e Battalion O PINION Page 13 • Wednesday, October 27, 1999 SHOULD SANCTIONS BE SANCTIONED? lussein solely responsible for Iraq sanctions MARK PASSWATERS day at G. Rollie Whitete juaresi natch well in even’ aspectofou the best of our ability,we initely beat them.'' The Aggie seniors are ly finding their roles as Senior middle blcda Woolsey leads the tear second in the Big lbs bitting percentage. [t his been nine years since Sad- |dam Hussein’s Iraq invaded its [neighbor Kuwait. Many of the i sanctions levied against Iraq (the wake of the 1990 invasion }still in effect. Millions of Iraqi tn, women and children are now png of disease and starvation, Isome in the United States are f saying these sanctions must I lifted. Somewhere in Baghdad, Hussein must be smiling he foolishness of the American public. He knows at most of us do not: He alone is to be blamed for deaths of his people. The man known as “The Butcher of Baghdad” was [the business of killing his fellow countrymen long fore Operation Desert Storm and its aftermath. Hus- nhas killed hundreds of thousands of Iraqis in an [empt to cement his hold on power. They die today the same reasons, only now the Iraqi dictator has onvenient scapegoat. There is a pervasive belief among those who wish see sanctions lifted that the money not entering q would be spent for food and medicine for its pop- tion. This is an outright lie. Money does indeed en- Iraq; it simply is not distributed among the popu- lon. It goes directly into the coffers of Hussein and Ba’ath Party. In the meantime, Hussein’s propa nda wing cries out to the world about how the bar- ric United States and United Kingdom are causing iqi children to die. While there is supposed to be a ban on the sale of iqi crude oil, the CIA has said more than 100,000 rrels of Iraqi crude is smuggled out daily through tia, Jordan, and TUrkey. The money from this oil, it officially sold, is never seen by the public. In- ad, it goes to Hussein. The proof, as they say, is in the pudding. In this se, the pudding can be found in the more than 70 w palaces Hussein had built for himself since the of the war. These are not renovations to existing laces. These are brand-new ones, with deep owes currently Wsi in digs per game withl.ii per game with .35. “This is our lastcl» Texas at home, foriw senior middle Leahy said. “And the we’re Aggies makes th mge match.” (lie team in kills perjit Inkers designed to prevent American bombs from blocks per game, at4,Oh aching him. respectively. U a ] so can ^ seen j n q ie treatment of the elite Re- blican Guard and members of the Ba’ath Party, lese people, whose support Hussein requires to re in power, actually have increased their standard of ing since the end of the war. The Iraqi government has given seven pay raises members of the Republican Guard and subsidized rang for them. Ba’ath Party members receive simi- treatment, as well as free automobiles. In ex- inge for their continued support of Saddam, these ople live in the lap of luxury. There is no starvation malnutrition for them. Members of the Shiite Moslem and Kurdish com- had someont munities, whose support Hussein does not require, are the ones who have been left to fend for them selves. When the U.N. does authorize the sale of Iraqi oil for food and medicine, little reaches this segment of the population. Since the money is regulated by the Iraqi government, those in power can do as they please. Instead of buying clothing or medicine for the people of Iraq, Saddam has instead spent his money on his weapons of mass destruction program. When the Russian, French, and Chinese members of the U.N. Security Council condemn the U.S. and U.K. as “barbaric” for continuing sanctions, the world should laugh. Their desire to see sanc tions lifted are not humanitarian but self serving. With the proceeds from their “food-for-oil” program, Iraq has made down pay ments on weapons sys tems from all three of these nations, to be de livered as soon as sanctions are lifted. Why would the U.N. consider lift ing sanctions when Iraq is not in compli ance with the sanc tions? Iraq has yet to account for more than 80,000 Kuwaiti men who have been missing since 1991, nor have they termi nated their weapons of mass destruction program. Until these are done, the lifting of sanctions should not be considered. It is a terrible tragedy many Iraqis suffer because of the actions of Hussein, but it is not the fault of the United States. The solution is not the lifting of sanc tions, but stronger enforcement of them. As long as those around Hussein are able to live comfortably, there is no chance he will be removed from power. If they are made to feel the pinch of sanc tions the rest of the nation has, then perhaps all of Iraq will be of one mind — that Hussein must go. If sanctions against Iraq were to be lifted, those oppos ing them would rejoice Iraqis might not die. These same people could then watch as hundreds of thousands of Israelis, Saudis, Kuwaitis, Iranians and probably Americans would suffer under a Hus sein freed from the shackles of sanctions. Which is better? The answer is clear. Nobody ever said it would be simple or painless. U.S. policy harms innocent Iraqi civilians Mark Passwaters is an electrical engineering graduate student. A photo essay by the Seattle Post-Intelligencer shows the body of the tiny 2-year-old girl in a little red dress, lying in the cor ner of a cold, lonely hospital room. She is a beautiful child and appears gentle and peaceful. Her cheeks still maintain a rosy hue, although the rest of her body has become tinted cold blue. Sadly, she is dead. And