UN Rights Expert Charges US Using Food Access As Military Tactic

[chlamor]

UN rights expert charges US using food access as military tactic

GENEVA, March 31, 2005 (AFP) - A UN human rights expert sharply condemned the invasion of Iraq and the global anti-terror drive, accusing the US-led coalition of using food deprivation as a military tactic and of sapping efforts to fight hunger in the world.

"The situation of the right to food in Iraq is of serious concern," the UN special rapporteur on the right to food, Jean Ziegler, said in a report to the UN human rights commission.The report also highlighted "widespread concerns about the continued lack of access to clean drinking water" and allegations by British campaigners that water sources were deliberately cut off by coalition forces.

"Those are the allegations, but what is proven is that at Fallujah, denial, the blockade imposed on food and the destruction of water reservoirs was used as weapon of war," Ziegler told journalists. He insisted that the practice was a "clear violation" of the Geneva Conventions and delivered a firm condemnation of any attempt to deny food or water supplies.

The UN expert insisted he was not judging the legitimacy of the invasion or the tactics used by military forces. "I am simply maintaining a firm condemnation, very firm, of the humanitarian consequences of this strategy and the military tactics applied since March 2003 by the occupying forces," he said. Citing previous studies reported last year, the report said that "acute malnutrition amongst Iraqi children under the age of five has almost doubled from four percent to 7.7 percent," since Saddam Hussein was toppled.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1514&e=16&u=/afp/unrightsfoodiraq

[The_Casual_Observer]

1. Malnutrition among Iraqi children was quite an issue

prior to the invasion, as I recall. It was widely reported. Naturally it isn't being reported anymore, as it might upset somebody.

[chlamor]

3. Someone who went to Iraq

and then returned and gave talks about the living conditions brought out the exact foods and amounts of food for us to see. The rations were scant to say the least. I get so outraged when I think of the children enduring these deprivations. One thing about the oil for food program not mentioned is that it worked on a certain level to keep folks from starving to death. The major players on the take in that so called scandal were in the Republican AND Democratic admin., not Annan and Saddam though they weren't clean either. Millions of Iraqis have died in this long war against a nation. 15 years and counting.

[LynnTheDem]

5. Malnutrition has doubled in Iraqi children

Almost twice as many Iraqi children are suffering from malnutrition since the U.S.-led invasion toppled Saddam Hussein, a U.N. monitor said Monday.

4% of Iraqis under age 5 went hungry in the months after Saddam's ouster in April 2003, and the rate nearly doubled to 7.7% last year, said Jean Ziegler, the U.N. Human Rights Commission's special expert on the right to food.

The situation is "a result of the war led by coalition forces," he said.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2005-03-30-un-iraq-malnutrition_x.htm

More o' that thar "bush success"...

[riverwalker]

2. thousands deprived of food and water

Hmmmmmm let me see, where did I just hear something about it being murder and inhumane? It was just recently, it'll come to me, I remember something about protesters and prayer vigils...

[Karenina]

4. PIPELINES...

OIL, FOOD, WATER... (in reverse order of importance :evilgrin:) cannot be protected, it's simply NOT POSSIBLE on a global level. The air, the air is everywhere... La-la la laaaa... Breathe deep, while you sleep, breathe deep, deep, deepdadeep! ( Erraaaa... it's polluted too).