> From World Socialist Web Site > Eye witness account of the impact of war and sanctions > on Iraq > > "It really is a New World Order > imposed by Britain and the US" > > A two-part interview with journalist Felicity Arbuthnot > by Barbara Slaughter > > Part One > > 5 July 1999 > > > Felicity Arbuthnot is a freelance > journalist, who has visited Iraq on > many occasions since the end of the > Gulf War. She has just returned to > Britain from her eighteenth visit. In the > first of a two-part interview she > explained to Barbara Slaughter how > she became involved. > > Like many others I had opposed the > Gulf War. I knew that, like the war in > Yugoslavia, it was about the strategic interests of the > western powers and not about either Saddam Hussein > or "little Kuwait". At the end of the war I thought, > "We > did our best and failed. And now the rebuilding of the > country will begin." > > A few months later I attended a press conference given > by Magne Raundalen, a Norwegian professor in child > psychology, and Eric Hoskins, a Canadian public > health expert, on child trauma in Iraq. They were the > first people to report what was actually going on. > > Nothing was being done to help and I felt impelled to > go > to Iraq and see for myself. A week later I was in > Baghdad and I was appalled by what I saw. It was a > country which had, as James Baker had threatened, > literally been reduced to a pre-industrial age; a > country, > which had been highly dependent on modern > technology, was just being left to rot. What was unique > was that this was done in the name of the people of the > United Nations. It will go down in history as one of > the > great crimes of the twentieth century, along with the > Holocaust, Pol Pot and the bombing of Dresden. > > This was my 18th visit to Iraq since the Gulf War. The > last four have been very close together: last October, > January/February, I went back at the end of March > and then again in May. > > Each time I am struck by the deterioration. Each time > there is another horror. In March it was the daily > bombing of the infrastructure. The electricity has just > died. Many people can't afford candles and use > makeshift lamps. People put a wick in a bottle with oil > and quite often the bottle explodes. The injuries have > soared. The burns are horrendous and there is no > treatment, not even cling film as an emergency measure > to cover the wounds. There are no painkillers. There is > no plastic surgery. > > There were two other things I noticed. Like with every > embargo in history, there was a small amount of > profiteering in money dealing. You have a fraction of > the > population at the top of the regime who have family > abroad sending in dollars. There are restaurants > springing up. You can get Christian Dior sunglasses, > absolutely anything. Yet 98 percent of the population > don't have a way of sterilising burns. > > The other thing that struck me was the breakdown in > the spirit of these very brave people. They feel that > it is > never, ever, going to end. Yet when I became ill on > this > trip, they were so concerned. I suddenly collapsed in > the > hotel foyer in Mosul and was virtually unconscious. My > interpreter and my driver kept letting themselves into > my > room, touching me on the head and saying: “Are you all > right? Shall we get a doctor?" They were saying, “You > keep coming back here and Iraq has made you so ill." > > I was in and out of consciousness for about 18 hours. I > don't know what caused it. I just think the atmosphere > is poisoned. The colleague I was with was also > affected. > She would be ill and I would do the interviews and then > she would do the interviews the next day. We didn't go > to > hospital because we felt that we would be taking > medicines needed for other people, so we just battled > on. > It was a nightmare, but they were apologising to us > because Iraq, where they had to live, had made us ill. > > Another thing that struck me was the unique way they > have of announcing a death in Iraq. They have these > death notices, which are called naie. They take a large > piece of black muslin and they write on it in white—the > name, the age, the cause of death. Then they write the > name in bright yellow. They put one outside the home > and, if the person has died somewhere else, one there > too. In March, if you were driving around for an entire > day, you might see perhaps two. This time, in 13 blocks > in one area of Baghdad, I counted 18. It became a > thing, > to count them. In one very small square, there were > three > on one wall—so the whole family had died—and one on > the opposite wall. > > Iraq has been more or less at war for 20 years, > starting > with the Iran-Iraq war. It is a nation that has been > starving for 10 years. The doctors say that more and > more people are dying, particularly young men aged 30 > to 35. These are young men who have had all their > formative years under the embargo. Now they see middle > age approaching and they just give up and die. > > Mosul is in the “no-fly zone”. What a misnomer! The > British and the Americans are bombing there every > single day—with a two-week break in March and a > four-day break in May. One day last week, there were > 100 sorties. At night you can't sleep for the sound of > anti-aircraft guns. > > I'd gone to the > area near Mosul > because I'd > heard that they > were bombing > flocks of sheep. > Middle Eastern > friends told me > that it was > becoming like a > target practice > for the pilots. > They are also > bombing in Basra but I was in Basra in March. Mosul > has the largest Christian population in Iraq. It has > ancient Christian monasteries and wonderful buildings > that go back to the time of Petra. I went in search of > the > flocks of sheep and found one in the middle of the > plain, > in the middle of nowhere, that had been bombed on > April 13. > > We went to the village where the family of the > shepherds > lived. A little, tiny, very poor, pastoral village of > Christians and Muslims, with no oil installations and > no military. The houses were built like the adobe > houses > in Arizona. These people had been living together in a > mixed society of Muslims and Christians for centuries. > > The bombing took place on a Friday, the Muslim > Sabbath, and a very hot day. There were 105 sheep and > goats. About 50 people had gone down to the plain with > the shepherds. In the early dawn, before it got hot, > they > were having a kind of Sabbath celebration and sharing > their food and drink. Then the villagers drifted off > and > the family of six were left. There was the grandfather, > who was 60, the son who was 37, and the four children > of whom the youngest was a boy of six. > > As they left, the villagers heard a plane circling. It > circled for about three hours, and they were listening > because the area has been bombed so many times. > Then they heard the bombing and they ran to see if they > could help. They searched for the entire day, and by > nightfall, they could only find enough remains to bury > the family in two tombs instead of six. They could > identify the torso of the old man, and that's all they > found. His head, his arms, his legs, were all blown > off. > > The six-year-old boy, Soultan, had just finished his > second term in school. His marks had been very good > and he was so proud of them. There is still this > incredible adherence and passion for culture and > education in Iraq. He had got a ballpoint pen (vetoed > by > the UN) and a piece of paper (also vetoed by the UN), > and taken them down into the fields with the sheep to > practice his writing and arithmetic. > > The villagers couldn't identify even one bit of him. > One > of his relations looked at me and grabbed my notebook. > It was a very personal thing—almost like a sort of > "witness". He said, “I have to write not you. I have to > write their names down in your book.” His hand was > shaking and he had tears on his cheeks. When he > wrote the name of the little boy he said, “What do they > want from us? All he had was his pen. Is that what they > want?” > > This area is in the middle of a huge plain, surrounded > by mountains, with a tiny village nearby. The sheep > would have stood out starkly. The family had a red > tractor with them and a battered white Toyota pick-up > truck pulling a water barrel for the sheep. All of this > would have been clearly visible. > > I spoke with a Dominican priest, who was from the > Lebanon. He was 60 years old and very academic and > measured, but he was incandescent with fury. He told > me that the Iraqi people are very moral, and that they > only had their dignity and their morality left. He > said, > “Just before you arrived, 24 people in a Christian > village, a small pastoral community living totally off > the > land, were killed by an American bomb. It's just the > Americans and the British." > > I heard this repeatedly. “The planes take off usually > from Turkish air bases,” he continued. “We keep > reading in the western media that they are bombing > legitimate targets—such as radar that is locked on to > them. Why don't they say that they are bombing just for > the sake of it, because that's what we see? > > “Every day mothers are losing children, children are > losing mothers and fathers, brothers are losing > sisters, > sisters are losing brothers. This is the cost of it.” > > He made a very interesting point, which the Ministry of > Defence and the Americans won't talk about. He said, > “They are bombing from a distance of fifteen > kilometres, > but our anti-aircraft guns only have a distance of five > kilometres. So how can we be a threat to them?” > > I rang the Ministry of Defence and said, “I've just > come > back from Iraq and I've seen evidence that you are > bombing sheep. What are your comments?” The > spokesman replied, “We reserve the right to take robust > action whenever we are threatened.” I asked “Against > sheep?” Then I just gave up and put the phone down. > > Another question that has to be asked is whether they > are continuing to use depleted uranium bombs? I looked > for evidence, but didn't find many pieces of the > tractor > and none of the bomb. The relatives told me that the > authorities took the fragments away. They said it was a > 500lb bomb, and the crater confirmed this. But I > couldn't get confirmation of what type it was. The > senior > spokesman at the Iraqi Ministry of Defence said, “We > are not releasing anything on the bombing until we are > one hundred percent sure, because everything we say is > rubbished by the western press and the United > Nations.” In my experience this is true. > > I asked the Ministry of Defence in Britain whether > depleted