Humanitarian Crisis in Iraq: Statements
Dr. Henry: I acknowledge the Minister of State's commitment to this issue. The justification for this war is nil. I was one of the doctors who wrote a letter against this war to The Irish Times. I said that I regretted the fact that Ireland allowed the troops to go through Shannon. I doubt that it would make much difference if we stopped the troops passing through, but, unfortunately, our attitude will now be aligned with that of America. Given the great name we had in the past in terms of the distribution of humanitarian aid, I hope our workers will not be put in a situation of greater danger because of the flights into Shannon. I am sure the Government would not want that to happen, but it is a possibility.
For Prime Minister Blair's sake, I hope that anthrax is found by the tonne. I do not mean just a few flasks of it. He has stated that it exists in Iraq. Unless it is revealed by the tonne, I will not believe it was there. If there are just a few litres, I will not believe that they could not have been brought in. There are numerous laboratories in America where anthrax is available. It is the only country where there has been a problem with anthrax in recent years. If Prime Minister Blair is to have any credibility, anthrax and some chemical agents had better be found by the tonne.
The Minister and other Senators have mentioned the bombing of the Red Crescent maternity hospital. This is the last straw. In the past ten years, as I have said previously in the House, the maternal and infant mortality figures in Iraq have risen to an appalling level as a result of the sanctions imposed on that country. The maternal mortality figure for 2000 was 370 per 100,000 births. In this country the figure is eight and it might include car accidents, cancer and other causes. Even worse, before 1990 the figure was about half that. This is a serious situation. The country has been in a humanitarian crisis during the past ten to 12 years.
The infant mortality rate, that is, the death rate per 1,000 live births, was 100 in 1997; that is one in ten children. The mortality rate for children under five years of age per 1,000 was 120. Before 1990, the figures were about half that level and it was expected that by 1997 the infant mortality rate in Iraq would be about 37 per 1,000 live births. Instead it has trebled. The Iranian figures were always much worse than those in Iraq. The Iranian infant mortality rate in 1997 was down to 38 and by 2000 it was down to 33. The Iranians have improved enormously, even though they are in the same part of the world. The Iranian figures were always worse so one can see how seriously affected the civilian Iraqi population has been by the sanctions. We all tried to do something, but we did not do enough. There is no more or less to it than that.
I am sure the Minister for Foreign Affairs and our representatives on the Security Council did everything they could to try to prevent this war. The small countries of the world which are members of the international organisations have huge obligations to deal with the outrageous desire for power of some major countries. They will have to try to build up these organisations again.
I agree that it will have to be international organisations that distribute humanitarian aid. It was outrageous to see those poor people clawing for food out of the back of a lorry. Giving sweets to Iraqi children does not do much good either. Maura Quinn, the executive director of UNICEF Ireland, is a friend of mine. She wrote the following to me on 31 March:
My last visit to Iraq was in February, when there was a sense of dread about the future. Iraq is truly the saddest country I have ever visited. I have witnessed its continuing decline from a thriving nation to a place where children are dying from malnutrition and preventable disease. And now war is going to devastate an already crumbling nation.
Currently UNICEF has 160 Iraqi staff in Baghdad with a further 90 national staff in other parts of Iraq and along the borders. The remaining non-Iraqi staff will return to the country as soon as it is safe to do so. Although conditions are very difficult and are changing from day to day, UNICEF staff have been able to carry out their work in the past few days, including getting supplementary food to children who are isolated in institutions outside Baghdad.
There is an enormous number of homeless children who rely on people such as UNICEF workers to bring them food. Ms Quinn also stated that:
UNICEF has been working in Iraq since 1983 and is currently the main humanitarian agency, along with the Red Cross, with our focus being on children. UNICEF has been given particular responsibility for nutrition, health and water and sanitation.
We have heard about civilian casualties from the various bombing raids, massacres at checkpoints and so forth, but the American public has not. American television stations carry different reports of the war from those carried in Europe. I refer, in particular, to the fine reports we get from RTE. My husband has just returned from the United States and he told me the reporting is not the same. Even Fox News and Sky News, both of which are owned by Rupert Murdoch, have a different brand of reporting for their different audiences. It is no wonder that the American public is giving support to President Bush.
If people have contacts in America, it is important that we tell them our views. Senator Ó Murchú is right about explaining our objections to people in Ireland. We also have an obligation to explain them to our friends abroad.
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