Building Peace: a new approach to Iraq

About PSR

Guided by the values and expertise of medicine and public health, Physicians for Social Responsibility works to protect human life from the gravest threats to health and survival.

Signing of the Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty

International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War

Goals of this Presentation

 War is devastating to all aspects of humanity  Understand the role of international law and abide by it  Understand the peaceful alternatives to avoid conflict

So why should we prevent war?

Health Effects of War

– Direct death/injury – Psychological effects – Refugees – Infrastructure Damage • Health System • Water/sanitation • Electricity – Environmental damage – Economic damage – Failed states

Iraqi Death Toll since 2003?

Over 1 million Iraqi civilian deaths since the invasion in 2003.

Orphans

• Iraqi orphans: 5 million • Minimal orphanage placements Newsweek3/25/05 Children learn to avoid landmines

US Casualties

Over 4,000 U.S. soldiers dead since 2003 Almost 2000 civilian contractors dead

Over 63,400 U.S. Soldiers Injured by 8/08

• Marked increase in survival so more soldiers with marked disability • 8 injured for one death vs 3:1 in Vietnam

Increase in “Polytrauma”

• 80% injuries from roadside bombs • 250 spinal cord injuries who are ventilator dependent and quadriplegic requiring new VA centers Syracuse VA

Traumatic Brain Injury

• • • 30% of injured soldiers with traumatic brain syndrome from explosions Symptoms range from dizziness/headache to persistent vegetative state Sx overlap with PTSD

Psychological Effects

“Mental health issues and post traumatic stress disorder are among the No. 1 issues facing Iraq veterans.” –up to 30%

-Paul Rieckhoff, executive director of the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

• The traumatic event is re-experienced • Things that remind a person of the event are avoided and reactions are "numbed" • The person feels "keyed up" all the time

Battlefield Stress

• Soldiers identify their team as family: protecting your family helps survival. But in civilian life families feel stifled • Strangers are dangerous • Driving is dangerous, so erratic action is protective in Iraq • Life at home is mundane

By 2008, 1,600,000 deployed

Suicide Rates highest in 26 years among veterans

• 20% PTSD in Iraqi vets = 320,000 •250,000 applied for disability

Psychological Effects on Iraq

Millions of Iraqi children have been psychologically traumatized by the war and display “war play” New York Times

1 in 5 Iraqis Displaced 4.8 million

Women stay in tents for fear of rape

Deteriorating Health System

U.S. Military attacking hospital in Fallujah. Violation of Geneva Conventions

Estimated $20 billion to restore full electricity & water by 2010 Unicef Ayat Nabeel, 13, picks rice grains out of sewer water outside her home in Baghdad. She hopes to sell the rice to neighbors as feed for their chickens.

Environmental Effects

Militaries are the world’s largest polluters

•Oil pollution •Bombing of chemical plants, and structures release toxins •Toxic weapons depleted uranium

Global Warming and Iraq War

• Iraq War has released 141 million metric tons of CO2 = 25 million new cars • $600 billion for Iraq War could have built new wind farms to produce 25% of U.S. electricity demand.

• Even in peacetime, U.S. military largest consumer of oil

The Cost of War in Iraq-Aug 2008 “No nation is rich enough to pay for both war and civilization. We must make our choice; we cannot have both.” –Abraham Flexner $4,100 for every American Household $1,500 for every American  $3,400 for every taxpayer  $11 million per hour  $275 million per day

Total money spent: $456,100,000,000

Military trumps all

“You cannot simultaneously prevent and prepare for war” -Albert Einstein 3/19/08 NYT

Unseen Costs Current estimate: $3 trillion

source: Linda Bilmes and Joseph Stiglitz, The Economic Costs of the Iraq War

The Iraq War still funded by “emergency” appropriations

WWI Philippines Afghanistan Persian Gulf War Iraq Invasion Operation Praying Mantis, Persian Gulf Haiti Bosnia Vietnam

We need to change the long held pattern of using war as a tool or solution

Dominican Republic Panama Korea WWII Bay of Pigs Invasion Operation Prime Chance, Iraq/Iran Serbia, NATO Hiroshima Nicaragua Operation Earnest Will, Kuwait

Institutional Alternatives to War

• United Nations • International Criminal Court • International Law

Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928

“…Solemnly declare …(to) condemn recourse to war for the solution of international controversies, and renounce it, as an instrument of national policy”

