I'm very glad to see David Burman's message about the Iraq war on this
listserv.  It is truly an issue pertinent to health promotion!

There is a great deal of evidence that this conflict centers on the
control of oil and the control of competitors in this market.  The United
States is in a much weaker position than it was years ago.  The Saudi and
Israeli governments are not as cooperative; the Russians, French and
Chinese are horning in on oil deals the US had controlled.

This will only make the US attack more vicious.  The US is not bluffing.
It's important for health promoters and workers of all countries to oppose
this war because it causes great damage to the people of the middle east
and it does not serve our interests in the least.  This is not about
weapons or a crazy dictator.

For an excellent analysis of the oil politics within the US and between US
and other national interests, see the Progressive Labor
Party's web site, www.plp.org.  This site offers numerous articles on this
crisis as well as a revolutionary outlook on ending the conditions that
lead to such wars.

It would be useful to hear how people are organizing against war in their
communities.

take care, karyn

Karyn L. Pomerantz
Himmelfarb Library and SPHHS,
GWUMC, 2300 I St., NW
Washington, DC 20037
202/994-2976
[log in to unmask]

On Sun, 8 Feb 1998, David Burman wrote:

> All health promoters should be concerned by the new spate of sabre
> rattling towards Iraq coming from Washington, and the possibility
> of complicity from other Western countries, including Canada. Aside
> from the non-compliance with the U.N. resolution, there remains the
> immorality of the sanctions against Iraq and the devastating effects
> of a new bombardment on an already crippled country.
>
> Asked on the US television programme "60 Minutes" on 12 May 1996 whether
> the cost of the lives of over half a million children "was worth it" in
> order to get rid of Iraq's President, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright
> (then US Ambassador to the UN) replied that it is a hard choice, but the
> price -- we think the price is worth it."
>
> American-Iraqi sociologist, Ayad Al-Qazzaz, points out in Peace magazine
> Feb, 1998, (www.peacemagazine.org) that getting rid of Saddam Hussein was
> never the intent of the Gulf War, but rather to ensure Western control of
> the price of oil, and maintain a steady demand for U.S. armaments.
>
> But more sinister even than the sanctions, which are causing rampant death
> through lack of sanitation, and the most basic medical supplies, the effects
> of the 1991 bombardment itself are continuing to cause disease and death,
> reports Felicity Arbuthnot, after seven years of visits to Iraq since the
> Gulf War (for the full text of this report, write Eric Fawcet of Science for
> Peace : [log in to unmask]).
>
> Unknown to the public or the allied troops at the time, much of the
> 56,133.32 tonnes of ordnance dropped during the 45 day war was coated with
> depleted uranium (DU) from the nuclear industry, which has replaced titanium
> as armour piercing coating. "If DU enters the body, it has the potential to
> generate significant medical consequences. The risks associated with DU in
> the body are both chemical and radiological." (U S Army Environment Policy
> Institute: Health and Environment Consequences of Depleted Uranium Use in
> the US Army, June 1995).
>
> In 1990, the UK Atomic Energy Authority sent a report to the government
> estimating that if 50 tonnes of residual dust was left in the area as a
> result of hostilities, there could be half a million extra cancer deaths by
> the end of the century. Some experts now estimate that up to 700 tonnes
> remain. DU remains radioactive for four thousand, five hundred million years.
>
> Indeed bizarre birth defects are being seen at an unprecedented rate that, a
> year before the use of radioactive weapons was revealed, doctors were
> comparing to the birth defects seen in Bikini and the Pacific islands after
> nuclear testing.
>
> According to Arbuthnot, children are now suffering horrible, painful deaths
> from radiation induced cancers, exacerbated by malnutrition and poor
> sanitation.
>
> We must not be mislead into supporting another attack on Iraqi civilians for
> the sake of Western oil and armaments interests, or to distract the American
> public from an embarrassing domestic situation.
>
> David Burman
>