'They are destroying a nation'

By Unknown Author

Sanctions dodger Kirsty Gathergood returned from Iraq last week, seemingly unscathed by her visit - previously reported in the Oxford Student. Representing the charity Voices in the Wilderness - and ignoring UN trade sanctions imposed on Iraq - she flew to Jordan with supplies of toys and medical equipment, before embarking on the 14hr journey by land to Baghdad.

She donated Medical aid to the Red Crescent of Iraq for distribution; and the toys to the leukaemia wards of Baghdad hospitals. Kirsty said that the children were "very appreciative", though she was pessimistic about their future. She explained "the doctors are sure that none of them will survive - they can't get the medical equipment to treat using chemotherapy." The world Health Organisation has recently released figures estimating that there has been a four-fold increase in the cases of leukaemia in Iraq since the Gulf War in 1991. According to Kirsty, many Iraqis and Aid Workers attribute the increase to depleted uranium - used in warheads in Iraq. The same warheads were used in the Kosovo conflict last year.

Kirsty spent the remainder of her time in the South of Iraq at Basra: "I thought Baghdad was bad, but Basra was a hundred times worse." She believed that the infrastructure was "falling apart." She went on to say "people are very tired - physically and psychologically exhausted."

Back in England, Kirsty plans to give lectures and hopes that she and others can pressure the British Government to lift the sanctions. She claimed "it's okay for them; they don't see the effects."

This is an opinion echoed by Dennis Halliday, ex-UN Humanitarian Co-ordinator in Iraq who resigned in September 1998. He explained "We are in the process of destroying an entire nation - it's as terrifying and as simple as that."

A further expedition is planned for August, marking the tenth anniversary of the imposition of sanctions. Kirsty claims that she will not be returning to Iraq for a while due to the emotional trauma of the visit.

18th May 2000