The United Nations

• Founded 1945 with 51 member states • Voluntary association of governments • No country has ever left the United Nations

United Nations Charter

“We the peoples of the United Nations…”

• Prevent the scourge of war • Reaffirm human rights & promote social progress • Establish justice and respect…for international law

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

“All human beings are born with equal and inalienable rights and fundamental freedoms.” Eleanor Roosevelt holding a copy of the Declaration

United Nations General Assembly

• 192 members • One state one vote • 2/3 majority rule

United Nations Security Council • 15 members • 5 permanent members: China, U.S., France, U.K., Russia • Primary responsibility for international peace and security U.S. Security Council Rep.Zalmay Khalilzad

United Nations Secretariat

• Carries out the substantive work of UN • 7,500 staff • Budget support from 170 countries Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon

U.N. Economic and Social Council

• Under the General Assembly • Policy development for economic & social issues • 54 members-3y terms

80% of the work of the UN system is devoted to helping developing countries build the capacity to help themselves.

UN is successful in 2/3 of its peacekeeping missions

The Hague, Netherlands

The International Court of Justice

The International Criminal Court

• The ICC is an independent treaty-based organization in 1998 • It is the only permanent global court capable of trying individuals accused of: – genocide – war crimes – crimes against humanity.

The reality of the USA and the ICC

• US opposed to ICC • Clinton signed 2000 • Bush unsigned 2002 • The United States signed into law in August 2002 the American Service members’ Protection Act (ASPA) which prohibits US cooperation with the ICC and US military assistance to ICC parties.

The USA and the ICC

Written on the Berlin Wall Memorial

Hold Leaders Responsible

Try Donald Rumsfeld for War Crimes

Let’s look at Iraq

Central Baghdad 2007 The town of Iraq el Amir

Brief History of Iraq

•

1921

–Kuwait is separated from Iraq, prohibiting Iraq’s access to the Persian Gulf •

Until 1958 –

Iraq run by Hashemite monarchy

July 14

th

Revolution

• •

1958

–Popular revolution General Qasim becomes Prime Minister.

1960

-- Iraq helped create OPEC, withdrew from the Baghdad anti communist pact, led reforms, planned for Iraq to take over oil company.

General Abd al-Karim Qasim

The US and the Ba’ath Party

• 1963 –assassination of Qasim by CIA • CIA support of Ba’ath party- only 850 members • CIA provided names of suspected communists • 1968 – Ba’ath party officially in power

“An attempt by any outside force to gain control of the Persian Gulf region will be regarded as an assault on the vital interests of the United States of America, and such an assault will be repelled

by any means necessary, including military force

. --President Jimmy Carter, 1980 State of the Union Address

Iran-Iraq War

• • • • •

1980 - 1988

– U.S. aids both sides

1982 -

First use of chemical weapons by Iraq

1988

End of war and beginning of U.S. propaganda against Saddam Hussein

1991 –

Invasion of Kuwait

1991

– Operation Desert Storm-U.S. was not authorized to invade Iraq by Security council, only to push Iraqis out of Kuwait

What is Pre-emptive war?

Is it legal?

“Until the most powerful military forces and their highest officers are held equally accountable with the powerless for crimes related to war, the rule of force will remain paramount” –Ramsey Clark, former US Attorney General

The United Nations on Terrorism

The best strategy against terrorism is to fight it at its source: • Promote social and political rights and democratic reform • Work to end occupations • Combat organized crimes • Reduce poverty and unemployment

What can we do to?

• Rely on multiple sources of media—Common Dreams • Evaluate candidates for their position on international law and support of the UN • Advocate for non-violent means to end conflict and enforce international law.

• Ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, the ICC, the Landmine Treaty • Fulfill requirements to reduce and eliminate nuclear weapons

Take Advantage of Democracy

Educate yourself about the United Nations

• UN Public Inquiries Unit – [email protected]

• UN Cyberschools – [email protected]

PSR United Nations Association WILPF Model United Nations FCNL Lawyers Guild

Resources

• UN Dept. of Public Information • ICC • Physicians for Social Responsibility • Alternative news sources – Democracy NOW; Commondreams.org

– Portland IndyMedia • Freedom House Study • Three Trillion Dollar War, Stiglitz • War and Public Health; Terrorism and Public Health • This Fire This Time. Wesley Clark