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On Monday, February 14, Mr. Hans von Sponek, the United Nation's Humanitarian Coordinator in Iraq followed in the steps of his predecessor Mr. Dennis Halliday when he resigned in protest of the ongoing sanctions and bombings of the Iraqi people. In an interview with Rueters news service Mr. von Sponek said: "Well, everyone here in the U.N. is concerned over the inadequacy of the performance of the oil-for-food program ... That is not just my view,"

"So I'm not at all alone in my view that we have reached a point where it is no longer acceptable that we are keeping our mouths shut.

"Our support, my support, my commitment is for the Iraqi people as a group of deprived people whose tragedy should end."

Within hours of Mr. von Sponek's principled resignation Ms. Jutta Burhardt, the head of the World Food Programme in Iraq since January 1999, also resigned in protest of the sanctions. Mr. von Sponek, Mr. Halliday, and Ms. Burghardt were among the closest impartial observers of the effects of the sanctions in Iraq. Their resignations must cause the world community to reconsider the justification for continuing the present policy of sanctions and bombings.

According to the Congressional Research Service current military operations in support of the sanctions cost the U.S. $1 billion annually. This monumental sum of money pales in comparison to the human havoc wreaked by the sanctions and bombings. As a result of the 88,500 tons of bombs dropped on Iraq by the Allies in 1991 much of Iraq's infrastructure was destroyed. The damage has yet to be fully repaired because of the restrictions of the sanctions. At the behest of the United States contracts for many items which can be used to repair the infrastructure, i.e.. the electrical grid, the water and sewage treatment systems, irrigation equipment, fertilizers and pesticides are blocked because repairs to the infrastructure, which will help the civilian population, will also help the Iraqi military. Top U.N. officials in Iraq have told me that Iraq needs to repair at least half of its total infrastructure. These officials estimate that the cost of these repairs could easily be $30 billion.

This price tag, regardless of continued U.S. obstructions in the U.N., is not likely to be achieved through the current, (or the proposed expanded) version of the "Oil for Food" deal. This is partly due to the deterioration of the Iraqi oil industry. In a July 1999 letter to the Security Council U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan wrote, "the oil industry of Iraq continues to be in a lamentable state. It may be recalled that the group of experts (Saybolt) (has stated) that the productivity of existing oil fields in Iraq ha(s) been seriously reduced, some irreparably...They had also stated that a sharp increase in production without concurrent expenditure on spare parts and equipment would severely damage oil-containing rocks and pipeline systems...approximately 20% of wells are irreparably damaged." Iraq has attempted to purchase the necessary spare parts to maintain it's oil wells and pipelines but many of the contracts have been held up by the American delegate on the 661 Committee, which oversees Iraqi contract requests.

The combined effects of the bombings and sanctions has led to widespread malnutrition, a sharp rise in child mortality rates, a decrease in crop yields, marked devaluation of the Iraqi Dinar, contamination of drinking water with untreated sewage which has resulted in epidemic proportions of water borne diseases. The numbers are numbing: UNICEF reports that 5,000 children under 5 die monthly due to the sanctions, 2.1 million of the nation's 22 million people are classified as suffering from malnutrition, perhaps 1.5 million civilians have died to date. Meeting just one of these victims leaves an indelible mark.

In July I met Sajah Ali, an emaciated child who wieghed 3.75 pounds. Sajah's ideal weight should have been 11 pounds. Sajah was sick with dysentary contracted from drinking baby formula mixed with the contaminated drinking water. Sajah's mother, Um Sajah, was forced to bottle feed after her malnourished body stopped producing milk. Sajah was the last of her children still living- the other five had already succumbed to preventable diseases.

On top of this American, and occasionally British, warplanes bomb Iraq on average every other day.

Last month I met with Ms. Toni Berry, of the Iraq Desk in the State Department. During our discussion she did not deny the severity of the impact of the sanctions on the Iraqi people and she stressed that the sanctions were a U.N. mandated censure which would remain in place until the U.N. verified that Iraq's weapons of mass destruction program is certified as dismantled. Former chief weapons inspector, and Gulf War veteran, Scott Ritter has said: "Today, Iraq no longer possesses arms of mass destruction." (Al-Hayat 3/31/99, London) Later in our meeting Ms. Berry repeated what the President and Secretary of State have earlier stated, namely that the sanctions against Iraq would remain in place so long as Saddam Hussein remains in power. This U.S. caveat does not appear anywhere in the Security Council resolutions, which define the sanctions. Likewise, there is no U.N. mandate or justification for the American led "no fly zones".

What does appear in UN Security Council Resolution 687, is a call for regional disarmament and nuclear weapons free Middle East. The positioning of American troops in Saudi Arabia, the sale of weapons and related technology to Israel, Turkey, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, and Israel's possession of 200 nuclear weapons all constitute serious violations of 687.

If America can justify the no fly zones, the destruction of the water, sewage, educational, medical, and electrical systems because Iraqi troops invaded Kuwait and because Iraq was developing weapons of mass destruction are we prepared to extend this same logic to America and Americans? Should America be devastated by indiscriminate bombing because American troops have in the past invaded Panama, Haiti, Grenada, Mexico, and Cuba..? Would it be acceptable for American children to suffer from a lack of food and medicine because the United States, under the authority of Congress and the President, maintains a stockpile of nuclear weapons larger than the combined weapons programs of the rest of the world? Should Iraqi warplanes patrol our skies because we have persecuted African Americans and Native Americans? The Congress, president and people of the United States would not accept any of these actions as justifiable methods of resolving grievances. In fact, when civilians are detained, harmed or killed for a political agenda most of the world is quick to condemn such actions as terrorist. It is not moral or just for us to be bombing and enforcing sanctions against the people of Iraq. In the words of Pope John Paul: "the weak and innocent cannot pay for mistakes for which they are not responsible."

Near the end of my meeting with Ms. Berry of the State Department she said that the people of Iraq would be better off without Mr. von Sponek. Having spent time in Iraq and having met Mr. von Sponek I know that Ms. Berry did not know what she was talking about. Mr. von Sponek is a man of tremendous compassion and integrity. It is the view of the National Council of Churches, the U.S. Catholic Conference of Bishops, Cardinal Bernard Law of Boston, Pope John Paul II, Nobel Peace Laureates Adolfo Perez Esquivel and Mairead Maguire, and 71 members of Congress that the people of Iraq would be better off without American bombs and sanctions. No doubt Um Sajah would agree.