‘ C January 13 1999 “Clinton, thank you for feeling for us in Ramadan. You will pay hard” said one placard, referring to the catastrophic strikes on Iraq during the start of the Muslim holy month. Riots and protests broke out around the world, including here in downtown Vancou- ver, after air strikes commenced in Iraq on December 16, .. 1998. “Bill Clinton, if he does have any mercy in his heart, he would not do this when Christmas is approaching, as well ... When holy month of Ramadan is approaching,” says Imam Ziyad of the Islamic Mosque. Hundreds of Iraqis with families in Baghdad were sitting helpless in front of their TV screens, with only their imaginations to figure out what the fate of their families might be, since all communication lines were destroyed by the USA / Britain bombings. Why did Bill Clinton order these air raids? When addressing the nation about this issue he said “On the unanimous recommendations of my security team, I have ordered a strike against Saddam.... It will be focused on military targets for the purpose of contain- ing him, weakening his capabilities to reconstitut- ing his nuclear, chemical and biological weapons.” The Hands Off Iraq Coalition informs us that if this were true, Israel would be subject to weapons inspections as well. Fur- thermore, the coalition points out that the USA has more weapons than that of any country, and Poking voodoo needles in Macs since 1976 “Clinton, you will pay hard” Zahra Jamal they are the only govern- ment to ever have used a nuclear weapon. It is the USA government, not Iraq's, who are responsible for actually using harmful . weapons to kill innocent civilians, when it’s Saddam Hussein and his army they want contained. “It does not harm Saddam Hussein, he keeps building his palaces. It only erodes the spirit of the people of ~ Iraq,” yells a Vancouver protester. Iraqi officials say that despite US charges, Iraq cooperated fully with weapons inspections. They claim charges of Iraq containing harmful weap- ons were due to Richard Butler, the head of those inspection teams, who was following US policy which is opposed to seeing the sanctions lifted off Iraq. Defense Minister Tariq Aziz said the attacks included civilian targets such as radio, TV stations, the oil refinery in Basra, presidential sites which are “guest houses,” sites which prove that the attacks were not about weapons of mass destruc- tion. Many believe that the true reason for ordering these air raids was to distract the USA from the scheduled impeachment of the president, which was to take place one day after President Clinton made his announcement. “T would like to congratulate the people of the United States for electing such an excellent president, one who smoked but did not inhale marijuana, one who has redefined the meaning of sexual intercourse, one who did not bomb-Sudan- and Afghanistan because Monica was getting too hot, are we supposed to believe his claim that this action did not have any bear- ing on his impeach- ment?” asked the angry protester. Douglas busi- ness student John Morash observes that “the American economy runs on warfare.” This means the manufac- turing of weapons allows their economy to churn, since there is money specifically budgeted for these times in order to pay all labourers involved. Let us not dismiss the question of morality that Bill Clinton constantly overlooks. Rashad Hussein, former Iraqi citizen, asks “Is it not American civil law which doesn’t allow a search warrant without proper evidence?” Yet Bill Clinton bombed Afghanistan, Sudan and now Iraq with- out showing any evidence of their intentions to cause this world any damage! It may be true that Saddam made it difficult for UN weapons inspections to take place, but this sounds like the logical thing for a president to do when the country has gone through inspections ever since the Gulf War and has been starved of all necessities, especially when the USA’s allies are not subjected to the same treatment. / Saddam Hussein's duty as a president is to make sure Iraq gets fed and is secure. Why else would he let inspections resume as soon as the UN Security Council relaxed sanctions? And even when UN relaxed sanctions in March, Saddam Hussein had to agree to give up double “the oil President Clinton claims the timing was due to the commencing of Ramadan; he wanted to start air raids in time to contain Saddam so there would be no air raids during this Islamic Holy month. However, the military strikes on Iraq during the Gulf War did take place during Ramadan. Depriving Iraq of all medicine, food and other necessities through sanc- tions, which started in 1990, has led to one million innocent civilians dying from starvation. Iraq could not retaliate during the Gulf War; now, after eight years of sanctions, what harm could they have done to armies as powerful as those of the USA and Britain? “They were starving, there was no food, no medicine before this. Now with the bombing it is worse,” said Maysun, a member of the Iraqi com- munity. “My husband was a volunteer for Interna- tional Relief,” she contin- ued, “He said that in just one of the hospitals in Baghdad, they still need blankets, they need IVs, they need bandages for their burns, everything.” Maysun also supports the claim of a former resident of Iraq who has witnessed civilians selling their Volume 23 Issue 13 i kidneys and other organs for less than one hundred dollars. Approximately 80% of Americans agree with the Iraqi air raids. When American citizens are asked why, the common replies one hears on the news is “ Oh, well it was about time” or “Well, it’s time we step in and take care of business.” The USA should be taking care of their own problems before they decide what's in the best interest of the whole world. Africans were treated as slaves just because of their skin color, the same president that lied to the whole country and cheated on his wife was re-elected, political scandals have taken place through out American history and unethical warfare (Vietnam for example) has always been a favourite of the Ameri- can government to get involved in. Your decision whether or not to agree with the air raids is en- tirely up to you of course, but at least contemplate! And when you do; consider the facts—not fiction. If you would like to speak out against the sanctions in Iraq, it is suggested to order free postcards from The Cam- paign to End Sanctions Against the People of Iraq, 405 - 825 Granville St., Vancouver BC, V6Z 1K9. Tel: (604) 687 3223 or (604) 985 - 7147. Fax: 687 - 3277. E - mail: info@peacewire.org. Postcards are also available from The Other Press, room 1020. You're encouraged to forward any additional opinions or comments to room 1020, e-mail general@op.douglas.bc.ca, or feel free to leave a message by phone.