MER - Washington - 24 December:

   While the Americans celebrate Christmas, primarily it seems concerned with their stock portfolios and cheap oil prices; and while the Israelis light their Chanukah candles in both the White House and the Vatican, this holiday season in the heart of the Arab world, in ancient Baghdad, brings a story of misery approaching genocide.
   A significant percentage of the Iraqi population -- the general estimate is about 5% -- has already been killed by the "sanctions"; and another million children are now at  risk.  An entire country -- just a decade ago the most advanced in the Arab world -- has been thrown back generations; and future generation will bear the terrible scars....and the hatred.
   This "Press Release" from Baghdad is from a group of  Christians calling themselves "Voices in the Wilderness".
   For additional information about what has really been happening in and to Iraq -- including former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark's insistence that American policies are equivalent to War Crimes -- see the "Past Articles" section of the MER Website.

    Baghdad, Iraq - This time of year, people of different faith traditions recognize the value and dignity of children by honoring them with gifts and lifting them up as a sign of hope for the future.

    We come to this hospital on Christmas eve to bring gifts of medicine and toys to Iraqi Children.

    We call ourselves Voices in the Wilderness and by bringing these gifts here today, we publicly challenge the morality of the economic sanctions against the people of Iraq.  We are the ninth delegation to come to Iraq in the past two years, and we will continue to bring desperately needed medicine to Iraq and to work for an end to the sanctions.

    During our visit here in Iraq, we have gone to hospitals and seen children suffering from various forms of malnutrition.  Prior to the sanctions, death from starvation  was  unknown in this country.  Today on Christmas, nearly one million children are at risk of dying from chronic malnutrition.  We have seen children struggling to breathe - their lungs congested by pneumonia and no antibiotics to treat them.
We have seen parents who wait without hope with their children, who are dying from treatable forms of leukemia because they cannot purchase the medicine they need.  We have heard of parents selling their personal belongings and even their homes to buy medicine for their children.  We have talked to representatives of UN agencies and relief organizations and visited Iraqis in their homes. The message is constant and clear:  the sanctions have led to more and more hunger and disease, shattering the lives of Iraqi families.  UN Resolution 986, "Oil for Food", has not even begun to ease their suffering.

    Today, we are delivering antibiotics, aspirin, and vitamins to help save the lives of few Iraqi children.  According to the US government, this is a criminal act.  At the same time, the sanctions have taken the lives of 600,000 Iraqi children under the age of five.  Is this not a crime?

    We rush to give aid to our Iraqi brothers and sisters.  Our government considers this a criminal act.  The US through the  Sanctions Committee delays and vetoes contracts of food and medicine while hundreds die each day - over one million deaths in seven years.  Is this not a crime?

    On this Christmas eve, the US is once again threatening military action against Iraq.  Inflicting further harm upon the people of Iraq will never bring peace and goodwill between our countries.  Only the complete lifting of the sanctions will allow Iraqis to employ their people and to rebuild their schools, their factories, their hospitals, and their lives.

    In the spirit of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Mahatma Gandhi, we oppose any development, use, or sale of weapons of mass destruction by all nations of the world.  We also recognize that the sanctions against the Iraqi people have become themselves a weapon of mass destruction.

    In a few days, we will return to the US with photographs and journals which record the conditions imposed upon the people of Iraq by the economic sanctions. The previous delegation had such documentation seized by US customs agents who claimed, "These items are evidence of a crime."  We
think they are right.  They are evidence of a crime against humanity. In this Christmas season, in this time for children we call on all nations to end this crime against humanity.  End these sanctions now.

    Michael Bremer, Chicago, IL   Arthur Gelmis, Washington, DC   Rev. G. Simon Harak, SJ, Fairfield, CT  Richard McDowell, Akron, OH Mira Tanna, St.Louis, MO