LEFT DELEGATION VISITS IRAQ

“We Will Not Turn the Other Cheek”

Ranjana Nirula

WE were all excited and a bit apprehensive as the plane landed in Baghdad. We expected a tense city, fraught with anxiety and fear, awaiting a war that seems inevitable. The reality that met our eyes was quite different. We found Baghdad a calm, peaceful city, with people going about their daily business --- normally. Schools, hospitals, offices were functioning normally and the streets were busy with traffic and shoppers. There was no evidence of an army build-up. We saw only a few traffic policemen and some security men at the parliament building. On our flight from Damascus were 160 pilgrims from Iran, including a large number of women, going to visit the holy shrines at Karbala and other places. 

Baghdad  is a clean, beautiful city, with  wide roads and low buildings, all in the colours of the desert --- soft brown, beige, cream and grey --- with palm trees everywhere. Splashes of colour are provided by the mosques with their brilliant domes and mosaic work. Baghdad is a city both ancient and modern, and the culture of the people a similar mix.

Our delegation of Left parties in solidarity with Iraq, was led by Basudev Acharya, CPI(M) MP. The other members were Krishna Das of the CPI(M),  Drupad Borgohain (CPI), N K Premachandran (RSP), Bir Singh Mahato (FB), Ranjana Nirula (AIDWA), A Soundarajan (CITU), Debashish Chakravarty (Ganashakti), and John Brittas and K Radhakrishnan  (Kairali). We visited Iraq from March 1 to 5 with some members of the delegation staying on till  March 8. While we were there, we were able to meet government officials, doctors, teachers, children, members of other organisations and delegations, ‘human shields,’ and many Iraqi people from different walks of life. We were free to go wherever we liked and to talk with whomever we wished.

LIFE IN IRAQ

We first met Dr Mohamad Taka, Dean, College of Economics, Baghdad University, who told us that after 1991 when the USA attacked Iraq, 90 per cent of the infrastructure was destroyed --- bridges, colleges, university, hospitals, electricity plants, industry. In 1992 the government of Iraq decided to reconstruct everything and it was done in just 3 years. However, after the UN embargo there is high inflation in Iraq with Iraqi currency devalued vis-a-vis the US dollar. Earlier the exchange rate was 3 US dollars to 1 Iraqi dinar, now it is 2000 dinars to 1 US dollar. So salaries have gone down. Since the average middle class professionals get a very low salary, many work as taxi drivers, etc, to supplement their income. Unemployment is there, due to the economic situation:  the lack of investment due to the economic embargo and the country has virtually been at war since 1991.  He said: “We are the richest land in the world, we can give to others, but the USA won’t allow us to develop.”  

Dr Taka also told us that the illiteracy rate in the country is about 20 per cent, and slightly higher among females. There was full literacy before 1991, but now 20 per cent are illiterate because many children can’t go to school.  An equal number of boys and girls study at the University of Baghdad; there is no differentiation between men and women in any sphere. There is free education for all, even at university level. Full uniform and books are given by the government. A full uniform (excluding shoes) costs only one US dollar (about Rs 50).

Later we visited the El Mahathir School in the  Aadhamiya area of  Baghdad. This is a primary school, upto Class  6. There are a total of 340 children in the school, of whom 200 (60 per cent) are girls. The children were a delightful, lively lot and they sang and  raised militant slogans, pledging loyalty to their country, while welcoming us! We gifted them the cartons of toys and crayons we had taken with us.

IMPACT OF SANCTIONS

The public distribution system in Iraq is one of the best in the world. It is universal and even Embassy staff members can avail of it. Rations are available throughout the month and dry rations cost only Rs 11 for one person, for one month. This includes: Rice-3 kg, Sugar-2 kg, Wheat/flour-9 kg, Cooking medium-1.25 kg, Beans-500 gm, Soap-500 gm, Milk powder- 500 gm ( for an adult), 2.5 kg (for a child). A bus driver earns around Rs 250 per month. Education and medical care are free, and housing subsidised.  

Yet, as Dr Sadoon Homadi, president of the National Council of Iraq, told us, 1.7 million Iraqis have perished due to shortage of food and medicine , half of whom were children. “In Africa children die because they don’t have. Children in Iraq are dying when it is a rich country.”

In 1990 two-thirds of food was imported. Iraq went through a genocide. Yet politicians in Europe speak about human rights. Sanctions affect the poor and the sick the most. This situation was created in the hope that people would rise against the leaders, but this has not happened. 

We asked Dr Hashimi, president of the Association for Friendship, Peace and Solidarity with Iraq, about the impact of the sanctions against Iraq. He said that the sanctions actually amount to an embargo and blockade. In 1996 the Oil for Food programme was started and has been implemented for 6 years. Out of 55 billion dollars worth of oil sold in 6 years, commodities worth only 18 million dollars reached Iraq. Of the oil revenue, 30 per cent is taken as compensation for the Iraq-Kuwait war. The cost of every US operation in Iraq is deducted. Three billion dollars has been taken for UN operations, including the inspections, etc. The result of the Oil for Food  programme  is that Iraq gets 7 dollars per person per month for every Iraqi. Before sanctions, an Iraqi lived on 250 dollars a month. Iraq has the capacity to provide this and more.  So the Iraqi people are suffering collective punishment --- for not revolting against their own government.

Eight billion dollars worth of commodities are sitting on hold in New York --- they say these are of ‘dual use,’ which means that they can be used in the manufacture of armaments.  Tyres, steel, pumps etc, all are put on hold in New York, at the UN . The list of such commodities of ‘dual use’ spans over 250 pages – all of which are prohibited from reaching Iraq.  No computers are allowed in Iraq. Nowadays all manufacturing is dependent on computers and some equipment is lying idle because there are no computers.

