SANCTIONS After Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990, the UN established sanctions on Iraq prohibiting all exports and imports other than food or medicine. In April 1991, the "Gulf War" cease fire (UN Security Council Resolution 687) required Iraq to, among other things, dismantle its remaining nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons programs before sanctions would be lifted.With much of Iraq's infrastructure in ruins, the effect of the sanctions was immediate and catastrophic. Estimates vary, but a widely respected report by Professor Richard Garfield of Columbia University states that over 350,000 children under the age of 5 have died since 1991 as a result of sanctions and the aftermath of the war. In September 2001, an article in the Progressive magazine outlined documents written by the US Defense Intelligence Agency in 1991 specifically noting that by destroying water and sewage plants, Iraq's water supply would become contaminated and thousands would die. In 1996, the UN redefined the sanctions program to allow limited oil sales to ease the suffering of the Iraqi people. As of November 2001, this "Oil-for-Food" program resulted in UN bureaucracy that held up $4.2 billion worth of contracts to Iraq. Most items are labeled "dual-use" meaning they are items that could have civilian or military application. Most of these holds were initiated by the US. The UN will adopt a definite list before May 30, but loosening sanctions without taking action to rebuild Iraq still offers only meager relief.

DEPLETED URANIUM: Low Scale Nuclear War The 1991 war on Iraq marked the first time the U.S. used ammunition tipped with hardended Depleted Uranium (DU). These bullets and anti-tank shells could pierce armor-- with the side- effect of disintegrating into thousands of tiny radioactive particles on impact. Although the Iraq Health Ministry noted an increase in cancer cases of over 60% since 1991, most notably in Southern Iraq where the U.S. prosecuted the war, a World Health Organization study was derailed on November 29 due to a lobbying campaign by Washington. DU was also heavily used in the war on Kosovo. It is a suspected cause of so-called "Gulf War Syndrome." photo from www.vitw.org