A short but comprehensive letter about US/British genocide against Iraqi people
This letter was published today in Toronto Star about the role US and Britain played in killing of 1.5 million Iraqis many of them Iraqi children.
Sanctions killed 1.5 million
U.S., Britain, maintained a policy of draconian measures against country's civilian population
"As Saddam Hussein faces trial for his crimes against the Iraqi people, let's not forget that for 12 long years the United States and the United Kingdom maintained a policy of continuous war and draconian sanctions that killed more than 1.5 million Iraqis. Sanctions killed an estimated 5,000 children under the age of 5 each month, and left 25 per cent of all Iraqi children irreparably damaged by chronic malnutrition.
From the early '90s, the U.S. and U.K. deflected all blame for the terrible suffering in Iraq. It was Saddam's fault, they insisted, because he would not abide by their directives and dismantle his weapons of mass destruction so that the sanctions could be lifted. Now, it appears that for years the Iraqi government may have been telling the truth when it argued that it had no such weapons. For the next while, we're likely to be awash in details of Saddam's crimes and the ins and outs of international law as it applies to him, but let's not forget that justice means that laws must be applied equally to all.
The U.S. and U.K. imposed lethal punishment on the Iraqi people to get to Saddam. This is a crime against humanity. The Geneva Conventions strictly prohibit the collective punishment of civilian populations, even in war.
And if we want to look at the legal technicalities of war crimes and genocide, there is plenty of fodder for a case against the U.S. and Britain there, too.
It is time we understood that global double standards and hypocrisy are to blame for a great deal of global animosity towards the West. If a war crimes tribunal is created to prosecute crimes against the Iraqi people, then there is a long list of western leaders who should be sharing the docket with Saddam."
Jillian Skeet, Vancouver, B.C.
Sanctions killed 1.5 million
U.S., Britain, maintained a policy of draconian measures against country's civilian population
"As Saddam Hussein faces trial for his crimes against the Iraqi people, let's not forget that for 12 long years the United States and the United Kingdom maintained a policy of continuous war and draconian sanctions that killed more than 1.5 million Iraqis. Sanctions killed an estimated 5,000 children under the age of 5 each month, and left 25 per cent of all Iraqi children irreparably damaged by chronic malnutrition.
From the early '90s, the U.S. and U.K. deflected all blame for the terrible suffering in Iraq. It was Saddam's fault, they insisted, because he would not abide by their directives and dismantle his weapons of mass destruction so that the sanctions could be lifted. Now, it appears that for years the Iraqi government may have been telling the truth when it argued that it had no such weapons. For the next while, we're likely to be awash in details of Saddam's crimes and the ins and outs of international law as it applies to him, but let's not forget that justice means that laws must be applied equally to all.
The U.S. and U.K. imposed lethal punishment on the Iraqi people to get to Saddam. This is a crime against humanity. The Geneva Conventions strictly prohibit the collective punishment of civilian populations, even in war.
And if we want to look at the legal technicalities of war crimes and genocide, there is plenty of fodder for a case against the U.S. and Britain there, too.
It is time we understood that global double standards and hypocrisy are to blame for a great deal of global animosity towards the West. If a war crimes tribunal is created to prosecute crimes against the Iraqi people, then there is a long list of western leaders who should be sharing the docket with Saddam."
Jillian Skeet, Vancouver, B.C.
posted by Faramin | 9:41 p.m.
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