WAR ON IRAK

John Pilger: Today - A Day Of Shame - John Pilger

TODAY is a day of shame for the British military as it declares the Iraqi city of Basra, with a stricken population of 600,000, a "military target". : :26 Mar 2003

TODAY is a day of shame for the British military as it declares the
Iraqi city of Basra, with a stricken population of 600,000, a "military
target". :.. Yesterday, Blair said that 400,000 Iraqi children had died in the
past five years from malnutrition and related causes. He said "huge
stockpiles of humanitarian aid" and clean water awaited them in Kuwait, if only
the Iraqi regime would allow safe passage. In fact, voluminous evidence,
including that published by the United Nations Children's Fund, makes
clear that the main reason these children have died is an enduring siege, a
12-year embargo driven by America and Britain. As of last July,
$5.4billion worth of humanitarian supplies, approved by the UN and paid
for by the Iraqi government, were blocked by Washington, with the Blair
government's approval. The former assistant secretary general of the
UN, Denis Halliday, who was sent to Iraq to set up the "oil for food
programme", described the effects of the embargo as "nothing less than
genocide". Similar words have been used by his successor, Hans Von
Sponeck. Both men resigned in protest, saying the embargo merely reinforced the
power of Saddam. Both called Blair a liar.