A campaign to end the
economic sanctions against
the people of Iraq through nonviolent means. Supporters believe that
civilian deaths resulting from actions aimed at a
political regime are
crimes against humanity and
immoral. The campaign's web site can be found at
http://www.nonviolence.org/vitw
The campaign has compiled extensive documentation and rebuttals of common arguments used to rationalize continued US policy at:
http://www.nonviolence.org/vitw/pages/165.htm
http://www.nonviolence.org/vitw/sanctions.html
http://www.nonviolence.org/vitw/mythsand realities3.html
Rather than writing up a huge node that no one wants to read, I've selected a few points and invite you to read more there if you are interested.
The
Pope, 53
bishops and numerous other religious leaders have called for an end to sanctions and condemned the
continuing military strikes against Iraq. The
UN Office of the Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq has confirmed that these strikes by the US and UK military are killing dozens of civilians.
Geneva Protocol 1, Article 54 states Starvation of Civilians as a Method of Warfare is Prohibited.
In September of 1998, Denis Halliday, UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Iraq, resigned in protest over the continuing sanctions. He had worked for the UN for 34 years.
His successor, Hans Van Sponeck, also resigned in protest in February of 2000. He too had worked for the UN for over 30 years.
Iraqi efforts at the distribution of available food and medicine has been given an "A" rating by the World Health Organization and the World Food Program, both UN organizations. However, doctors in Iraq say they receive only 5 to 10 percent of the medicine they need.
While preventing the Iraqi military from bombing Kurdish communities in the "no-fly" zone, the US allows Turkey to bomb the very same communities in what non-Kurds consider Iraqi territory.