No more blood for oil

Kia ora, below is a media release suggesting one possible way to avert a new war on the people of Iraq. Please don't worry if you can't afford to buy refined oil to send to the US embassy - second hand oil would be just as good, and may even encourage recycling ...

For those of you who wish to assist in this way, a draft letter to the US Ambassador is included below the media release.

____________________________

No More Blood for Oil

Today at 3pm Gisborne activist Manu Caddie will be protesting against the plans of the United States and Britain to attack Iraq. Mr Caddie will be posting a container of refined oil to the United States Embassy in Wellington from the Post Shop in the Kaiti Mall.

"If we all send some oil to the United States, then perhaps the imperial war gods will be appeased and they will find more sensible, moral and legal ways of supporting the people of Iraq." said Mr Caddie.

"I want to bring our attention to the fact that the United States are not motivated by some altruistic concern for regional peace in the Middle East, but rather by their desire to access the massive Iraqi oil fields for American consumers and to keep the corporate weapon in business" said Mr Caddie.

"On the anniversary of one of the most tragic events in modern history let us also acknowledge the hundreds of thousands of innocent lives that have been lost as a direct result of American foreign policy in the Middle East" said Mr Caddie.

"In terms of the quantity and quality of coverage of human suffering, the mainstream media seem to suggest American lives are more valuable than Iraqi, Afghan or other non-American peoples."

A UN FAO 1995 report stated that one million Iraqi civilians have died as result of the UN sanctions, half of whom are children under the age of five. "The 1991 war in Iraq was not about protecting Kuwait - because the U.S. originally sanctioned the Iraqi invasion in mid-1990. And while the claims that Saddam gassed his own people may be true, the commentators forget to mention that he had the financial, political and military backing of the USA at the time". Extracts from other UN Reports Critical of the Sanctions are copied below.

For more information contact Manu Caddie email
11 September 2002

UN Reports Critical of the Sanctions:

Seven years after the imposition of the blockade on the people of Iraq, more than 1.2 million people, including 750,000 children below the age of five, have died because of the scarcity of food and medicine. - Verified by the UN, June 1997;

"One out of every 4 Iraqi infants is malnourished. Chronic malnutrition among children under five has reached 27.5%. After a child reaches two or three years of age, chronic malnutrition is difficult to reverse and damage on the child's development is likely to be permanent." - UNICEF and World Food Programmed (WFP), May 1997;

The World Health Organization says there has been a sixfold increase in childhood leukemia since 1992. Experts attribute the increase of cancers among the population to the presence of depleted uranium in the missiles used by the Allied Forces - Lancet Medical Journal, 28 February 1998;

"Iraq's health system is close to collapse because medicines and other life-saving supplies scheduled for importation under the 'oil-for-food' deal have not arrived. Government drug warehouses and pharmacies have few stocks of medicines and medical supplies. The consequences of this situation are causing a near-breakdown of the health care system, which is reeling under the pressure of being deprived of medicine, other basic supplies and spare parts." - World Health Organizations (WHO), February 1997;

"4,500 children under the age of 5 are dying each month from hunger and disease. The situation is disastrous for children. Many are living on the very margin of survival." - UNICEF, October 1996;

"Since the onset of sanctions, there has been a six-fold increase in the mortality rate for children under five and the majority of the country's population has been on a semi-starvation diet." - World Health Organization (WHO), March 1996;

"There is no sign of any improvement since Security Council Resolution 986/1111 ["Oil for Food"] came into force." - UNICEF, November 1997.

____________________________

If you wish to send a gift of oil to the US embassy, below is a draft letter on which you could base yours ...

Charles J. Swindells,
The Ambassador,
Embassy of the United States of America,
29 Fitzherbert Terrace,
Thorndon,
Wellington.

Dear Ambassador Swindells,

Please find enclosed a container of oil for your government. This oil is offered in place of the oil in Iraq that your President seems intent on acquiring at any price.

On the anniversary of the terrible events in the USA last year I would like express my sorrow about the loss of life to the families of people killed in your country.

I would also like to acknowledge the many hundreds of thousands of innocent lives lost in Iraq and Afghanistan as a direct result of your country's foreign policy and military interventions. Below are just a few extracts from United Nations reports which are critical of the US led sanctions against the civilian population of Iraq.

Please tell your President that there should be no more blood spilt in the pursuit of Iraqi oil. The current threats of war against Iraq are based on empty accusations that weapons of mass destruction are being manufactured there. The reality is that weapons of mass destruction, including depleted uranium ordinance were used by your government forces against Iraq in 1991. It is the United States that are currently presenting the greatest threat to peace and security in the Middle East.

Please refrain from further acts of violence and aggression which will inevitably cause more death and continue the bitter cycle of violence around the world.

Yours sincerely,
[name]

Extracts from various United Nations Agency reports:

Seven years after the imposition of the blockade on the people of Iraq, more than 1.2 million people, including 750,000 children below the age of five, have died because of the scarcity of food and medicine. - Verified by the UN, June 1997;

"One out of every 4 Iraqi infants is malnourished. Chronic malnutrition among children under five has reached 27.5%. After a child reaches two or three years of age, chronic malnutrition is difficult to reverse and damage on the child's development is likely to be permanent." - UNICEF and World Food Programmed (WFP), May 1997;

The World Health Organization says there has been a sixfold increase in childhood leukemia since 1992. Experts attribute the increase of cancers among the population to the presence of depleted uranium in the missiles used by the Allied Forces - Lancet Medical Journal, 28 February 1998;

"Iraq's health system is close to collapse because medicines and other life-saving supplies scheduled for importation under the 'oil-for-food' deal have not arrived. Government drug warehouses and pharmacies have few stocks of medicines and medical supplies. The consequences of this situation are causing a near-breakdown of the health care system, which is reeling under the pressure of being deprived of medicine, other basic supplies and spare parts." - World Health Organizations (WHO), February 1997;

"4,500 children under the age of 5 are dying each month from hunger and disease. The situation is disastrous for children. Many are living on the very margin of survival." - UNICEF, October 1996;

"Since the onset of sanctions, there has been a six-fold increase in the mortality rate for children under five and the majority of the country's population has been on a semi-starvation diet." - World Health Organization (WHO), March 1996;

"There is no sign of any improvement since Security Council Resolution 986/1111 ["Oil for Food"] came into force." - UNICEF, November 1997.

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