SHATTERED HEALTH INFRASTRUCTURE                                        

The Al Mansoor Hospital in Baghdad is a paediatric and teaching hospital, built at the end of the 1980s. Dr Murtada Hassan, director of the Hemophilia Centre, told us that it was considered one of the best in the entire Middle East, but all that has changed now. At present there are 25 specialist paediatricians and 60 residents working here. Treatment in the hospital is free. We were able to meet many children who are patients and gave them some toys and baby food.

The problems facing the hospital can be divided into three groups:

Impact on general services: All the services like airconditioning, ventilation etc are central and need continuous maintenance. All the equipment is imported. The embargo affects imports/maintenance. Iraqi money is with the UN. A list of what is wanted is sent to them. According to the UN/US judgement, they take 6 months to take decisions regarding ‘dual’ use. Summer in Iraq witnesses 50 degree C in the shade, and the  children get heatstroke.

Shortage of drugs and medicines: This is a specialised hospital with referrals from all hospitals in Iraq and neighbouring countries. The hospital  deals mostly with chronic cases, malignancy, leukaemia, tropical diseases, all needing sophisticated treatment. A “cocktail of drugs” is needed; 3 or 4 drugs are given together. If one drug is missing, it doesn’t work; only the side effects are there. The child gets only side effects and not any benefits.

Before sanctions the cure rate was the same as in developed countries. Now the cure rate is low, mortality is high.

The incidence of leukaemia has increased due to radiation caused by the use of depleted uranium bombing by the USA during the Gulf war. There is a peak of malignancy now and it will peak again after another decade. The effects are congenital abnormalities and infertility.

Kala Azar is another common disease in the area. The cure rate is 100 per cent if treatment is proper and immediate. Nowadays many are suffering because the treatment is not available immediately.

Effect of sanctions on medical staff: Medical personnel need up to date information about medical developments all over the world. This link is cut since the staff cannot attend conferences, get books, etc due to economic and political reasons. The Iraqi dinar’s devaluation has led to a situation where you cannot buy a medical journal because it costs more than one year’s salary.  Iraqis often do not get visas to attend conferences in other countries. When doctors are not up to date, the management is also conservative.  The staff does not have access to  mobile phones, e-mail, internet.

US MOTIVES FOR WAR

The main issues between and Iraq and the USA are not weapons of mass destruction but oil and Palestine. Iraq has the second largest reserve of oil in the world, expected to last 60 years. The USA wants full control over these resources and the whole area, which is the key to world domination.

Privatisation and globalisation are nothing but means of US hegemony and domination in the world. Iraqi oil reserves can give the US the supply it wants. If Iraq puts its oil on the market, European countries can buy it and be free of US domination. The USA will control Iraqi oil and the World Bank will do the rest. Colin Powell has stated quite clearly, “After the war we will reshape the world in accordance with US interests.”

The USA is also planning the disintegration of Iraq. The new US strategy is to not to have strong, independent countries in the region. Colin Powell’s “reshaping of the region” means changing the area into smaller countries, and then to follow the policy of divide and rule. The intention is to keep Israel the main superpower in the region, and to thus ‘settle’ the Palestinian question.  

THE PEOPLE ARE PREPARED

Iraqi society is a middle class society. The people are educated, well informed and politically aware. They believe the US administration does not have the  right to tell others how to live. US history is 200 years old; the Mesopotamian is 7000 years old.

Iraq is not a territory of the USA and cannot be blackmailed. The Iraqis have  oil, genuine patriotism and the ability to say “NO” to the USA.  They said clearly: “We Will Not Turn The Other Cheek.”

They have a government which has prepared them for the eventuality of a war and they are willing to fight to the last, for their freedom from foreign domination. They have been issued two months ration in advance. Haifa Abdul Rahman, member of the executive board of General Federation of Iraqi Women, said every Iraqi woman was ready to fight to defend her homeland and was ready to make sacrifices for this end.

The Iraqis acknowledge that the USA has a superior air force. But they feel that any regime change that the USA wants to bring about in Iraq, has to be on the ground, and they are confident that there they can inflict a resounding defeat  on the USA.

They also have the support of millions of people all over the world. In many countries there have been demonstrations against war on Iraq, with people opposing their own governments’ support to the USA. In Iraq itself, there were delegations from 35 countries when we were there.

There are also ‘human shields’ from many countries, who have come to Iraq to camp at various sites, to await the US bombing. We met people from the USA, UK, Wales, Ireland, Japan, South Korea, France, Italy, Finland, Norway, Brazil and many other countries.  They stay at power plants, water purification plants, and other infrastructural  facilities, ready to give up their lives in protest against an unjust war. They are the result of the anti- globalisation and anti-war struggles which have linked up in  80 countries.

The Iraqis have high expectations of India. They see India as a big and strong nation with an important role in the non-aligned movement. They appreciated   our delegation’s visit and expressed hope that the Indian government would take a strong position against the US aggression on Iraq. It is most unfortunate that the BJP-led NDA government, in its servility to its US masters, is reluctant to do this. We must pressurise our government to come out of its vacillation and strongly condemn US aggression. 

The war in Iraq is a conflict between peoples power and imperialism. It is now for us, the progressive, democratic people of India, to raise our voice of protest against the war in Iraq and join with the millions all over the world in opposing the imperialist globalisation and domination.