DATE=8/24/1999
TYPE=EDITORIAL
TITLE=EDITORIAL: IRAQI HEALTH CRISIS
NUMBER=0-08422
CONTENT=


THIS IS THE ONLY EDITORIAL BEING RELEASED
FOR BROADCAST 8/24/99.

Anncr:  The Voice of America presents differing 
points of view on a wide variety of issues.  Next, 
an editorial expressing the policies of the United 
States Government:

Voice:  On August 11th, the Kuwaiti Coast Guard 
intercepted a merchant ship which had just 
departed the Iraqi port of Basra bound for the 
United Arab Emirates. The ship was carrying two- 
hundred-fifty tons of supplies such as baby powder 
and baby bottles and cottonseed for livestock. 
These illegal exports were destined for sale on 
the international black market, with the proceeds 
going to the regime of Iraqi dictator Saddam 
Hussein.

This is not the first time the Iraqi regime has  
misappropriated food and supplies sent by 
international donors to meet the needs of the 
Iraqi people. The ship captain reported that he 
had carried Iraqi contraband to foreign ports 
seven times during the past year. There are also 
credible reports that the Republican Guard has  
appropriated medical supplies from civilian 
doctors and hospitals. 

These illegal sales exploit the humanitarian 
exceptions to the sanctions imposed in August 1990 
by the United Nations Security Council in response 
to Iraqi aggression against Kuwait. The sanctions 
are aimed at the Iraqi regime's military and 
secret police and not at the Iraqi people.

Since March 1997, more than ten-million tons of 
food worth more than three and a half billion 
dollars have been delivered to Iraq. Nearly seven- 
hundred million dollars in medical and health care 
supplies and some five-hundred million dollars' 
worth of material for electrical power, 
sanitation, education, and other civilian needs 
have been delivered.

The fact that some of the supplies intended for 
use by Iraqi civilians are being illegally sold 
abroad has had tragic consequences for the people 
of Iraq. A recent report by the United Nations 
Children Fund reveals that in southern and central 
Iraq, infant mortality rates have doubled in the 
past ten years.  In northern Iraq, where 
humanitarian organizations are in charge of 
distributing supplies and Saddam does not control 
the terrain, infant mortality rates have dropped.

The ultimate responsibility for the suffering of 
the Iraqi people lies with Iraq's ruler, Saddam 
Hussein. His aggressive wars and savage repression 
have wasted the country's resources, destroyed its 
economy, and made Iraq an international outcast. 
The regime's illegal export of nursing supplies 
while Iraqi babies are malnourished is just 
another example of its intrinsic brutality. And 
that's why international efforts to contain the 
Saddam Hussein regime must continue.

Anncr:  That was an editorial expressing the 
policies of the United States Government.  If you 
have a comment, please write to Editorials, V-O-A, 
Washington, D-C, 20547, U-S-A.  You may also 
comment at www-dot-voa-dot-gov-slash-editorials, 
or fax us at (202) 619-1043.



23-Aug-1999 12:59 PM EDT (23-Aug-1999 1659 UTC)
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Source: Voice of America
.