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| A CONTINUING FIGHT | |
 August 17, 1999 
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MARGARET WARNER: An international campaign to contain Iraq through U.N. sanctions and U.S. and British air power has been underway for nine years. Tonight we examine its impact, beginning with this report from Iraq by Zachary Fink of New Jersey Network News, a nightly public television news program.
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| Continued air strikes | ||||||||||||||||||||
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One thing we are not allowed to videotape are the many military checkpoints scattered throughout Iraq, especially in the southern part of the country. Vehicles are routinely stopped and searched. There were what appeared to be military installations about three miles from the area in Najaf, where the U.S. bombs landed. Iraqis reject U.S. claims that allied pilots do everything they can to avoid civilian casualties. If civilians are killed, U.S. officials put the blame squarely on Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. The Iraqi leader has offered a reward to any soldier who can shoot down an American or allied aircraft, although no planes have actually been hit. While U.S. officials say that allied planes are defending themselves against Iraqi challenges in the no-fly zones, the Iraqi government blames the U.S. for what it says is aggression. In an interview Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz said Iraq has a right to defend itself. |
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| Patrolling the no-fly zones | ||||||||||||||||||||
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SADIQ AKBAR, Retired Engineer: I saw ambulances; I saw fire trucks and many people running here and there. What I saw, like hell. It was a mess - small children - women - men - people wounded in the street. I saw a child that - not more than three or two and a half years - near torn to pieces. The house with two families inside was completely crushed on them. People were doing their best to bring out the - rescue the people who were buried under the debris. I began to cry and what can I do? ZACHARY FINK: Akbar said his home was far enough away from the explosion to avoid any major damage. But his walls still show cracks from the impact.
ZACHARY FINK: The Iraq Government said 11 people were killed and 59 injured. The United States later admitted that an errant missile may have killed civilians. Iqbar Fartus, an English teacher, lives a bit closer to the scene of the strike. She approached members of Voices in the Wilderness while they were visiting a nearby hospital. She agreed to share her story with us but did not want to speak into a microphone. Fartus lost her three-year-old son in a January missile strike and her other son, Mustafa, was severely injured by the shrapnel. Fartus said Mustafa hides when he hears the air raid sirens. FARTUS: Every day of the month - every day or evening. |
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| The sounds of war | ||||||||||||||||||||
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ZACHARY FINK: Many Iraqis said they get used to the sound of warplanes and a constant threat of air strikes. This restaurant worker, who spoke only a little English, asked the question that many people pose to us. KHASSAM SHEPEB, Restaurant Worker: I don't know why America hate Iraq, hate children of Iraq, why?
SADQI AKBAR: They want the right - not just by talking - by bombing - sending bombs - embargo is more stronger to our great leader because he is fighting for us; he is working day and night for us. ZACHARY FINK: Back in Najaf, Iraqis were busy repairing the damage
from U.S. bombs. Some buildings and bridges are still bearing scars from
the Gulf War, but when the damage is minor, it can usually be prepared
in a few days. Although the threat of air strikes never subsides for
Iraqis life goes on.
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ZACHARY
FINK: It's a familiar sound to Iraqis living in the Southern and Northern
no-fly zones -- air raid sirens warn of approaching U.S. or European
warplanes. Often, the planes on routine patrol drop bombs, and strike
what the Defense Department says are military targets. Such raids have
intensified since Operation Desert Fox last December. According to military
officials, there have been 49 strikes in the Southern no-fly zone since
the first of the year, and 72 incidents in the North over the same period.
Each strike consists of multiple targets. U.S., British, and until last
year French, warplanes have been flying over Iraq since the end of the
Gulf War in 1991. 
After
the conflict, the U.N. Security Council passed Resolution 688, which
ordered Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to stop repressing Iraq's civilian
population. The Northern no-fly zone was set up by the allies to protect
the Kurdish population there. And the Southern no-fly zone was established
a year later by the Bush administration to protect the Shiite Muslims
in that part of the country. U.S. officials say the intensified raids
have come in response to Iraqi challenges to allied planes patrolling
the no-fly zones. The Iraqis claim U.S. fighter jets have dropped bombs
on civilian areas. The United States says when there are strikes; it
relies on precision-guided munitions. 
