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Hello, We are sending you this email with a request that you write today to the Taoiseach, the Minister for Foreign affairs, the press and other individuals and groups to tell them about on coming vote in the UN Security Council in July. A sample letter is enclosed. Feel free to print it out, sign it and send it out. Or make suitable changes. Please also pass this email on to your friends and other email lists. For more information please call me at 236 2041. - -Sandeep Campaign to End Iraq Sanctions 125 winter Garden Pearse St.; Dublin 2 This email contains the following: 1) A statement on the so-called 'Smart Sanctions.' 2) A sample letter and addresses. ------------------- 1) Ireland must vote No on the "Smart Sanctions" in the UN Security Council The UN Security Council is due to vote in early July on new proposals by the United States and UK to introduce what are being called "smart sanctions." As a member of the Security Council, Ireland will have the opportunity to help the beleaguered people of Iraq by casting a no vote. The Irish Government will undoubtedly be under enormous pressure to vote in favour of these proposals. The US and UK governments are hoping for unanimous support on their proposals. High profile diplomatic moves are currently underway to overcome the objections of the French, Russian, and Chinese delegations. With the five permanent members on side, non-permanent members such as Ireland will be strongly expected to fall into line. But while an easy life would determine that Ireland vote in favour of the smart sanctions. The most significant vote since we joined the Security Council surely demands that we at least explore and debate the merits of the proposals first. At a minimum this issue should be discussed fully within the Dail before any final government position is taken. Were this an important domestic policy decision, there would be no question of the importance of public representatives debating the matter. Without question, the Irish people as a whole remain committed to the United Nations, and retain pride in Ireland's historic involvement with the UN. The Security Council as the decision making executive should be treated by the Irish Government with absolute seriousness. The Campaign to End Iraq Sanctions, like most peace and justice groups world-wide, believes that the new Security Council proposals will in no way alleviate the suffering of the Iraqi people. Ireland's Denis Halliday, former UN Humanitarian Co-ordinator for Iraq who resigned his post in protest has said in relation to the Smart Sanctions: "what is proposed at this point in fact amounts to a tightening of the rope around the neck of the average Iraqi citizen. The smell is of diluted wine in the same restricted bottle. No reasonable person will want to drink it and the Iraqi Government will refuse to pay for it. For the Iraqi people with an immune system which has all but disappeared, it will be fatal." "We have very carefully studied the draft resolution. We find it a provocation and an intensified punishment of a people for a crime they have never committed,'' said von Sponeck, a German career U.N. official. He resigned from the same post last year, criticizing the sanctions' effects on ordinary Iraqis. Since the gulf war in 1990, Iraq has been subject to the most comprehensive sanctions known in history which have resulted in the deaths of more than 1.5 million innocent men, women and children . The sanctions and the Gulf War bombing have devastated Iraq, destroyed much of its infrastructure and civilian economy, and set Iraq back many decades. On Jan. 9, 1991, the then - US Secretary of State James Baker said that, " Iraq will be turned into a backward and weak state." The intense bombing campaign that began a few days later and the sanctions which have continued ever since, have turned Mr. Baker's threat into a terrifying reality. Mr. Halliday says "Today Iraq has the dubious distinction of being the country with the highest increase in child mortality during the period 1990-99 of all the 188 countries surveyed according to a UNICEF report released in December 2000." Today, international support for the sanctions is crumbling. The vast majority of UN member states have expressed their desire to lift the sanctions. However, the sanctions remain in place solely at the insistence of the US and it's junior partner, Britain. Faced with growing international condemnation, the United States was forced to propose the "smart sanctions." Smart Sanctions are still Sanctions Smart sanctions are nothing but a last ditch effort by the United States to shore support for the blockade that has lost nearly all international support. While the new proposals will allow some civilian goods in, far too many items are still banned. The Proposals will not address the fundamental problem of low purchasing power of the vast majority of Iraqis. Presently, and also under the "new" sanctions, Iraqi people who are employed are paid extremely low wages, with a greatly devalued currency. At present, no money is allowed to Iraq from the Oil-for-Food program. This will not change with the "new" sanctions, even though the UN Secretary General has repeatedly stressed the need for a "cash component" in the Oil for Food program. Also, smart sanctions do not lift the almost complete ban on foreign investment, which is essential for the reconstruction of Iraq's civilian infrastructure. There are still too many banned items in the new proposal. The list of possible dual-use items which might require end-use monitoring or outright bans is 23-pages long. For example, virtually all modern PC's, Mac's, mobile phones, and recording devices will still be banned. Investment in oil exploration and communication equipment is also banned. These proposed smart sanctions increase the diversion of funds from the Oil for Food programme. Currently, 25% of the proceeds from Iraq's oil sales are diverted to the UN Compensation Commission (UNCC), which processes claims for damages by victims of Iraq's 1990 invasion of Kuwait. Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) was awarded $15.9 billion in October 2000. Several U.S. multinational corporations and oil companies also have Hugh claims before the Commission. Before the KPC award, 30% of oil proceeds went to the UNCC, but the award aroused so much opposition from some members on the Security Council and peace groups that UN Security Council Resolution 1330 was passed, cutting the amount to 25%. The new proposals would restore the UNCC's cut to 30%, ostensibly to create a fund to "compensate Iraq's neighbors for future losses." This would be taking away revenue desperately needed by Iraq for reconstruction and basic needs. The new proposals will strengthen the already tight U.S. and UK hold on Iraqi oil. According to press reports, "The United Nations would draft a list of oil companies authorized to buy Iraqi petroleum..." (March 26, 2001 Washington Post.) This list will be created by the joint efforts of the United States and Great Britain. The Financial Times (April 12, 2001) reports that "The UK and the US have proposed tighter registration rules, forcing companies to prove financial solidity and a prominent past within the oil market, before being able to buy oil through the UN's oil-for-food programme. . . 'What we are proposing is that there should be criteria referring to the companies' respectability and reliability in the market,' said one UK diplomat." This plan would place Iraq's oil firmly in the control of the major oil companies currently dominating the world market, with disastrous results to Iraq. Before the war and the imposition of the sanctions, the Iraqis had access to the best health care system in the Arab world. Education was free from Primary level through to third level college for both men and women. Iraq had extremely high rates of literacy and employment. Only a complete lifting of the sanctions will enable the Iraqis to heal their families and rebuild their country. Ireland can play a very crucial role in the reconstruction of a people who have been so wronged by the international community for so long. As Mr.Halliday says, "If there is an honest concern for the welfare of the Iraqi people, then there must also be a sense of urgency in finding a humane way out of the present political cul-de-sac. Let not hate but sympathy for a human catastrophe be the guide for the next steps." Sandeep Vaidya Michael Birmingham Campaign to End Iraq Sanctions. 125 Winter Garden Pearse Street Dublin 2 2) Sample letter The Secretary, Dept of the Taoiseach, Govt Buildings, Dublin 2 Mr Bertie Ahern T.D., Taoiseach Dear Taoiseach, The UN Security Council is due to vote in early July on new proposals by the United States and UK to introduce what are being called "smart sanctions." As a member of the Security Council, Ireland will have the opportunity to help the beleaguered people of Iraq by casting a no vote. The Irish Government will undoubtedly be under enormous pressure to vote in favour of these proposals. The US and UK governments are hoping for unanimous support on their proposals. High profile diplomatic moves are currently underway to overcome the objections of the French, Russian, and Chinese delegations. With the five permanent members on side, non-permanent members such as Ireland will be strongly expected to fall into line. But while an easy life would determine that Ireland vote in favour of the smart sanctions. The most significant vote since we joined the Security Council surely demands that we at least explore and debate the merits of the proposals first. Without question, the Irish people as a whole remain committed to the United Nations, and retain pride in Ireland's historic involvement with the UN. The Security Council as the decision making executive should be treated by the Irish Government with absolute seriousness. I believe that the new Security Council proposals will in no way alleviate the suffering of the Iraqi people. I therefore urge you to instruct Ireland's representative on the UN Security Council to vote against the resolution. Ireland's Denis Halliday, former UN Humanitarian Co-ordinator for Iraq who resigned his post in protest has said in relation to the Smart Sanctions: "what is proposed at this point in fact amounts to a tightening of the rope around the neck of the average Iraqi citizen. The smell is of diluted wine in the same restricted bottle. No reasonable person will want to drink it and the Iraqi Government will refuse to pay for it. For the Iraqi people with an immune system which has all but disappeared, it will be fatal." Before the war and the imposition of the sanctions, the Iraqis had access to the best health care system in the Arab world. Education was free from Primary level through to third level college for both men and women. Iraq had extremely high rates of literacy and employment. Only a complete lifting of the sanctions will enable the Iraqis to heal their families and rebuild their country. Ireland can play a very crucial role in the reconstruction of a people who have been so wronged by the international community for so long. As Mr. Halliday says, "If there is an honest concern for the welfare of the Iraqi people, then there must also be a sense of urgency in finding a humane way out of the present political cul-de-sac. Let not hate but sympathy for a human catastrophe be the guide for the next steps." Sincerely Name: Date: Address ---------- More Addresses: 1) Mr. Brian Cowen, T.D. Minister for Foreign Affairs Iveagh House, 80 St. stephen's Green Dublin 2 email: library1@iveagh.irlgov.ie website: www.irlgov.ie/iveagh/ 2) Irish Times 11-15 D'Olier Street Dublin 2 email: lettersed@irish-times.ie web: www.irish-times.ie 2) The Irish Independent Middle Abbey Street Dublin 1 email: independent.letters@independent.ie web: www.independent.ie 3) The Examiner PO Box 21 Academy Street Cork web: www.examiner.ie 4) Belfast Telegraph 124-144 Royal Avenue Belfast BT1 1EB web: www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk 5) An Phoblacht/Republican News 58 Parnell Square, Dublin 1 email: aprn@irlnet.com web: http://irlnet.com/aprn -- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 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