Iraq and sanctions: the shameful tragedy

Talk by Dr Ismail Jalili, to the BMA satellite meeting on the sanctions against Iraq , London , Spring 2000

 Thank you for inviting me to speak to you today about the plight of Iraq and what may well, and should, go down in history as one of the greatest tragedies of modern era – And yet, it is a tragedy which has passed almost unnoticed in the West, and certainly -unacknowledged by governments.

 The tragedy, is very seldom portrayed. There are a few independent newspapers that are now opening the eyes of the world to what is happening in Iraq,  in terms of malnutrition and lack of available medicines and  your presence hear is evidence to that.  A whole nation and generations are being denied the basic healthcare,  The healthcare which – every nation takes as its right.  And yet their plight is being denied by world governments and the media.

 However, the tragedy of Iraq is so much more than that. It is a health tragedy but it is also a social tragedy – Iraq in effect has been de-humanized.  

 This cradle of civilization is being bled to death – being bled of its life and its culture. And bombings continue on a daily basis in both the north and south of Iraq – part of the new ethnic cleansing of the Iraqi Arabs.

 As medical professionals, we should be appalled by the medical catastrophe which is now Iraq ; as an Iraqi medical professional –

my colleagues and I have been personally  devastated by the last ten years.

  Iraq suffered, and continues to suffer daily bombing.   What is a greater, and ongoing disaster - is the effect of the bombing in leaving Iraq as a radio-active wasteland.  It has been acknowledged that the water-table will remain contaminated for thousands of years.  And yet, every day of their lives, Iraqis eat the produce of that contaminated land, they have no choice – food is scarce, and what food there is, is meager, and too expensive - everything is welcome.  

 Whilst the consequent malnutrition and health related disease in Iraq   are distressing, they can be remedied with adequate food and with the eventual re-construction of the infra-structure.   This even applies to the eradication of diseases not seen in Iraq for several decades;  diseases such as kwashiorkor, marismus and cholera etc. - However, and of much more significance are the consequences of bombing which in terms of tonnage and content  in the first month of the war, was greater than Hiroshima and Nagasaki.  This atomic time bomb is being repeated in their food chain every day, a continually erupting volcano.

 These are the ten-fold increase in cancers of all types, many previously rare in Iraq .  Not only common now in Iraq but now of a nature and mutation previously unknown. They are also the genetic mutations and malformations, incredibly rare world-wide but   now commonplace in Iraq . 

 Iraqi doctors -have long been held in high regard in the Middle East – in my own days as a medical student in the 1960s –

we were the envy of the Middle East in terms of healthcare, health personnel and medical facilities.  

Patients came from the Arab World to be treated in Iraq .  Now Iraq is less than third world.  

 Iraqis not only deprived basic medicines and facilities but also the vast majority cannot afford treatment outside and the few who can, they are denied access to Britain to other countries. Doctors labor under impossible conditions and against impossible odds.  Many leave in despair, as do so many of the professional classes.

  Iraq has become a nation of the very old and the very young. In social terms  - The consequences of war and sanctions has been that the social fabric of the nation has been destroyed – destroyed beyond recognition.  Prostitution is now common as is the marriage of young girls to old men as a means of escaping poverty and in an effort to assist their families.  Marriage of the young has become something of the past to the majority of people, a luxury they cannot afford, who would dare to have children he cannot feed.. Theft, which was previously uncommon in Iraq because of the very high standard of living is now common between even neighbours.   

 It is not uncommon to see professors of medicine selling their books on a street corner – they have already sold the rest of their possessions, the books are the last to go – clung on to  as reminder of the past until the very end and reflection of the Arab culture putting knowledge at first.

 There are very few books in the schools or universities.  Iraq and its citizens are the pariahs of the modern world.  Everything that denotes a civilized nation is gone – only their personal pride is left and how long can this survive before it turns to despair.

The consequences are felt not only in Iraq   but  by all Iraqis in the diaspora.  Doctors, lawyers, artists  - several millions of Iraq ’s intelligentsia has left Iraq   and  are now  scattered around the world.

 Iraqi was considered the cradle of civilization – the first recorded school, the first recorded female poet, the first written laws. 

What do we have now.  Who will be left to re-build the country when sanctions are eventually eased ? 

 The rate of literacy which was 98% before the war, one of the highest in the world has now dropped to 50%. The flood of refugees continues unabated – and please bear in mind that Iraq had and has the potential to be one of the richest countries in the world. 

 Prior to the war the, one Iraqi Dinar was worth £2 – now £1 is worth 3,000 Dinar –  the monthly salary of a doctor equivalent to £1.50 a month.  The semi-lucky few who escaped have left shattered families behind – praying for the success of those who escaped to help with desperately needed finance. We have also paid the price in our exile.  We have lived through the horror in our own way.  Have you thought how many of  your colleagues have been affected by the war. 

 They suffered in the early days of the war in terms of hostility within their work environments, their children suffered and were taunted by previously friendly school fellows.  Associated with ‘murderous Iraqis’, capable of producing weapons of mass destruction.  

 Have you been aware of the effects of this marginalisation on your colleagues? 

 Your colleagues who have felt too embarrassed to tell you of their suffering, the loss of family members through death and disease.

After the war, their suffering continued as they counted the dead of their families.  My own father paid the price of having children living in the West who could be expected to help him with hard currency?  He was a frail old man of 84 who was beaten to death by thieves for anticipated foreign currency – a legitimate target.  The people have regressed to the primitive form of survival. We now live our lives sending all our spare resources to support our families remaining in Iraq .

 No family has been untouched by the war – whether here or in Iraq .

 In the name of humanity I ask you to act, to take up our cause.  Please talk to the BMA, talk to your colleagues, to your MPs, talk to every decent man and women you know - tell them of the plight of the Iraqi people. 

 The British are renowned throughout the world for their sense of justice and tolerance and for their democracy. 

We need your help now.