Fresh Bombing of Iraqis
by Moana Cole
Reprinted from The Common Good, Issue 1, Summer 1996
On the Sunday following renewed American bombing of Iraq, 45 people gathered in protest at a prayer vigil outside the American Embassy in Wellington. They came to pray for the victims of the continuing war against the people of Iraq, especially those killed by the recent bombings and by the sanctions imposed since 1991. The renewed bombing campaign is in effect an escalation in a war against the Iraqi people that has never ended. The war started on 17 January 1991 and officially lasted 43 days. But the casualties of the war continue to mount in IraqÕs hospitals, homes and schools.
We vigiled in prayer for some hours prior to a more formal service outside the Embassy gates. During the service we carried a coffin to the Embassy steps containing copies of all the major laws broken by the US in its action against Iraq. We also took baskets of food and medicine as a counter-sign of what creative thinking and Christian compassion can effect with the worldÕs resources.
Veteran peace campaigner, Rev. George Armstrong, reflected on the readings of the day and particularly on the poignant words of Ezekiel 33: ÔSpeak to your people and say to them. Imagine that I am to bring a sword against a country and the people of that country chose one of their number to be a sentry.Õ Who and where are our sentries, our prophets, in Aotearoa on occasions such as these?
The recent bombings are nothing more than a cynical attempt by the Clinton administration to boost its election campaign. The administration claims to defend the Kurdish people, but has showed no such concern when its NATO ally Turkey has launched attacks on the Kurds.
The United States is in breach of international law which says negotiation must precede an act of aggression. It sets a dangerous precedent in the unilateral use of military force against another country.
A recent report alleges depleted uranium (DU), a highly toxic and radioactive material, is being blamed for extending the legacy of disease and death of the Gulf War. Operation Desert Storm carried tons of depleted uranium into the Iraqi desert, and a Pentagon spokesperson has confirmed that the substance was used in war for the first time by US forces. In simple terms, this means that radioactive armaments were used for the first time in history by the United States in the Gulf War. (National Catholic Reporter, 25/8/95). Iraqi Health Ministry officials say their records show that aplastic anaemia and leukaemia among children have risen dramatically over the past five and a half years. Liver and kidney diseases have skyrocketed. Congenital birth defects are up 28 percent (up from 8 percent before the war) and late term miscarriages have also spiralled. Added to this, UNICEF figures indicate 500,000 children have already died as a result of the crippling economic sanctions imposed by the UN Security Council to destabilise Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.
Where indeed are the sentinels, the sentries, the prophets to call us back to GodÕs way of justice and peacemaking? EzekielÕs cry still haunts us.
Moana Cole is a founder member of the Christchurch Catholic Worker and hasnÕt missed an episode of ÔShortland StreetÕ since her return from a US prison in 1992.