In February, Michael Bremer drove from his home in Chicago to Texas for a speaking tour which took him to Houston, Austin and Dallas. His visit was sponsored by Fellowship of Reconciliation ~ Houston, Central Texas Fellowship of Reconciliation and American Friends Service Committee of Austin. He gave an eye-witness account of the situation in Iraq where he traveled for three weeks last December with Voices in the Wilderness . (See frontpage article in March HPN.)
Near the end of the visit, the group met with the Director of Inspections, who had been in that position for 5 years. Speaking off the record, he explained that there are five permanent inspection teams and a sixth, whose make-up changes (such as with Butler and Ritter), which comes in several times a year.
The inspectors work from bills of sale from countries, mostly western, which have sold Iraq components for missiles and chemical and biological weapons. He said that 817 of 819 Scud missiles have been accounted for, as have most of the biological and chemical supplies; the International Atomic Energy Agency has verified that Iraq has no nuclear weapons and is not working on developing them. (In fact, Pacifica Radio reported February 17 that an Israeli military analyst declared that Iraq did not have a functioning delivery system necessary for using weapons of mass destruction.)
In response to questions by Mike and friends, the director said (1) Iraqis have cooperated with the inspections, and (2) the inspectors know there is nothing in the palaces but it is a "matter of principle" to be able to go everywhere. (Many of the palaces are archeological sites.)
Michael suggested that if the inspector were looking for a weapon of mass destruction at work, he should take a cab into Baghdad, visit the hospitals there and see the children dying from malnutrition and disease, then go to the river where sewage flows into it and people come for water for cooking and drinking. There he could see biological weapons at work.
This 5-year veteran of inspections trembled as he said, "I know we are being used as political pawns; I know we are being used as political pawns." Norway, by the way, after WW II (because it joined the Nazis), was inspected for biological and chemical weapons until 1989, but without sanctions placed on the populace. With various treaties, inspections are also carried out. There is legal precedent for inspections that are not set up to humiliate the inspectees and invade their national sovereignty.
Mike reported that his group (of 5) spoke with a priest who said inspectors came to his door and demanded that he let them dig up the Catholic graveyard; he refused. In another incident, graves of nuns were dug up in the search for biological and chemical weapons. In at least one university, all of the chemistry books were taken out and burned. Medical journals and texts are among the items which can't be sent to Iraq.
Michael is convinced the sanctions must end, that Iraq has abided by all requirements of the initial resolutions. He suggested that the entire Middle East be demilitarized. Iraq is, after all, surrounded by hostile nations, all of whom are well armed, thanks, especially, to the United States. He also made the point that it is impossible to deny a country the ability to develop biological and chemical weapons because of their dual use nature. Equipment and supplies for producing medicines can be used for biological weapons; the same is true of the facilities and materials for producing fertilizers and pesticides they can be used to make chemical weapons.
Dr. Ron Hatchett, Director of the Center for International Studies at the University of Saint Thomas, held several positions in the Reagan administration. In a talk titled What Makes Saddam Tick last month, he, too, mentioned the Catch 22 of Clinton's requirement that Iraq have no possibility of developing chemical and biological weapons. He also said that in all cases where international inspections take place the host country is allowed sensitive sites which are off limits. One understands why Iraq fears the U.S. is determined that the sanctions and inspections will never end.
Criticism of lack of progress toward ending the sanctions has been voiced in the Security Council, the Feb./March 1998 issue of Women Strike for Peace Legislative Alert points out. Russia and China are skeptical that Iraq has any weapons left after 7 years of inspections and weapons destruction. The New York Times, 1/4/98, reported that France is frustrated by the Clinton Administration's uncompromisingly tough stands on continuing a full range of sanctions until numerous conditions are met. Other diplomats are concerned that the U.S. is turning sanctions into a no-exit program.
Sharp criticism has come from private relief organizations and UNICEF. The U.S. is accused of micro-managing the relief program that allows Iraq to sell limited quantities of oil to buy food and medicines, such as blocking the shipment to Iraq of whole-cream, powdered milk for children, on the ground that it could have laboratory use (NYT, 1/4/98).
At this writing, Secretary General of the United Nations Kofi Annan has just gone to Iraq and Saddam Hussein has notified President Boris Yeltsin that he wants to settle the dispute with the U.S./U.N. peacefully. The stance of the Clinton administration seems unyielding. Let's hope that, with educational tours like Michael Brewer's, talks like Dr. Hatchett's, town meetings and discussions, pressure to end the sanctions and not go to war will increase and the U.S. will accept a diplomatic solution.
In the meantime, we must let our elected officials know we are against the sanctions and any bombing. Want a speaker for a program? Call the Houston Coalition to Stop War in Iraq, 713-641-2815. Join us for demonstrations at the Mickey Leland Federal Building, 1919 Smith each Friday from 4:30 pm to 6 pm. The Capitol Hill Congressional Line is 1-800-522-6721. Each call is viewed as 500 citizens of like mind!