40-Day Fast Launced to Protest 11 Years of Iraq Sanctions

Interview by Between The Lines' Scott Harris.

Aug. 6 marked the 56th annivesary of the U.S. nuclear attack against the Japanese city of Hiroshima, which killed 140,000 people. This same date also marks the 11th anniversary of the imposition of United Nations' economic sanctions against the nation of Iraq, which critics charge has unnecessarily caused untold human suffering. A 1998 UNICEF study estimated that as many as 500,000 Iraqi children under the age of five had died due to the U.S.-driven economic sanctions.

A growing number of people in the U.S. and around the world, horrified by the social and economic cost that the sanctions have taken on Iraq's civilian population, have been working for the last decade to end the embargo. To observe the 11th anniversary of the sanctions, activists led by the group Voices in the Wilderness have gathered in New York City to press their campaign in an action they call, "Breaking Ranks: A Fast to End the Siege of Iraq." Dozens of those opposed to the sanctions have committed to undertake a six-week fast in a vigil located across the street from U.N. headquarters.

Between The Lines' Scott Harris spoke with former U.N. Under-Secretary General Denis Halliday, who had been in charge of Iraq's oil for food program until he resigned his post in protest of the sanctions in 1998. Halliday explains why he and others continue to work for an end to the economic sanctions against Iraq(A RealAudio Version of this interview may be found At http://www.btlonline.org).

To get more information on the "Breaking Ranks" campaign, contact Voices in the Wilderness by calling (773) 784-8065 or visit their Web site at www.vitw.org

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