The following is an archived copy of a message sent to a Discussion List run by the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq.
Views expressed in this archived message are those of the author, not of the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq.
[Main archive index/search] [List information] [Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq Homepage]
The Liberal Democrats, the UK's third party, is currently holding their
annual conference. Menzies Campbell, their Foreign Policy spokesman, has
just delivered a speech, available in full at
http://www.libdems.org.uk/index.cfm?page=news§ion=conference&article=517
In it he devotes a section to Iraq, calling for the lifting of the
non-military sanctions on Iraq. I reproduce that section in full below.
I would encourage list members to take this opportunity to thank Menzies
Campbell and the LibDems for this new position. They are now the first
major UK party to adopt this stance. This, I think, is wonderful news.
The Rt. Hon. Menzies Campbell MP can be reached at House of Commons,
Westminster, London, SW1A 0AA. The Liberal Democrat party can be reached
at Liberal Democrats, 4 Cowley Street, London SW1P 3NB, Tel: 020 7222
7999, Email: libdems@cix.co.uk
Colin Rowat
******************************************************
Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq
http://www.casi.org.uk fax 0870 063 5022
are you on our announcements list?
******************************************************
393 King's College www.cus.cam.ac.uk/~cir20
Cambridge CB2 1ST tel: +44 (0)7768 056 984
England fax: +44 (0)8700 634 984
The Rt Hon Menzies Campbell MP, address to Conference
18/09/2000
18th September 2000
Rt. Hon. Menzies Campbell MP
Conference Speech - Bournemouth
...I am convinced by the effectiveness of deterrence.
Which is why I want now to talk about Iraq.
IRAQ
Liberal Democrats supported the UN-led action in the Gulf War - we were
right to do so.
When Saddam Hussein sought to flout the will of the UN by expelling
inspectors and manufacturing weapons of mass destruction, Liberal
Democrats supported military action. We were right to do so.
If today Saddam Hussein were threatening Kuwait by massing troops on its
borders, I would be telling you we should be willing with others to face
down that threat by military means.
But we owe it to ourselves, and to the suffering people of Iraq to keep
our policy under review.
What does that policy towards Iraq amount to now? Containment - and
nothing more.
Successive Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch reports reveal the
shocking catalogue of unspeakable terror and evil which Saddam Hussein
continues to impose upon his own people. Their daily lives, save for
those whose welfare and loyalty are essential for the survival of the
regime are blighted by poverty, malnutrition and ignominy.
The ordinary people of Iraq are the oppressed not the oppressors.
Their suffering is not caused by sanctions - it is caused by the evil
exploitation of sanctions by Saddam Hussein.
But, remove the sanctions and you remove the opportunity for that
exploitation.
Remove the sanctions which are used by the regime in Iraq to justify the
systematic degradation of the Iraqi people by its own government and you
take that weapon away from Saddam Hussein.
Remove the sanctions and you will find a collective and sympathetic sigh
of relief from Arab governments throughout the Middle East who believe the
Iraqi people have suffered enough.
So today I say that it should now become the policy of the British
Government that sanctions other than those directly relevant to military
or military related equipment should be lifted.
The removal of non-military sanctions will not prejudice the policy of
containment.
Deterrence allied to the credible threat of military action is a
sufficient basis for containment.
Non-military sanctions do not hurt Saddam Hussein and the elite who
surround him. But they are used by him to hurt his own people. After ten
years it is time to deny him that opportunity.
Now let me turn to Sierra Leone...
--
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
This is a discussion list run by the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq
For removal from list, email soc-casi-discuss-request@lists.cam.ac.uk
Full details of CASI's various lists can be found on the CASI website:
http://www.casi.org.uk