|
BAGHDAD, Iraq (FinalCall.com)---United States citizens
must be informed about the conditions under which 5,000 Iraqis
die every month as a result of U.S. sanctions, and they should
be able to hear from leaders of that country themselves in order
to decide whether or not American bombs and soldiers should
inflict more suffering on the Iraqi people, the Honorable
Minister Louis Farrakhan told reporters July 7 after meeting
with several high ranking government officials here.
�We are asking President Bush and the
Congress, appealing to the fairness of the American people, that
before one American soldier should be put in harm�s way, or one
bomb dropped on Iraq, that there should and there must be
Congressional hearings,� Min. Farrakhan said. Iraqi officials
should be permitted to participate in those hearings, he
continued.
The threatened U.S. military action to
remove the government of Iraq�s President Saddam Hussein must be
debated, Min. Farrakhan insisted, and those who desire war with
Iraq must �put before the American people the reasons that
justify such action and allow the scholars and scientists who
disagree with the administration�s position to testify� so that
the American people can hear both sides of the question.
 Any war decision against Iraq must be based
on �the will of the majority of the American people, and not the
will of any lobby, no matter how strong that lobby may be,� said
Min. Farrakhan. Iraq is the sixth Middle East country visited by
Min. Farrakhan and his delegation on a historic Peace Mission to
the Middle East and Africa.
Government officials showed the delegation
members the �consequences of the embargo imposed on Iraq, which
has caused the deaths of 1.6 million people so far, because of
the extreme lack of medicine and supplies,� the official Iraqi
News Agency reported.
The U.S. government�s �aim is against the
people of Iraq, not the regime, otherwise why are (they) not
giving permission for contracts to be approved for the sewer
system?� complained Dr. Abd Al-Razak Al-Hashmie, director of the
People�s Friendship, Peace, and Solidarity Committee. �What are
the dangers of surgical sutures? What are the dangers of
children�s toys? What is the (prohibited) use of kitchen
appliances? So when you ask them, there�s of course no answer,�
he said of U.S. and British officials who oversee the sanctions
and who have the final say even for food and medical items
purchased under the controversial �oil for food� program
approved by the United Nations nearly five years ago.
�We are suffering from the cumulative
effects� of sanctions and the Gulf War in 1991, added Health
Minister Dr. Omeed Mubarak. There is a radiological affect, as
well as a chemical affect, he said. �And this radiological
affect causes a change in the genes (for) millions of years, on
the soil and other affected areas.�
Iraqi citizens, especially children are
suffering from cases similar to what has been found among U.S.
veterans�the so-called �Gulf War Syndrome.� The culprit, Dr.
Mubarak said, is the use of depleted uranium in U.S. weapons.
 Members of the Farrakhan delegation were
shocked. �What you have just told us is crimes we are committing
against you, killing your children, poisoning your water,
spreading diseases,� the Rev. James Bevel, a disciple of civil
rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., told Dr. Mubarak.
�This is like a prime example of what we�re
going to see in the future against many nations if we don�t
dissolve the American (war) mentality. That has to be done
because you get an Iraq today, on tomorrow you get a Syria, and
on tomorrow you get a Sudan, and then on tomorrow Afghanistan.
That�s just like Mississippi. We had to dissolve that
mentality,� he continued, recalling his leadership in both the
struggles to desegregate the South and get voting rights for
Blacks, as well as to mount massive resistance against the
Vietnam War.
Because of the on-going sanctions, and despite some improvements
in the medical system since the end of the Gulf War 11 years
ago, the hospitals in Iraq are often not able to render
assistance to patients. Routine illnesses, some of which would
be treated at home and not a hospital in the United States,
become acute, life-threatening medical emergencies in Iraq,
according to Dr. Mubarak.
Related link:
Former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark's letter UN Security
Council and UN General Assembly
Photos (Credit, Kenneth Muhammad):
1-Minister
Louis Farrakhan and Iraqi Vice-President, Taha Yaseen
Ramadon.
2-Mother and child in Iraqi hospital.
3-Fatimah Farrakhan Muhammad, a professional nurse and daughter
of Min. Farrakhan, talks with physicians about problems faced at
Iraqi hospitals.
|
