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Un responsibility suffering iraq { August 20 2003 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
(202) 347-0020 * http://www.accuracy.org * ipa@accuracy.orgDate: Wed, 20 Aug 2003 12:49:09 -0400
From: Institute for Public Accuracy
To: public@lists.accuracy.org
Subject: The U.N. Role in Iraq: Interviews Available
Institute for Public Accuracy
915 National Press Building, Washington, D.C. 20045
(202) 347-0020 * http://www.accuracy.org * ipa@accuracy.org
___________________________________________________
PM Wednesday, August 20, 2003
The U.N. Role in Iraq: Interviews Available
NANCY LESSIN, CHARLIE RICHARDSON, mfso@mfso.org,
http://www.bringthemhomenow.org, http://www.mfso.org
Co-founders of Military Families Speak Out, Lessin and Richardson have a
son, Joe, who just returned from Iraq. They said today: "Senator Kay Bailey
Hutchinson and others are arguing that attacks in Iraq mean we have to send
more troops. We have 58,000 names on a wall -- and millions of dead
Vietnamese -- to tell us where that road leads."
EMAN AHMED KHAMMAS, in Baghdad via: eman@occupationwatch.org,
http://www.occupationwatch.org
Khammas is co-director of the Occupation Watch Center in Iraq. She said
today: "The U.N. is not very reputable here. Many people consider the U.N.
responsible for the suffering of the last 13 years, the sanctions and the
deaths of hundreds of thousands. Despite some statements, it was largely
silent when Iraq was attacked. In the last month, the U.N. has been
friendly with the American authorities. These may or may not be the reasons
for this attack, but if this is resistance, and it could well be, these are
some of the grievances toward the United Nations. Before the invasion, the
U.N. was paralyzed and did not stop the U.S. attack. Some people think of
it as a department of the U.S. government. Security Council Resolution 1483
basically gave legal cover for the occupation and to legitimize the attack
on Iraq. This is a pity, since the U.N. does good work through UNICEF,
UNESCO, UNDP and the World Health Organization.... Sergio Vieira de Mello
had praised the governing council and was friendly with Paul Bremer."
DENIS HALLIDAY, djhalliday@msn.com,
http://www.accuracy.org/press_releases/PR032803.htm
Available for a limited number of interviews, Halliday is former head of
the U.N. oil-for-food program in Iraq. He said today: "We all think of the
U.N. as this benign entity, but in Iraq it's held responsible for a great
deal of suffering of the Iraqi people. The U.N. has been particularly
corrupted by the Security Council. Resolutions on Israel go unenforced. We
love to talk about our good humanitarian work -- and there's certainly
truth to that, good people trying to help Iraqis were just killed -- but
the Secretary General has implemented programs which are inherently
incompatible with the U.N. Charter."
PHYLLIS BENNIS, pbennis@compuserve.com,
http://www.ips-dc.org/projects/newinternat.htm
A fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies, author of "Calling the Shots:
How Washington Dominates Today's U.N." and "Before and After: U.S. Foreign
Policy and the September 11th Crisis," Bennis said today: "The murderous
attack on U.N. headquarters in Baghdad, in targeting civilians, was a
violation of international law as well as a huge tragedy for the victims,
their families and for the global organization as a whole. But such an
attack should not have been a surprise. The U.S.-U.K. war and occupation of
Iraq were and remain illegal. However happy Iraqis were to see the end of
the regime of Saddam Hussein, they remain understandably angry towards
military occupation. The U.N. should never have agreed to participate under
the authority of that occupation force; to do so provides a political fig
leaf for an illegal occupation.... Under the Geneva Conventions it remains
the responsibility of the U.S. and U.K. as the occupying powers -- not the
United Nations -- to provide for the humanitarian needs of the Iraqi
people.... The U.N. should pull out of Iraq, and refuse to return until the
U.S. ends its occupation."
For more information, contact at the Institute for Public Accuracy:
Sam Husseini, (202) 347-0020; or David Zupan, (541) 484-9167
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