Sir, - Having just returned from Baghdad, I sat down with a pot of tea and opened the letters page of last Tuesday's Irish Times. A letter on Iraqi sanctions led me to seek out and read Kevin Myers' piece in your issue of Saturday November 4th. I frequently agree with Mr Myers, but in this instance he is wrong. It is UN policy which is killing children. If you follow his logic, then it is acceptable that millions - indeed all - of the people of Iraq can die to remove a regime of which he disapproves.
What is happening in Iraq is wrong. Iraq is a First World country being reduced to Third World status. Iraq is not Africa. It has a sophisticated, educated workforce, advanced infrastructure and the second largest reserve of oil in the world. The world needs Iraqi oil. Sooner or later the stand-off must be resolved.
In the meantime, 5,000 children a month are dying. These are UNICEF figures confirmed to me by CARE executives - led by a Dublin lady, Judy Morgan. They are dying not from hunger, but from bad water and lack of basic medicines. It is absolutely wrong for Mr Al-Sadr (November 7th) and Mr Myers to state that the Iraqi regime is stealing the essential medicines. I brought supplies of baby food and medicines. I took them to my hotel and gave them to CARE. No-one tried to frustrate me. CARE will use them in its work with Iraqi children.
Let me give you three examples of why people are dying directly as a result of UN policies.
1. CARE ordered PVC plastic pipe to rebuild water treatment plants. This is allowed under UN rules. Some two-and-a-half years later, UN committee 661 has not approved the order.
2. My own colleague in Baghdad needs medicine for angina. He has a prescription. The pharmacies cannot get the medicines. UN bureaucracy delays orders indefinitely. We bring in the tablets bought from a Dublin pharmacy.
3. A young man fell and injured his stomach and needed a blood transfusion. There were no plasma bags in Baghdad. Luckily for him, bags were bought in Jordan and driven 10 hours across the desert.
Does anyone really believe that killing children and beggaring a rich country will produce a generation of Iraqis who support the West? Look no further than Crossmaglen to find your answer.
Can I put forward two suggestions:
Immediately disband committee 661 which rules on all imports to Iraq. Instead of US, UK and other Western bureaucrats, use Arab, Asian and African people who have a feel for the needs of the people of Iraq.
Start afresh by approving all the imports requested by Iraq. The money to pay for them is sitting in Paris.
Use diplomacy instead of daily bombings. The killing of 500,000 children in 10 years is a direct result of sanctions that cannot be justified. - Yours, etc.,
John Teeling, Seafield Road East, Clontarf, Dublin 3.