Last
month, New Jersey Network News traveled to Iraq with members of Voices
in the Wilderness, a Chicago-based political action group whose members
refer to themselves as non-violent war resisters. Voices has been working
since the Gulf War to end the U.S. economic embargo against Iraq. Delegation
members have been to the country 27 times since 1996 to deliver food
and medicine in violation of U.S. law and U.N. sanctions. Voices in the
Wilderness has continued to make these trips, despite repeated letters
of warning from the U.S. Government threatening imprisonment and hefty
fines. I accompanied the last delegation using a small digital camera.
We were able to travel to cities across the southern part of the country,
areas where movements are normally restricted. We traveled with 
an
official from the Iraqi Red Crescent. While we were there, several towns
in the Southern no-fly zone were hit by U.S. fighter jets. We arrived
in the governate of Najaf a few days after a July 19th bombing rate.
Najaf is an area of about 900,000 people two hours South of Baghdad.
According to eyewitnesses, at least one bomb hit the center of the road
near an area where automobiles are repaired. A second bomb struck about
50 yards away from a grain silo. The force of the second explosion shattered
windows of the living quarters where many of the factory workers sleep.
Workers held up pieces of the bomb, and described the bombing as a large
explosion followed by smaller explosions. Pockmarks were found on the
building and shell casings for bomblets were found on the ground. Doctors
and Red Crescent officials said there were casualties. 
MAZIN
ABDULLAH, IRAQI RED CRESCENT: A big explosion happened in the middle
of this road - was taken from Najaf to Duwanea. And there is a lot of
casualties, about now we have serious casualties in the hospital, in
the main hospital in Najaf, 18 persons, and we have 14 people killed.
ZACHARY
FINK: The Iraqi News Agency put the death toll at 17. Defense Secretary
William Cohen offered this response: "We have no evidence that
any civilians were killed by this particular operation. We have no information
that would indicate the missiles fired went astray, so I can't really
confirm or reject what has been suggested. We have seen no evidence
of it." 
Inside
this Iraqi hospital we were told a different story. Mohammed Nadar,
a 31-year-old cab driver, says four passengers were in his taxi when
one of the bombs exploded; three passengers were killed, one was injured.
This six-year-old boy had to have his right arm amputated after his
tissue was severely burned. This man, Abdullah Shakur, was working as
a mechanic in one of the nearby shops. He said he remembers the explosion,
but his next memory is this hospital bed. Shakur says he is a poor man,
and now that he is crippled, he worries about providing for his family.
TARIQ
AZIZ: You know, they fly over our air space, and they blame us for challenging
us that this an Iraqi provocation as if they are flying over Florida
or Texas. And this is the logical power, you see, as you know. It's
not a humanitarian or a legal logic - and all honest people in the world
- know that this is an intrusion on the sovereignty of Iraq and the
provocation to the Iraqi people and the government.
ZACHARY
FINK: Najaf is not the only city that has been bombed. Our delegation
also visited the neighborhood of Jamarya, in the southern port city
of Basra. Jamarya was hit by U.S. cruise missiles last January. Sadiq
Akbar lives in Jamarya with his children and grandchildren. Akbar once
worked as an engineer, but 
now
he's retired. His brother lives in the United States working as a taxi
driver in Philadelphia. Akbar said he was fishing with some friends
the day he heard the missile strike. He immediately rushed to the scene.
SADIQ
AKBAR: There's nothing in this area which can be a target. There's no
army targets; no - nothing.
ZACHARY
FINK: After visiting several Iraqi homes and talking to a few dozen
people, it was apparent that most Iraqis do not easily have access to
any news beyond their state-run media. It was nearly impossible to find
English-speaking newspapers. And none of the homes we visited had cable
or satellite television. Voice of America broadcasts can be heard throughout
the country but more than one Iraqi told us they regard VOA as American
propaganda, not legitimate news. Iraqis we spoke with said they don't
understand the politics which have brought air strikes, and nine years
of punishing economic sanctions. They told us the bombings and sanctions
will not persuade people to overthrow Saddam Hussein, which the Clinton
administration says is a prerequisite for a change in U.S. policy. 