uranium missiles are being used in northern > Iraq, but they refused to comment. I asked whether they > were using them in Yugoslavia and were we going to see > a crop of birth defects and cancer like we are seeing > in > Iraq? Are we going to see a rerun of Gulf War syndrome > now the soldiers are on the ground? He replied, “Our > personnel have been given the strictest instructions, > handed down by the Minister for the Armed Forces, > Douglas Henderson, to all the senior officers, that > none > of our personnel are to approach anything that might > have been hit with depleted uranium—any burned out > tanks—absolutely totally not. And if it is unavoidable > they are to be issued with special instructions, > special > protective clothing, and special breathing apparatus." > > I then said, (and this applies of course both to Iraq > and > Yugoslavia), "Excuse me, but what about the people > living there? What about the refugees?" He would only > address Yugoslavia and he said, "That's up to UNHCR". > So I asked if UNHCR had been informed. He didn't > know and I haven't been able to contact anyone that > does know. > > One of the questions I've asked both in the west and in > Iraq is why are they targeting sheep, and I really > can't > come to a conclusion. It seems so irrational, but I > wonder, is it just target practice, or is it their > intention is > to destroy the food chain? For these pastoral people, > the > sheep, the barley and the wheat they produce are > everything. It's so basic and nothing is wasted. They > use > the meat and they sell the excess. They use the > leather. > They use the wool. Every single bit of it is utilised. > They > boil down the bones for soup, for gelatine and for > preserving. This is all they have. > > After the Gulf War even the date crop went wrong. Dates > are just dates. They sit on top of a palm tree and just > grow. You don't spray them with anything or fertilise > them. But there was no date crop for five years. The > date > harvest in Iraq is a big thing. They have nearly 600 > different kinds of dates and they were the world's > biggest > exporter. But they killed the date crop. > > Since then there has been the screwworm epidemic, foot > and mouth disease, which are both non-endemic to that > country. There are now reports of locusts—also > non-endemic. It's difficult to know what is going on, > but > what is certain is that there are diseases happening > right across agriculture affecting flora and fauna, in > Iraq that have never been seen before. > > All over the area where the bombing happened there are > monasteries going back to the period just after Christ. > There is a Dominican monastery where it is said that St > Matthew was buried. On the other side of the valley, > there's a mosque named after Jonah, who is reputed to > be buried in the same place. We went to this wonderful > Christian monastery on top of a mountain and I > interviewed one of the priests. He was blind. He told > me > that St Matthew had powers of healing and people come > for healing from all over Iraq, from all denominations > and all religions, to this ancient little chapel. > > While we were there an ambulance drew up. There > aren't many of them, so they must have been a > relatively > wealthy family. Inside was a woman who had been in a > coma for eight months. Something had gone wrong with > the anaesthetic she had been given. There are all sorts > of problems with the stuff that's going in. The woman > was a Muslim and her father was a surgeon in the > same hospital where she was being cared for. They were > coming for healing from a Christian saint, and just > down in the valley we were bombing pastoralists with > their flocks of sheep. > > On May 18, Tam Dalyel MP asked Tony Blair why the > bombing was continuing. Blair replied, and I quote, "We > are doing it for the protection of the people of Iraq." > When > I told this to the Dominican priest, he said, "They are > saying this in the British parliament? In the Mother of > Parliaments they are saying this?” > > The current claim from Blair and Clinton is that Iraq > is > withholding food and medicine—that the warehouses of > Baghdad are overflowing. But even a spokesman for the > UN has admitted that the logistical problems are an > absolute nightmare. There are no refrigerated trucks; > there are no phones outside Baghdad. You have to > target these inadequate amounts very carefully. You > have to know what Basra, which is seven or eight hours > away, actually needs, You have to know whether they > have a refrigerated warehouse. Well you probably know > that they haven't, because the electricity is off > practically > seven days a week now. So what are you supposed to > do—commit medicines to an unrefrigerated truck, > probably to arrive at a warehouse that has no > refrigeration, then take it back when it's going to be > totally destroyed? > > A few months ago a large consignment of medical > equipment finally arrived in Baghdad that had been > vetoed by the US since 1990. There were scanners, > X-ray equipment and other sophisticated stuff. But what > nobody at the UN had taken on board was that Iraq's > technical knowledge is so out of date now, that they > are > not able to install it. They also lacked the necessary > materials for the job. For example, they need special > cement, because if there is anything wrong in