Re: going... going... gone.

["Mark Parkinson" <mark@DELETETHISbodmin-comm-coll.demon.co.uk>]

I must admit to also feeling depressed when I read the posting   below. After all this time and energy spent by people on this list and  many others how can Blair get away with such a reply?

The depression soon passes when I think that in the one month  since September 11th around 8000 Iraqi civilians (including 5000  children) have died as a result of US & UK policy. We have to keep  protesting.

OBSERVER: Something that has been raised as a reason for this   bitterness is the situation in Iraq. Do you think that there needs to   be some new work there, for example on the sanctions issue?   

BLAIR: In my view Iraq falls into a different category altogether. The   truth is Saddam Hussein could perfectly easily give his people the   money that they need for food and medicine. You know, the   sanctions regime specifically allows him to take oil revenue for food  and medicine for his people and the reason why he's not doing it is  because he needs them to believe, because they are not allowed   any other propaganda other than the controlled media that he gives   them, he needs his people to believe that the reason why they're   starving and have difficulties is because of the United States of   America and Britain. It's nothing to do with that. I mean, the reason   we have no-fly zones is to prevent him doing what he did before   with the Kurds when he killed thousands of them by chemical   attacks.   

The reason why we need the sanctions is that we cannot have him   using his oil money to buy weapons of mass destruction, which we   know he wants to do. Let me assure you, that the evidence for that   is absolutely overwhelming. He is still trying to acquire weapons of   mass destruction capability, no doubt about that at all. What I do   think, I mean, as you know for - again this is why this is not   something new - for many months Britain has been with our other   allies trying to get UN Security Council consent to a new sanctions   regime which would allow us to get money more directly through to   the Iraqi people.   

It's still worth us trying to do that but there are, you know, there are   familiar obstacles but I, you know, I am hopeful that we can push on   that front because again we've no desire to see the Iraqi people   suffer. The Iraqi people are actually suffering because of Saddam. I   view that as a - well I've no doubt at all our basic policy towards Iraq  is right. What we need to do is to try, as far as possible, deal with   the suffering of the Iraqi people whilst not giving Saddam an ability    to get large sums of money to be spent on weapons. 
Mark Parkinson
Bodmin
Cornwall

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