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CARE warns of collateral disaster South News Feb 16 Amman: An Australian aid worker warned of massive humanitarian disaster as the US pondered collateral damage in a strike on Iraq. CARE Australia's Lockton Morrissey said Sunday in a full-scale military assault Iraq's infrastructure would also suffer. "The effects of cutting off supplies of electricity, water and sewage treatment in what are mainly urban settlements would be devastating", Morrissey said. Meanwhile in the United States an American general has warned that a military strike on Iraq is likely to leave about 1500 Iraqi civilians and soldiers dead. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Henry Shelton, made the estimate in a private briefing of US senators as the Clinton administration continued its efforts to persuade the US public and Congress of the need for military action. General Shelton said he expected only a handful of American pilots would be lost. After his confidential briefing the general told reporters the US had no quarrel with the Iraqi people. "We are going to great lengths to ensure we hit only what we intend to hit." He added a clear warning that this could not be guaranteed. Lockton Morrissey Middle East regional manager of CARE Australia is based in Amman, Jordan said Iraq had already suffered seven years of devastation, and it would get worse. CARE is the only Australian aid organisation to remain in Iraq through seven years of economic sanctions. There are now about 30 Australians in Iraq working for the UN or non-government aid organisations. Mr Morrissey said water would become not just polluted but deadly, electricity supplies would stop and hospitals would cease functioning. Food supplies, which were often late, were barely enough to feed people in refugee camps and would not sustain civilians in cities. "One thousand children a week die in Iraq. That is ridiculous and it will just get worse." -- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- This is a discussion list run by Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq. To be removed/added, email soc-casi-discuss-request@lists.cam.ac.uk, NOT the whole list. Archived at http://linux.clare.cam.ac.uk/~saw27/casi/discuss.html