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Re: [casi] The big issue for CASI not yet addressed directly



Dear Eric, Rahul and CASI



I thought that casi was against the sanctions because the sanctions are in
principle an instrument of collective punishment against innocent civilian
population. This collective punishment has resulted in degradation of the
basic human requirements. The CASI site is full of reports and document and
information concerning the adverse effects of sanctions on health,
education, water and sanitations, electricity, telecommunications, ..etc. It
was the objection to these appalling conditions that were the driving force
for CASI members.



What has changed in the last 7 months? Nothing! All the sectors that I
mentioned above are worse than during the last seven months. We are still
without telephones; it took the Iraqi engineers 3 months in 1991 to
reinstall the phone service. Read the Medact report to find out that the
health service is worse than it ever was. After seven months we are still
producing the same amount of electricity as we were producing before the
war! A new added problem is the lack of "central control" of the
distribution of the electricity which means depriving the people of Baghdad,
5 millions, of reliable power. We were able to fix the refineries in 3
months in 1991 without the help of the Halliburtons. Now after 7 months we
are importing expensive gasoline from Turkey instead of refining our, very
cheap, oil!



At about this time, each year, we receive our ration coupons. So far no one
knows if and how we are going to get our food ration comes January 2004. How
about the 60-70% unemployment how can they live? The 12 years sanctions did
no leave any thing for them to sell. We were producing 8 million tones of
cement a year now Zero. This has devastating effects on the construction
industry which is very labor intensive.



Do I need to tell you about the lack security!? Kidnapping, carjacking,
robberies, revenge, threats, lawlessness .. and then the attacks on the
occupation forces.



Eric, I could go on and on listing examples that point out that the current
situation is MANY times worse than before. It is more appalling irrespective
whether one opposes the occupation or not. I am sure that it is very
dangerous for you, or any other casi member, to come and see it for them
self.



I hope you agree with me that CASI should stand up against these appalling
conditions whether they are caused by Saddam or the Sanctions or the
occupation.



I am in total agreement with you by repeting < CASI has been the most
vibrant, useful, engaged list I have ever been on, and the people of Iraq
need this kind of
engagement to continue, and we have a duty to hold our governments to
account for the actions done in our name and with our taxes.> Amen



Best regards



Ghazwan Al-Mukhtar

Baghdad, occupied Iraq

----- Original Message -----
From: "Rahul Mahajan" <rahulm@mail.utexas.edu>
To: "CASI" <casi-discuss@lists.casi.org.uk>
Sent: Tuesday, November 11, 2003 9:19 PM
Subject: Re: [casi] The big issue for CASI not yet addressed directly


> Hello, all. I almost never post to CASI except when I have a specific
> question, and have observed, as have Eric and others, a deterioration in
> the quality of the list since the war. I have also noticed a deterioration
> in the quality of CASI's analysis, as in the press release it put out
> lauding the US oil-money-grab in UNSCR 1483 as the "lifting" of the
> sanctions, but that's another story.
>
> I just want to object strongly to Eric's formulation of the split on the
> list. There is, of course, as he says, the basic opposition between those
> who want the occupation to fail and those who want it to succeed. Given
the
> relative weakness of international opposition and domestic opposition in
> the USA, clearly those who want the "violence of both sides" to end want
> the occupation to succeed -- it is the armed resistance that is causing
the
> occupation its problems.
>
> There are, however, further splits. There may be some of those who want
the
> occupation to fail that think that the UN humanitarian headquarters and
the
> ICRC as legitimate targets, but I imagine the majority of those who are
> against the occupation are also in favor of international law and the
> distinction between military and civilian targets.
>
> I will be speaking on an Iraq panel at the European Social Forum on
> November 13, where I imagine many of these issues will come up again. Hope
> to see some of you there.
>
> In solidarity,
>
> Rahul Mahajan
>
> >Dear all
> >
> >The issue is not really about being on topic or off topic. It seems to
> >me that the big issue for CASI not yet addressed directly is what
> >outcome people on the list want to see.
> >
> >During the sanctions, people on the list were divided over the reasons
> >they were opposed to the sanctions, but they were still united in
> >opposition to them. CASI's broad unity in opposing the sanctions has
> >now gone, because there is a division between
> >1. those who want the occupation to fail to give US imperialism a
> >bloody nose, either even if it costs Iraqis a great deal or because
> >they think that it will be best for Iraqis in the long run. They see
> >the attacks on the US, UN, ICRC etc as legitimate efforts at
> >liberation, and see damage to humanitarian efforts as a necessary part
> >of that struggle.
> >2. those who do not like the occupation but hope that the violence
> >of both sides will end as soon as possible and want reconstruction
> >efforts to work and to be shaped as far as possible in the interests of
> >the Iraqi people.
> >
> >I put myself in the second category. Of course, there are other ways of
> >constructing the divide, and mine is certainly not neutral. But a
> >profound divide of some sort like this is there. I wonder if CASI can
> >really keep going with this divide. I have to say I doubt it. The
> >feedback I have had from outside people (academic, international
> >organisation and government) who lurk is that the list has gone way
> >downhill since the war. Maybe that should count for nothing or even
> >should be welcomed, but I do not think so.
> >
> >The spirit of CASI lay in nonviolent support for the people of Iraq,
> >not easy ground to hold with the prospect of a war which at
> >the very least many Iraqis now welcome as a war of liberation, but CASI
> >was right to hold it. CASI needs to be about continuing to help shape
> >nonviolent support for the people of Iraq. Still not easy ground to
> >hold - on the one side, there are real arguments to made about the
> >right to resist with force an illegal occupation which uses often
> >indiscriminate force and disappearances, on the other real arguments to
> >be made about how force might be used effectively against those who
> >organise attacks on the UN, Red Cross and Iraqi civilians.
> >
> >Eric
> >
> >----------------------
> >Dr. Eric Herring
> >Department of Politics
> >University of Bristol
> >10 Priory Road
> >Bristol BS8 1TU
> >England, UK
> >Office tel. +44-(0)117-928-8582
> >Mobile tel. +44-(0)7771-966608
> >Fax +44-(0)117-973-2133
> >eric.herring@bristol.ac.uk
> >http://www.bris.ac.uk/Depts/Politics
> >http://www.ericherring.com/
> >
> >Network of Activist Scholars
> >of Politics and International Relations (NASPIR)
> >http://groups.yahoo.com/group/naspir/
> >
> >
> >_______________________________________________
> >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
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> 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
>


_______________________________________________
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All postings are archived on CASI's website: http://www.casi.org.uk


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