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August 28, 2002 U.S. ANTI-WAR DELEGATION AT AREAS BOMBED BY U.S. WARPLANES IN IRAQ *More Bombings in Iraq as U.S.-British Warplanes Hit Mosul and Suburb of Baghdad last Tuesday* A U.S. anti-war delegation traveling through Iraq has visited areas that have been targeted by this week's U.S. bombing campaign. The delegation -- stationed at Baghdad's Al-Rasheed hotel until the end of the week -- was in Basra on Tuesday. Basra is Iraq's second largest city and suffered a major bomb attack on Sunday morning August 25th. Eight people died and many civilians were injured, some seriously. The U.S. delegation, which is led by Ramsey Clark, former U.S. attorney general will be inspecting Mosul airport in Northern Iraq tomorrow August 29. The airport and its radar tower that guides civilian air traffic were hit by U.S. missiles on August 27. On behalf of the delegation, Ramsey Clark issued the following statement: "We came to Basra to visit the hospitals and interview doctors and patients about the state of health care in Basra. We had planned to come to Basra because the region is suffering stunning cancer rates. This area in Iraq was the site of the greatest use of depleted uranium weapons by U.S. air force in the Gulf War eleven years ago." "Two days before we arrived in Basra U.S. war planes struck again killing and wounding more than twenty people. We visited one of the wounded at the Basra Training Hospital and we interviewed workers in the area who saw and heard the gigantic explosion at approximately 11:00 am Sunday morning August 25. While we were in Basra, U.S. war planes carried out two more major bombing attacks against the airport in Mosul and against civil and service installations in Al-Nukhayb, located south of Baghdad. We will inspect the airport at Mosul tomorrow. "People in the United States must recognize that the war against Iraq goes on every day as the Bush administration prepares for a major land and ground war. The economic sanctions are a central part of the decade-long war waged against Iraq by the United States. Bombing and sanctions constitute an integrated strategy designed to overthrow the government in Iraq and replace it with a proxy regime similar to what exists in Afghanistan. The U.S. government falsely declares that its campaign against Iraq is motivated by a concern over Iraq's potential possession of non-conventional weapons. The real goal is to dominate this strategic and oil-rich region and to destroy any government and people that desire to maintain their independence." "We witnessed in Basra the care provided to the large number of adults and children who are suffering high rates of cancer. Certain childhood cancers, for instance, have increased by a huge factor in the last few years. While they can be treated by combination drug therapy protocols, Iraqi hospitals are unable to effectively import all of the medicines needed for the protocol. As a consequence, almost all the children with these cancers perish. It is the U.S. imposed sanctions that makes access to the full protocol impossible. Deliberately obstructing sick people's access to medicines that would keep them alive otherwise must be understood as murder." "It is urgent that this country be allowed to trade, buy and sell all the products necessary to sustain and improve life. U.S. imposed sanctions have killed more than a million Iraqis. The near-daily bombing since 1998 has killed hundreds if not thousands of people. The U.S. government is guilty of violating the basic tenets of international law as a wages aggression against Iraq. We are urging all progressive people in the United States and elsewhere to take immediate action to end the criminal campaign against Iraq." The delegation also includes Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, an attorney and co-founder of the Partnership for Civil Justice-LDEF and member of the A.N.S.W.E.R. coalition steering committee; Johnnie Stevens, co-director of the People's Video Network; Kadouri al-Kaysi, coordinator of the Committee in Solidarity with the Iraqi People; and Brian Becker, co-director of the International Action Center and member of the A.N.S.W.E.R. coalition steering committee. Telephone interviews with Ramsey Clark and other members of the delegation can be arranged through Tony Murphy at 212-633-6646. _________________________________________________________________ Join the world’s largest e-mail service with MSN Hotmail. http://www.hotmail.com _______________________________________________ Sent via the discussion list of the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq. To unsubscribe, visit http://lists.casi.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/casi-discuss To contact the list manager, email casi-discuss-admin@lists.casi.org.uk All postings are archived on CASI's website: http://www.casi.org.uk