the fact that she was alive only two minutes ago, full of hopes and dreams, is haunting. It is painful to think she could have been anyone’s sister, daughter or niece. It is even more painful to realize that for 50 cents, the cost for helpful medication, she could still be living. But this is Iraq, where after nine years of the most compre hensive, strictly-enforced eco nomic blockade of a country in history, com mon people are struggling to survive. According to the United Nations Chil dren’s Fund (UNICEF), 500,000 Iraqi children have died from lack of food, medicine and clean water. The United States, the sole world power still sup porting the devastating sanc tions, claims they must stay in place until all of Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction have been accounted for and destroyed. The United States asserts that harsh economic condi tions will motivate ordinary Iraqis to overthrow Saddam Hussein. However, this logic is flawed. The desire to destroy a rogue dictator’s arms arsenal cannot possibly justify the impoverishment of a people and the killing of half a million innocent children. The U.S.-backed economic sanctions on Iraq must come to an end. They are immoral and ineffective. They should be delinked from weapons inspections so that common people do not have to suffer for the ac tions of an intransigent government. Since economic sanctions were put in place, all they have done is cause misery and death of helpless people, instilled in them a deep hatred for the United States, further solidified Hussein’s grasp of power and alienated America from the Arab and Islamic world. How can the Iraqi people overthrow Hussein when they are sick and hungry? A man who can barely get enough to eat and has to work two to three jobs to sur vive does not have the time nor the energy to chal lenge the world’s most brutal and elusive dictator. When the sanctions are stopped and Iraqis can return to living normal, productive lives, they will be in a much better position to affect change. If the sanctions are doing anything, they are only giving Hussein what he really wants—a weak and exhausted population that he can easily manipulate. Critics claim that the Iraqi government is hoarding the U.N. relief in order to create a humanitarian disas ter that will get Iraq world sympathy. This is possible, and even probable. But what does it matter? Hussein has been holding his people hostage since he came to power. He has maintained a “state of fear,” where no one can publicly speak out against his tyranny. It is sense less for the United States to further contribute to the Iraqis’ woes by adding economic hardships to political restrictions. Hussein will likely manipulate U.N. relief aid as long as sanctions are in place. The only way to stop him from having this monopoly is by terminating the sanctions and allowing Iraqis to control their own livelihoods in free trade. The majority of American people, if properly informed, would never condone the suffering sanctions have caused. As evinced by a Sept. 6 Houston Chronicle special on Iraq, sanctions have devastated the lives of civilians but leave the government elite untouched. They have impoverished formally middle-class and professional Iraqis. Families have had to sell their belongings. Chil dren beg in the streets. Millions have fled to neighbor ing countries seeking economic refuge. Of course, the worst are the children who are need lessly dying. UNICEF reports that many die from drinking dirty water. During the war, allied bombing destroyed sewage and water-purification systems. Now with sanctions and the greed of Hussein, there is no money to repair them. A famine is looming, and UNICEF has declared the situation a “humanitarian emergency. ” Credible individuals have called for an end to the sanctions. Dennis Halliday, who was the U.N. Relief Coordinator for Iraq and is arguably the world’s expert on the subject, resigned in 1998 in protest of the sanc tions, calling them simplistic and unsuccessful. “There can be no justification in my view for the death and malnutrition for which sanctions are re sponsible,” he said, in a 1998 speech at Harvard Uni versity. The pope also condemned the sanctions, and according to The New York Times, he may even make a visit to Iraq. When a terrorist hijacks a plane and takes its inno cent passengers hostage, the answer is not to shoot down the plane and kill all on board. Yet this is what U.S.-backed sanctions are doing to Iraq. It is time to stop such senselessness and save the Iraqi people. Caesar Ricci is a junior plant and soil science major. ROBERT HYNECEK/The Battalion EDITORIAL ROUNDUP from U-Wire editorial reports dentors Listl ators check out the websi# 1 i or call 845-6! ampaign finance bill lould not have failed the Michigan Daily at the University fJlichigan. (U-WIRE) ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Last ek, in what has become a yearly ritual ashington, D.C., the U.S. Senate |ain defeated a bipartisan campaign fi- nce reform bill drafted by Sen. John Cain of Arizona and Sen. Russ Fein- of Wisconsin. The bill was not defeated by lack of ma lty support. This year, as in past years, the McCain- ingold legislation drew the support of a Jjority of senators but was again defeat- by a filibuster led by Sen. Mitch Mc- mnell of Kentucky. ... pwppY a flAVl The continued blocking of campaign fi- 4 Uhl ince reform by the Senate is an affront the democratic ideals of this nation is a clear example of how many law- akers have become obsessed with rais- gmoney. ... The usual argument used against cam- i out more about car«