The war goes quietly on in Iraq

Tom Jackson spoke of genocide. Quietly, yet directly, he told the crowd of approximately 35 gathered in Woodburn Hall Thursday night of the rampant sickness he had witnessed, of the headless children and the severely dehydrated, withered bodies piled on twin beds. He told of a lack of medicinal supplies, of the skeletons of shelled cars along the "Highway of Death." He detailed the effects of over 140,000 metric tons of missile ammunition deployed in a country most Americans perceive to be the cause of the Gulf War.\nTom Jackson spoke of Iraq. Although the Persian Gulf crisis lasted a mere 42 days in terms of actual warfare and bombing, the war is still very much raging in the formerly emergent First World country. Reduced to Third World status and cut off from international trade and supplies, Iraq experienced a "total, purposeful destruction of its infrastructure," resulting in destruction of 119 substations, seven out of eight hydroelectric plants, and all but two water treatment plants. The results, as Jackson has seen firsthand, have been devastating.\nJackson, a graduate of the University of Vermont School of Law, is part of Voices in the Wilderness, an organization aimed at ending the United Nations Security Council and United States economic sanctions against Iraq. Since its 1996 inception, more than 30 delegates have been dispatched to the struggling country, violating U.S. law and risking up to 12 years in prison and more than a million dollars in fines, according to organization literature. Championing peaceful resistance and opposition, the group stands firmly against 10 years of economic embargo in the Middle East.\nSanctions began immediately following the Gulf conflict and are dedicated to preventing Iraq's development of weapons of mass-destruction, coupled with the hopes of taming leader Saddam Hussein. The federal government cites the effort as against "one man," according to a report by the Seattle Times.\nBut Jackson said he believes the price is paid by families of the 5,000 children who die per month as the result of what he described as poor water purification, cancers believed to be caused by radioactive elements in missiles and diseases that could be tamed should Iraq receive the basic medicines necessary for treatment.\nThe policy, cited by the Chicago Tribune as "a humanitarian and diplomatic disaster," violates a 1991 cease-fire agreement through nearly daily bombing in no-fly zones in Iraq. Additionally, while Britain and England act as chief supporters, the United Nations sanctions violate Geneva Protocol 1, which condemns starvation of civilians as a warfare method, according to Voice in the Wilderness material.\nJackson spoke of these issues personally, having visited Iraq in the summer of 2000 as part of an "oil-for-food" delegation. Jackson and fellow speaker Lauren Cannon lived with Iraqi families and were tutored daily in Arabic, hoping to document the tragic stories of the civilian victims. What they saw, they claimed, was horrific.\nCiting increases in infant mortality and birth defects, declines in health and education standards and a rise in death rates from treatable ailments as sanction byproducts, Jackson and Cannon related their experiences of interaction with such victims. They spoke of the abominable conditions in Iraqi hospitals, noting the absence of basic medicine and cleaning supplies, outlawed by the sanctions committee due to possibility of chemical manufacturing.\nUpon returning to the United States, Voices in the Wilderness activists strive to "find actions commensurate to what we've seen," Cannon said.\nHaving served time in a maximum-security prison for peaceful opposition to a Massachusetts armaments factory manufacturing missiles used in Iraq, Cannon acknowledges the risk involved.\nBut she said, "I have seen children dying of simple illness, while their mothers sit helplessly by. In 50 years we will wonder, 'Where was the world when Iraqi children were dying?'"\nThrough activist efforts, Cannon said she hopes to educate the American public on its government's international policies.\nOne student who attended was Kathryn Bryan, a senior.\n"This lecture was important because it involved the Bloomington community and student groups and peace and justice human rights issues," she said.\nBryan said she wants to work more with human rights and is hoping to organize a group of students to visit Iraq to participate in an anti-sanctions movement there.\nJackson and Cannon will deliver an address entitled "How to Build a Social Movement" in Collins Cheshire Cafe today at 4 p.m. Additionally, a post office action will be conducted today at noon at the Fourth Street Post Office, in which medicine will be attempted to be sent to Iraq despite U.S. sanctions against such shipment.