the > cement it can interfere with the readings. So the > equipment that is desperately needed in the hospitals > is > just sitting in a warehouse. > > Al Mansour Hospital in Baghdad, was once one of the > finest teaching hospitals in the Middle East. Most of > the > time it has no electricity. The temperature is about > 125 > degrees Fahrenheit; the heat is such that you are > constantly in your own personal steam bath. There are > children, mainly leukaemia victims, dying in these > impossible conditions. And the equipment needed for > their treatment can't be installed because they haven't > got the parts for the generators. When the electricity > does > come on you get a big surge in power, then it dies > again, > and then another surge. You can't keep having these > sudden great power surges without it affecting the > machines. So they can't be used. > > Yet the bombing continues and has done every single > day since the "cessation of hostilities" after the > four-day > bombing in December 1998. We've destroyed the entire > infrastructure. And now our representatives stand up in > parliament and in the Senate and blame Iraq for not > being able to distribute stuff. It's double standards > on a > scale almost impossible to comprehend. > > I walked round the wards in hospitals in Baghdad and > in Mosul, and I looked around at those kids who could > be saved but were dying, for want of chemotherapy. I > was with the doctors, who were trained to heal. If they > had done everything they possibly could and a child > died, it would be a disaster. But they hadn't even got > the > necessary tools. I asked them, "How do you feel? How do > you cope? How do you even get here?" Every time I got > the same reaction. They almost cried and said, "You are > the first person to ask me that. Everybody leans on me. > How do I cope?" > > One doctor told me how he'd got a job at Al Mansour > hospital. He was a senior house officer and he was > really proud, in spite of his problems. He thought "I'm > young and I'll survive the embargo. I still feel I have > to > put something back." > > He said that when he came to work there he had a car > and now it has collapsed. The hospital is about twenty > minutes drive from the centre of Baghdad, but the > public transport system has also collapsed. When he > leaves work to go home he has to walk to the main road, > which takes him about an hour. Then he has to hitch > hike and wait until a car stops. And because of the > collapse of the social fabric, he is not even sure that > the > person who picks him up isn't going to mug him for the > few dinars he has on him. Then, at maybe four or five > o'clock the next morning, he has to walk back on to the > main road, hitch a lift and then walk an hour back to > the hospital. This is how the doctors survive. > > I spoke to a senior charge nurse whom I've known for > years. She was one of the few nurses left in the > hospital > and again her salary wouldn't buy you a bus ticket > back into town. But she is committed because she has > been there for 27 years, and she told me how proud she > was in her job and her passion for these children. > > She encourages them to draw pictures, if there is > anything for them to draw with. She took me round the > wards and said, "This is Jasmine's picture, this is > so-and-so's picture". Then she looked at me and at > these > beautiful pictures, of birds and trees and stars—one > had a lovely person in a wedding dress, you know, > children's pictures with sunshine and so on. She told > me all their names and ages and said, "She died > yesterday. He died last week. He died three months > ago." > Then she looked at herself in what I thought was a very > neat, white uniform and said, "Look, look. I would have > been so ashamed to come out like this, but now I don't > care anymore." What had been her tights she had cut > down and down as they had split round the back and > got more and more tattered and she was now wearing > them as sort of pop socks. > > Then she said to me "I've only water to offer you, but > it's > clean." She explained how difficult it is, because her > monthly salary wouldn't even buy three bottles of clean > water. But she and her sister had found a way of > filtering the water that they thought was ok. "You know > I > wouldn't offer it to you if I thought it would make you > ill," > she said. She explained to me in this hundred and > twenty-five-degree temperature how, about three weeks > before, her refrigerator had finally died. A > refrigerator > costs three million dinars and her monthly salary is > three thousand. She explained that in this great heat > they somehow needed the water to be cold. The > refrigerators in the hospital do sometimes work, at > least > when the electricity is on. So having found a way of > filtering the water, she takes what she knows is > dangerous ice from the hospital refrigerators and adds > it > to her drinking water—this is the crazy upside down > world that is Iraq. > > Nationwide tour opposes Iraq sanctions - Former UN > relief coordinator speaks in Detroit > [17 March 1999] > The terrible impact of sanctions on Iraq: An interview > with journalist Felicity Arbuthnot > [21 April 1999] > > Top of page > > Readers: The WSWS invites your comments. Please send > e-mail. > > > > Copyright 1998-99 > World Socialist Web Site > All rights reserved > >
