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NEWS ... GL@BAL NEWS ... LANDMARK WARNING ON BEHIND WASHINGTON'S DEMAND TO LIFT IRAQ SANCTIONS MERCURY USE IN DENTISTRY he issue of lifting the sanctions on Iraq is shaping up as the next big confrontation in the lor the first time anywhere in the USA, UN Security Council, which now has control over at least US$30 billion held in its Oil dentists will be required to post a warn- for Food accounts—funds accumulated from the sale of Iraqi oil during the sanctions ing about the dangers of mercury in their | fegime. The US has appointed itself the overseer of Iraq and the force that will hand-pick a dental fillings. On January 7, a California | NEW government. But the sanctions prevent the money from going to Iraq. So the US wants Superi gs. a ry a an end to sanctions so that these billions of dollars can be turned over to a US-administered uperior Court judge finalised the language govemment in Iraq. for the warning and ordered the California In addition, Iraqi money worth billions of dollars has been frozen since August 1990 in Dental Association to send it to dentists by | accounts around the world. An end to sanctions could be a first step in making this money March 9. The warning reads as follows: available to a US-controlled "Iraqi government", which would then turn it over to US corpo- "Notice to Patients: Proposition 65 _ | rations that have been awarded contracts for the "reconstruction" of Iraq. The US campaign Warning: Dental Amalgam, used in many _ | to end the sanctions and turn the billions in withheld Iraqi funds over to itself, the occupier, dental fillings, causes exposure to mercury, _| '$ Plfacy In its most blatant form. ; ; a chemical known to the state of California France, Russia and China all have veto power over whether to end the sanctions. Various to cause birth defects or other reproductive countries on the Security Council have reminded Washington that sanctions cannot be lifted ° ed teas r repromucay until UN weapons inspectors confirm that Iraq has no weapons of mass destruction, which harm. Root canal treatments and restora- | qiplomatically throws in Washington's face the same fraudulent excuse that the US govern- tions, including fillings, crowns and | ment used for 13 years to continue the sanctions. bridges, use chemicals known to the state France has further enraged the Bush administration by proposing that civilian sanctions of California to cause cancer. The US | could be "suspended" for humanitarian reasons. By stating that it was not for "lifting" sanc- Food and Drug Administration has studied _ | tions, it was reminding Washington that the web of sanctions the US had spun gives the UN the situation and approved for use all den- Security Council control over all of Iraq's future oil revenues. This is also Russia's position. As long as sanctions officially remain in place, the revenue from all Iraqi oil sold will con- ‘ : “ch materials are 4 tinue to be deposited into UN accounts. Billions of dollars are at stake in future contracts. ust . fetermine which materials are aPPrO- |) The countries on the Security Council that had joined the US in imposing sanctions are not priate tor your treatment. . ___ | so anxious to turn over these accumulated funds, the bidding on all reconstruction contracts _ The warning is the result of a lawsuit | and the future oil revenues to the conquerors. filed by the law offices of Shawn Khorrami Part of the reason why Washington does not want the United Nations involved in any way on behalf of As You Sow, a not-for-profit | in Iraq is that the Bush administration does not want any other financial claims on its unilat- foundation dedicated to advocacy and _ | eral theft. Until it is clear who has legal title to Iraq's oil, it will be difficult for the US to sell tal restorative materials. Consult your den- activism in the public interest. the oil on the world market. Before the 1991 war, Iraqi oil revenue was worth more than (Source: MercuryPoisoned.com) US$20 billion a year. , . ; When the Pentagon started ene in January 1991, it chose its targets to sharpen the deadly impact of the sanctions. The US consciously destroyed the water, sanitation, sewage VS NOROME WE ANS and pumping facilities, along with food-processing plants, pharmaceutical plants and med- ical facilities. At the end of the massive US 40-day bombing campaign, Iraq withdrew from Gu War syndrome campaigners were —_| Kuwait. This should have ended the reason for the UN sanctions. But as a condition of the yesterday [May 5] claiming victory _ | ceasefire, the US demanded that sanctions remain until the UN Security Council had con- after the UK Ministry of Defence _ | firmed that Iraq had destroyed any unconventional weapons it may have obtained. announced it would not appeal against a This became the excuse for a protracted struggle to demand the right to send thousands of ruling by the war pensions tribunal, accept- eaves ot lraq ou ne ra pad re a pea peel over ee pee inva li condition and vacci- _ | tions, the continuing threat of veto has kept these starvation sanctions in place for metions given to en the com sition and vaces years. By 1995, a UN Food and Agriculture Organization report confirmed that 567,000 Alex Izett. 