Mercy mission

>> Montrealer witnesses firsthand the dire straits of Iraqi civilians

by CRAIG SEGAL

After flying all the way to Iraq on a humanitarian aid mission, Samaa Elibyari didn't have the stomach to visit the hospitals. "I knew what to expect," says the soft-spoken Elibyari. "I knew I was going to see babies that were dying and I didn't have the courage--especially knowing that Canada, my country, is killing children."

How's that again?

"They are killing them because they are not providing them with medicine and many of them are dying from preventable diseases like diarrhea," says Elibyari. "We're killing them also because we're not providing the means for water purification. I'm happy I didn't go to a hospital. I know my limits."

Elibyari, 56, produces the Middle East affairs show Crossroads on CKUT Wednesdays at 2 p.m. She flew to Iraq with the U.S.-based International Action Centre on an illegal Jordanian Airlines flight for a six-day trip in mid-January to bring educational and medical materials like pencils and CD-ROM medical databases to the Iraqi people. The United Nations bans these kinds of items since they imposed sanctions on Iraq at the time of the 1991 Gulf War. The UN has also imposed sanctions on flights to Iraq, and passengers were worried about being grounded by American or British warplanes. "We knew there would be a risk. We were afraid of being bombed because the U.S. and the U.K. are bombing areas in Iraq frequently."

According to Voices of Conscience--a local anti-sanctions group that partially financed the trip--the embargo has led to the deaths of 1.5-million civilians, doubled the maternal mortality rates and increased child malnourishment by over 300 per cent. These numbers are compounded by the use of depleted uranium during the war, made out of nuclear waste and used in bombs and bullets. Voices says the heavy metal is likely responsible for the estimated 500 per cent rise in cancer rates, including a massive increase in the number of babies born with leukemia.

Elibyari is conscious of the fact that the goods brought by her group won't do much. "The stuff was symbolic, a drop in the bucket." She says the sanctions, meant to stop Iraqi leader Sadam Hussein from producing dangerous weapons, are only destroying the country. She says Baghdad looks "like a city that has been dormant for 20 years." It lacks housing, food, medicine and work. Unemployed engineers drive ancient taxis with cracked windshields for dinars that don't come close to an American cent. Streets once packed with stray cats and dogs mysteriously have none. "This, for the Middle East, is very strange."

Elibyari noticed that children in schools equipped with crayons draw American planes dropping bombs on their homes. She visited a pharmaceutical company that manufactures almost no drugs because necessary ingredients are banned by sanctions. Since testing is banned, the company supplies hospitals with untested drugs. Despite all the misery and death, the population is increasing by three per cent a year. Family planning is impossible, Elibyari says, because there are no health services like abortion or contraceptives.

Elibyari highlights an unplanned moment at the end of her trip. "One of the organizers was collecting tips from our group for the staff and she asked us specifically if we could spare any pencils or notepads, as these were the most prized items. I was happy," she says. "I happened to have some pencils and a notepad."