998. And they continue to die at the steady
rate of 150 to 200 every day…ix
- WOMEN'S HEALTH. 70% of Iraqi women suffer from anemia.x In addition, as a
result of a serious problem of malnutrition of mothers,
20.4% of children weigh less than 2.5kg at birth (4%
before sanctions).xi
Maternal mortality has become the leading cause of death
among women of reproductive age.xii
- EDUCATION. In 1991, 3,000 schools were damaged by the
bombardments. Presently, 55% of schools are unfit for
teaching or learning. The average salary of a teacher is
$3 to $5 US. In 1998, over one million children were no
longer attending school for economic reasons related to
the embargo.xiii
- DEPLETED URANIUM. According to various estimates, between
300 and 800 tons of depleted uranium (a waste product
resulting from the process of uranium enrichment for
bombs and nuclear reactors) were used in 1991 in shells
and ammunitions. Upon impact, up to 70 % of this
substance becomes a fine aerosol of dust particles which
can be inhaled or ingested, causing damages both
chemically and by radioactivity.xiv
Depleted uranium could be the reason behind the 4 to
10-fold increase in spontaneous abortions, congenital
malformations, leukemia's, lymphomas and other forms of
cancer.xv
- REBELLION AT THE UN. Over the last two years, three
United Nations high ranking officials stationed in Iraq
have loudly resigned.xvi
In this manner, they wanted to protest against this
policy of sanctions and the demonstrated incapacity of
the “Oil for Food” programed to stop the
deterioration of the humanitarian situation in Iraq. Last
year, Mr. Denis Halliday went as far as declaring:
“I had been instructed to implement a policy that
satisfies the definition of genocide: a deliberate
policy that has effectively killed well over a million
individuals, children and adults”.xvii
i Iraq, A Decade of
Sanctions, Special Report, International Committee of the Red
Cross (ICRC).
ii
Middle East Report (formerly known as the MERIP Report), no 171,
July/August 1991. N.B.: Other sources have provided higher
estimates for the number of Iraqi deaths during this bombing
campaign.
iii
Report of the second panel established pursuant to the note by
the president of the Security Council of 30 January 1999
(S/1999/100) concerning the current humanitarian situation in
Iraq, March 1999.
iv
Iraq, Sanctions That Kill, Report by the Observer Mission to Iraq
organised by Objection de conscience/Voices of Conscience, from 4
to 15 January 2000, p. 13.
v
Report of the group of United Nations experts established
pursuant to paragraph 30 of the Security Council resolution 1284,
2000.
vi
Information sheet distributed by the United Nations Office of the
Humanitarian Coordinator in Iraq (UNOHCI).
vii
Report of the second panel established pursuant…, op. cit.,
March 1999.
viii Briefing Notes
on Health, Nutrition, Water and Sanitation, Education, and Child
Protection, January 2000.
ix
Child and Maternal Mortality Survey 1999, Preliminary Report,
UNICEF and Ministry of Health of Iraq, August 1999.
x
Report of the second panel established pursuant…, op. cit.,
March 1999.
xi
Briefing Notes on Health, Nutrition, Water and Sanitation,
Education, and Child Protection, UNICEF, January 2000.
xii
Child and Maternal Mortality Survey 1999, Preliminary Report,
UNICEF and Ministry of Health of Iraq, August 1999.
xiii
Briefing Notes on Health, Nutrition, Water and Sanitation,
Education, and Child Protection, UNICEF, January 2000.
xiv Depleted
Uranium: A Post-War Disaster for Environment and Health, Laka
Foundation, May 1999.
xv Arbuthnot, F.,
Poisoned Legacy, The New Internationalist (316); 12-14.
xvi
Mr. Denis Halliday and Mr. Hans von Sponeck, both United Nations
Humanitarian Coordinator in Baghdad, as well as Ms Jutta Burghardt,
head of the World Food Program in Baghdad. See "A new Iraqi policy" by Denis Halliday and Hans von Sponeck.
xvii Quoted in an article by John Pilger, Guardian, 4 March 2000.
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