33. a former lance-corporal _ | Children under the age of five had died as a direct result of the continued UN sanctions. A ereur : po growing global mobilisation demanding that sanctions be lifted created a radical shift in who developed brittle bone disease after | world public opinion. the 1991 conflict—but never went to the As world outrage mounted, the US shifted its public relations approach. In an attempt to Gulf—said it was a "watershed" moment in _ | give a humanitarian cover to its brutal policy, it pushed through the Oil for Food Program. the battle to have the condition officially | This program allowed Iraq to sell a limited amount of its oil and buy food and medicine from recognised. the revenue. The UN Security Council, under a special committee called the 661 The decision by the MoD not to chal- Sere es cont all the revertue and faite Gel) contract for supplies al Iraq A ° '. og sig | would receive. Some 34 per cent of the Iraqi Oil for Food revenue went to the Kuwaiti fenge the runing hat Mr zetts osteoporosis monarchy and other "victims" of the 1991 war. ExxonMobil received $200 million in "war his. 1: ° ‘V deol t could hg gs sionifi reparations" from the Oil For Food funds, which were supposed to feed starving Iraqi 1S panned deployment could lave signi | children. Billions of dollars also went to the UN to administer this program. A multibillion- cant implications for thousands of veterans | gojlar bureaucracy was created that guaranteed lucrative contracts to many countries. suffering from the syndrome. Because Mr For the past six years, the US and UK representatives on the 661 Committee have denied, Izett did not go to the Gulf, the ruling adds _| delayed or obstructed most of the contracts submitted by Iraq. Under US pressure, the com- weight to the veterans' argument that their | mittee denied over 90 per cent of Iraq's contracts for the repair of water/sewage treatment ailments have been caused by the injections _| and irrigation projects. . _ . of untested and experimental vaccines they Because of this continual obstruction, billions of dollars from oil sales were never released for Iraq's desperate needs but continued to be held in UN accounts. These funds, along with future oil revenue, are what US corporate power wants undisputed control over. (Source: by Sara Flounders, Workers World, May 8, 2003, http:/www.workers.org) were given, and not by anything they may have encountered in the field. (Source: The Guardian, May 6, 2003) ‘or the first time anywhere in the USA, dentists will be required to post a warn- ing about the dangers of mercury in their dental fillings. On January 7, a California Superior Court judge finalised the language for the warning and ordered the California Dental Association to send it to dentists by March 9. The warning reads as follows: "Notice to Patients: Proposition 65 Warning: Dental Amalgam, used in many dental fillings, causes exposure to mercury, a chemical known to the state of California to cause birth defects or other reproductive harm. Root canal treatments and restora- tions, including fillings, crowns and bridges, use chemicals known to the state of California to cause cancer. The US Food and Drug Administration has studied the situation and approved for use all den- tal restorative materials. Consult your den- tist to determine which materials are appro- priate for your treatment." The warning is the result of a lawsuit filed by the law offices of Shawn Khorrami on behalf of As You Sow, a not-for-profit foundation dedicated to advocacy and activism in the public interest. (Source: MercuryPoisoned.com) VICTORY FOR GULF WAR SYNDROME VETERANS Gu War syndrome campaigners were yesterday [May 5] claiming victory after the UK Ministry of Defence announced it would not appeal against a ruling by the war pensions tribunal, accept- ing a link between the condition and vacci- nations given to the armed forces. Alex Izett, 33, a former lance-corporal who developed brittle bone disease after the 1991 conflict—but never went to the Gulf—said it was a "watershed" moment in the battle to have the condition officially recognised. The decision by the MoD not to chal- lenge the ruling that Mr Izett's osteoporosis was caused by a cocktail of drugs before his planned deployment could have signifi- cant implications for thousands of veterans suffering from the syndrome. Because Mr Izett did not go to the Gulf, the ruling adds weight to the veterans’ argument that their ailments have been caused by the injections of untested and experimental vaccines they were given, and not by anything they may have encountered in the field. (Source: The Guardian, May 6, 2003) JUNE — JULY 2003 NEXUS +9 www.nexusmagazine.com