RAMSEY CLARK’S SANCTIONS CHALLENGE IV: DELEGATION SET TO DEFY U.S. POLICY ARRIVES IN AMMAN ON THE WAY TO BAGHDAD, SAT. JANUARY 13, 2001
January 4, 2001--Defying U.S./UN sanctions, a group of over 50 delegates led by former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark will depart from the United States for the Middle East on Jan. 12 and leave from Amman, Jordan to Baghdad, Iraq on Jan. 13. The delegation from the U.S. plans to arrive in Iraq to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the U.S.-led Gulf War.
This is the fourth Iraq Sanctions Challenge by Clark’s International Action Center. The 50 delegates include anti-war and anti- sanctions activists, educators, students and members of religious groups. They will defy U.S./UN imposed sanctions by taking supplies to Iraq without licence.
More than 1 million Iraqi people, mostly children and seniors, have died as a result of 10 years of U.S./UN sanctions.
The delegates plan to fly on Royal Jordanian Airlines directly to Baghdad. In recent months people from many countries, including UN Security Council countries Russia, Britian and France, Spain, Greece and many Middle East nations, have defied the U.S./British illegal ban on flights to Iraq.
Clark is known throughout the U.S. and the Middle East for his ground-breaking work in the last 10 years of fighting the sanctions against Iraq and for his overall solidarity with Middle Eastern people against oppression from the U.S.
After visiting Iraq, delegates plan to visit a Palestinian refugee camp in Amman, Jordan and then deliver medicines to the West Bank in solidarity with the uprising against Israeli occupation. The trip is sponsored by the International Action Center.
"We know that the amount of humanitarian aid we bring cannot truly meet the needs of the Iraqi people," said delegate Sara Flounders, a co-director of the IAC. "Only ending the sanctions and allowing Iraq to resume normal trade relations can bring an end to the country's catastrophic economic situation.
“On Dec. 20, in one of his first statements as George W. Bush's secretary of state nominee, Gen. Colin Powell threatened tighter sanctions and increased aggression against Iraq. Powell headed the Joint Chiefs of Staff under Bush's father and commanded U.S. forces during the 1991 Gulf War.
"This demonstrates the great urgency for anti-war and anti- sanctions forces to stand up and mobilize right now," Flounders commented. "We must send a strong message to the incoming Bush administration that we won't tolerate further aggression against the Iraqi people.
"Jan. 16-17 is the tenth anniversary of the start of one of the worst massacres in history," Flounders continued. "More than 100,000 Iraqis were killed while the United States lost about 141 personnel in the Gulf War. The U.S. used an integrated strategy of massive bombing, more than 110,000 ariel sorties in 42 days, and tight economic sanctions in an effort to permanently weaken Iraq. Washington's goal has always been to return Iraq to semi-colonial bondage so that U.S. oil companies and banks can dominate its vast oil resources."
Flounders said that the IAC is urging anti-sanctions activists to turn out en masse for the Jan. 20 counter-inaugural protest in Washington with signs and banners demanding an end to sanctions and to all U.S. aggression.
Groups participating in the Iraq Sanctions Challenge include International Peace Project, Fellowship of Reconsilation, Student for Unity Portland State University, Veterans for Peace, Shifa International, Committee in Support of the Iraqi People, Fight Israeli State Terrorism (FIST), American Muslims for Global Peace & Justice, Canadian Islamic Congress, Al Awda, Bard Student Action Collective, Northhampton Committee to Lift the Sanctions, Staten Island College Voice, Pax Christi, Arab Cultural Assoication of Japan, Rocky Mountain Peace & Justice Center and the American Muslim Council. Almost half the delegates are students and educators representing colleges and universities across the U.S.
For updates on the Iraq Sanctions Challenge or for information on planned protests, visit the Web site www.iacenter.org or call (212) 633-6646.
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