A bomb exploded in Yugoslavia. A taxi driver drove quickly toward the place where smoke was billowing up. He stopped at the sight of a man frantically working to extricate this small body from under the ruble. He ran to help. Together they loaded the bleeding child into the taxi and drove toward the hospital.

"Hurry, my friend, my daughter is bleeding," said the man. A little later, "Hurry, my friend, my child is so still." A short time later, "Hurry, my friend, my child is still warm."

When they arrived at the hospital, the medics pronounced the child dead. The two men sobbed as they washed the blood from their bodies. The man said through his tears, "How am I going to tell her father?" The taxi driver, astonished, said, "I thought you were her father."

The man replied, "Are they not all our children?" ~ Houston Peace News, November 1997

Remember the Calculus of Concern: Your one phone call translates to 500 silent people who support the position you express. Your actions count! Contact your Congresspeople and your local media with your concerns. The humanitarian situation in Iraq should be an integral part of any story on Iraq! If you feel uncomfortable writing a long letter, just write a one-liner: "Shouldn't the sanctions, which are causing the deaths of thousands of Iraqi civilians every month (1,211,285 children between August 1990 and August 1997) be considered a weapon of mass destruction?" "What has been the impact of sanctions on the Iraqi people?" "Wasn't Saddam defeated when he had his full arsenal of weapons and soldiers?" Speak up; it's your government. Help keep democracy alive and kicking! Call: President Bill Clinton ~ The White House, Tel. 202-456-2580; Fax 202-456-2461; Comment Line, 202-456-1111 (1-1-0 to by pass message); e-mail: president@whitehouse.gov U.S. State Department ~ (Ask for Secretary M. Albright's office, the Comments Line or the Iraq Desk.) Tel. 202-647-4000; Fax 202-647-7120; e-mail: secretary@state.gov Bill Richardson, U.S. Representative to the U.N. ~ Tel. 212-415-4404 or 212-415-4050; Fax 212-415-4443 Any member of Congress ~ 1-800-522-6721 = Free! U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations ~ Tel. 202-224-4651; Fax 202-224-0836 U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs ~ Tel. 202-225-5021; Fax 202-225-2035 Zip codes for D.C.: White House = 20500, Senate = 20510; House of Representatives = 20515. Remember the Callousness of Concern, and make your caring concerns known to the "powers that be".

Fifty-four American Bishops signed a letter to the President in support of lifting the sanctions on Iraq. Criticism of lack of progress toward ending the sanctions has been voiced in the Security Council. Russia and China question whether Iraq has any weapons left after 7 years of inspection and weapons destruction. France is "frustrated by the Clinton Administration's uncompromisingly tough stands on continuing a full range of sanctions until numerous conditions are met" (N.Y. Times, 1/4/98). Other diplomats have expressed concern that the U.S. is "turning sanctions into a no-exit program" by insisting that "Iraq . . . allow inspectors access to any site." France and the Security Council have complained of Butler's (head of UNSCOM) misrepresentations to the public on what has been found in Iraq in terms of "weapons of mass destruction."

Sharp criticism has come from private relief organizations and UNICEF. The U.S. is accused of micro-managing "the relief program that allows Iraq to sell limited quantities of oil to buy food and medicines, such "as blocking the shipment to Iraq of whole-cream powdered milk for children" because "it could have laboratory use" (N.Y. Times, 1/4/98). An American heads this operation at the U.N.

Inspite of the successful completion of the inspections of the palaces, the U.S./British military force remains at the ready in the Persian Gulf and the US says the inspections will continue.. Women Strike for Peace (D.C.) and Coalition for Justice in Iraq (of which the Fellowship of Reconciliation, Pax Christi, Presbyterian Peace Fellowship and others are members) believe that only citizen pressure can stop the Clinton Administration's bombing of the Iraqis and bring about the lifting of sanctions.