6 June 2001 

Dear Friends:

The Campaign of Conscience continues to call for an end to all economic sanctions against Iraq.

Neither "Smart Sanctions," which the United Kingdom introduced in the United Nations on Tuesday, May 22, nor alternative proposals offered by Russia and France, solve the Iraqi humanitarian crisis. Though a discussion of the current sanctions in the UN represents a move in the right direction, these initiatives do not address the root causes of the Iraqi crisis.

The sale of oil is Iraq's major source of income. However, under "Smart Sanctions," oil revenues continue to be deposited in an escrow account managed by the U.N. Without control of its income, Iraq remains unable to decide when, where and whether it can purchase goods to meet its people's needs.

In addition, the Gulf War and sanctions savaged Iraq's infrastructure. Today, water treatment and sewage treatment plants lie in ruins, leaving water unsafe to drink and deadly to children, and an unreliable electric power grid means that food and medicine cannot be safely refrigerated.

"Smart Sanctions" do nothing to stop children from dying of bad water nor do they address the needs of an oil-based economy, whose infrastructure and economy are in ruins. In the end, these initiatives may serve only as a cynical foil to justify a continuation of these destructive sanctions. Non-military sanctions against Iraq must be lifted, so that Iraq can begin to meet the needs of its people and rejoin the community of nations.

Until we respond to Iraq's devastated economy and infrastructure, Iraqis will continue to die and suffer. The coming weeks are critical, as the UN discusses Iraqi sanctions. Please voice your outrage over this continuing war on the Iraqi people.

Yours in faith,