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Congressman visits iraq { April 17 2000 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.cnn.com/2000/WORLD/meast/04/17/iraq.hall/index.htmlhttp://www.cnn.com/2000/WORLD/meast/04/17/iraq.hall/index.html
U.S. congressman begins humanitarian visit to Iraq
April 17, 2000
Web posted at: 10:25 p.m. EDT (0225 GMT)
BAGHDAD, Iraq -- U.S. Rep. Tony Hall, D-Ohio, is in Iraq to see for himself the effect of almost 10 years of economic sanctions -- imposed after Iraq's invasion of Kuwait -- by visiting a Baghdad hospital.
"It's really to see the humanitarian aspect of the country, to see why so many children are sick, to try to get a feeling as why food and medicine isn't getting through -- what the real problem is," Hall said. One of only a handful of U.S. lawmakers to visit Iraq since the Gulf War, Hall, 58, arrived Monday.
At a teaching hospital in Baghdad, Hall -- a veteran traveler to such impoverished and famine-stricken countries as North Korea -- was told that, because of the sanctions, medical staffs were not getting the expensive medicine that could help save young lives.
The sanctions, along with a military embargo, were imposed by the United Nations after the 1990 invasion.
Dispute over who is responsible for nation's ills
Iraq claims that some 1.2 million people have died, including about 750,000 children younger than 5, because of malnutrition, lack of medicines and other shortages resulting from the shortages.
U.S. and British officials say the government of President Saddam Hussein must share the blame for not meeting the conditions of U.N. Security Council resolutions that would lead to removing the sanctions.
UNICEF, the U.N. children's agency, says Iraq's infant mortality rate has doubled since the sanctions were imposed. It cites a variety of reasons, including sanctions. It says the Iraqi government could be doing more.
The United States also accuses Saddam of squandering money on luxuries for himself and his officials and ignoring his country's problems.
'No question that there are hardly any drugs'
Hall says his four-day visit is purely humanitarian and not aimed at discussing the disputes between the Iraqi and U.S. governments. He refuses to comment on the sanctions, describing them as a "very complex issue."
Hall met with Iraqi Health Minister Omed Medhat Mubarak and other senior health officials and toured the Saddam Medical Complex, the country's best medical facility.
"There is no question that there are hardly any drugs," the congressman said after the tour.
Hall plans to meet with representatives of all aid organizations operating in Iraq and travel to southern Iraq.
Trip comes amid pressure to reconsider sanctions
On Hall's schedule are visits to hospitals, clinics, schools, water treatment plants and other humanitarian projects.
In late January, 70 members of Congress sent a letter to President Bill Clinton urging him to separate the sanctions from the military embargo in place against Baghdad.
Hall says when he returns to the United States he will inform Congress of what he saw.
Correspondent Jane Arraf, The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
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