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Dear Colleagues, Thanks to CASI for supplying the web site of the occupiers of Iraq. I tried responding to the comments section; but, surprise, it malfunctioned, so here's what I sent to the webmaster. I'd appreciate your comments. best, tom p.s. hope the eerie BBC series on how the U.S. invades the UK is not happening to punish Blair the Truth-teller, since that he has not yet rendered the BBC to Camp X Ray for re-education into the wonders of Slick Willie Politics with a graduate level course on the meaning of "is". " Tom Nagy, Ph.D." wrote: > Dear Webmaster, > > Since the "comment" feature of the Occupation website does not work, > please forward this to the appropriate authorities ASAP and ask those > folks to send me notification of the receipt of this message. > > > July 8, 2003 > I write as a professor who has researched the reasons for the > catastrophic level of death and the continuing catastrophic level of > death of Iraqi children. I disseminated my research have twice at > DOD's JSCOPE conferences in 1999 and 2001, at the Karolinska > Institute, at the International Association of Genocide Scholars and in > dozens of interviews including Swiss Public TV, the "Progressive" > Magazine, etc. > > It seems obvious, even from your own website, that the Coalition > Provisional Authority is turning a blind eye to the leading cause of > death among children under 5 in Iraq since the imposition of the > sanctions in 1990 and up to the present moment of US military > occupation: the lack of potable water. > > Surely the U.S. government is not at war with any children under the > age of 5. Surely you understand that killing even more Iraqi children, > by any means (including setting too low priorities for provision of > safe water) endangers our children rather than safeguards our own > children. > > What keeps you from starting an urgent crash program to provide safe > water, at least for children under the age of 5 in Iraq and having an > trusted, believable, independent agency with years of experience in Iraq > (such as Care, Inc. the leading NGO attempting to rehabilitate Iraq's > water system despite the US sanctions imposed under the UN's fig leaf) > monitor your progress in limiting or accelerating the loss of infant > lives, especially relative to your progress in seizing the petroleum? > For the medical statistics, the best source would be UNICEF, especially > the very people who did the definitive study on surplus infant and under > 5 deaths in Iraq and who published their results in the most rigorous > medical journal, The Lancet in 2000. > > How is it possible that you did not have these people in place with > adequate funding and security months ago? Your failure is hardly less > than criminal in light of the fact that the World Health Organization > was warning as early as April that Basra, followed by the rest of Iraq > was running desperately short on chlorine and that the results of the > shortage would be a humanitarian disaster. > > Have you no compassion, even for American service members (including > perhaps former students of mine) who are bound to die as some Iraqis > and some parts of the world recoils in horror to you priorities. As a > pacifist, I dread the possibility, now perhaps made inevitable of > another bloodbath propelled by your cruel priorities -- your placing oil > over safe water, even for children. > > You offer $55 million for the head of S.H. and his sons, but what > will you spend to save the bodies of the Iraqi infants? > > You send elite troops to hunt down S.H. and his sons, but what about > enabling the elite forces of civil engineering and public health with > more than a decade of experience in Iraq to do their jobs? > > Good, God, are you going to ignite WWIII by your continuing lust > for revenge and your contempt for your obligations under international > law? > > May I remind you as individuals that "superior orders" cannot be > used in defense for war crimes but only in the mitigation phase of > the trials that will surely come if you continue to commit crimes > against humanity, even if these crime are crimes of mis- prioritization > which cause so many infant death that they which outrage the mute earth. > > It will not merely be the children of Iraq who will curse you, but > your children and the rest of the children of America and of the world > whom you endanger. > > For the sake of humanity, turn the provision of safe water over to > the experts who have labored on this agonizing task for more than a > decade, despite the cruel sanctions designed to frustrate their > attempts. If you are to have any credibility, then call one of the > humanitarian ex Assistant Secretary Generals of the UN: Denis Halliday > in NY or Hans Von Sponeck in Geneva and beg them to lead the effort on > terms which they see fit based on their experience in Iraq. > > Thomas J. Nagy, Ph.D. > Assoc. Professor of Expert Systems > George Washington University > Washington, D.C. 20052 > 202/994-7090 > home.gwu.edu/~nagy > Researcher in Iraq for Physicians for Global Survival, the Canadian > affiliate of the IPPNW which won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1985. > > P.s. I hope to testify before Sen. Greg's committee when he holds > hearing on the nomination of Dr. Pipes. I will ask that this letter to > you be made a part of the permanent record. > _______________________________________________ Sent via the discussion list of the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq. 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