Also see :
Defence Minister renews Canada's contribution to the Arabian Gulf

Extract:
...by sending the Canadian patrol frigate HMCS Calgary to the Arabian Gulf...
"Canada has been participating in the enforcement of UN sanctions against Iraq for 10 year..."

___


CANADA ANNOUNCES HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE FOR IRAQ (April 17, 2000)

Extract:
Minister of Foreign Affairs Lloyd Axworthy and Minister for International Co-operation Maria Minna today announced $1 million in humanitarian
assistance for Iraq.

DroitVP position:
     While we impose devastating sanctions, we give one million dollars.  We could have fun comparing this sum of money to that necessary to send our military ships impose the blockade, etc.  We must not forget that these so-called sanctions block all normal civilian trade, deprives the Iraqi society of a functional economy and stops any true development in Iraq.  A humanitarian programme that reduces the number of deaths and limits starvation, does not change the fact that this blockade still causes death and tremendous suffering.

___

I would like to share with you the official Canadian government response
to questions about the impact of sanctions (from the Canadian End-Sanctions
list: Response sent to Mohammed Loubani <mloubani@yahoo.com>). More
precisely, it is what you can receive if you write to Lloyd Axworthy, Canadian
Minister of Foreign Affairs. The Canadian government is still not
doing much to stop the suffering they recognize and is still imposing the sanctions
along with the U.S. and the U.K., my government has considerably changed it's 'official line'.
Therefore, I found the following encouraging nonetheless: it's an
improvement compared to past denial !!!  The Canadian strategy here is to recognize
the crisis caused by the sanctions, but to place the entire responsability on Iraq.
If your own government denies the effects of the sanctions, I think this
Canadian government's 'official line' could hit home.

Michaël Lessard <web@micles.biz/droitvp>

--- Response from the Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs ...

Thank you for your e-mail of March 2, 2000, concerning Canada's policy
on Iraq. I appreciate your continued interest in this issue.

Canada's participation in the action authorized by the United Nations
coalition which liberated Kuwait, in the subsequent monitoring mission along
the Iraq-Kuwait border, our contributions to the Multinational Interdiction
Force in the Gulf, and Canadian disarmament experts on the United Nations
Special Commission are part of our commitment to ensuring the long term
stability and security of the region.

As you know, the Canadian government shares your concern regarding the
humanitarian situation faced by the Iraqi people. Sanctions, an indispensable
tool in dealing with rogue states and actors, have nonetheless had a dismaying
impact on the health and welfare of Iraq's people
. Canada acknowledges the
blunt nature of sanctions and their disabling effect on individual people and
entire societies
[emphasis added]. With this knowledge in mind, Canada has pushed with
considerable success to make sure that the United Nations Security Council
addresses humanitarian considerations alongside the fundamental issues of
security and disarmament in its deliberations and resolutions.

When Canada took its seat on the UN Security Council in January 1999, weapons
inspectors were no longer in Iraq and there was no consensus on what path the
Council should take next. Canada attempted to break this impasse by proposing
the establishment of three panels charged with studying the humanitarian,
disarmament, and Kuwaiti prisoner situations in Iraq. The panels'
recommendations subsequently became the basis for the most recent Security
Council resolution on Iraq. Resolution 1284 addresses many of Canada's
concerns. The establishment of the United Nations Monitoring, Verification
and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) adequately addresses our disarmament and
security concerns. Iraq's recent decision to allow limited inspections by the
International Atomic Energy Agency, as required by the provision of the 1968
Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, is a promising sign. But this is only a
half measure; Iraq must allow free and full access by UNMOVIC inspectors.

On the humanitarian front, Resolution 1284 provides for the immediate and
unconditional refinement of the sanctions regime, by allowing for an expansion
of the number and types of products Iraq can import. The cap on
Iraqi oil production has also been lifted
[emphasis added]. Each of these measures will help
to improve humanitarian conditions in Iraq. Full compliance by the Iraqi
regime with its Council-mandated obligations would trigger a lifting of
sanctions
     [DroitVP: There is ample reason to believe this is untrue.  
     The US gov. has often stated that sanctions will never be removed
     as long as Saddam Hussein is in power.  Moreover, the DroitVP position
     is that causing so much suffering and death to pressure the Iraqi gov.
     is a policy based on an obvious logic of terrorism and violates the International Law.],

alleviating the suffering of the Iraqi people. In addition to our
efforts on the Security Council, Canada has undertaken other initiatives.
Last November, a Canadian fact-finding mission travelled to Iraq to assess the
political and humanitarian situation. During this visit, team members met
with senior Iraqi government officials, as well as representatives of the
United Nations and non-governmental organizations (NGO). They confirmed that
the UN "oil-for-food" program had done much to bring Iraq back from the brink
of a humanitarian catastrophe
. But it is also clear from their findings that
Iraq has experienced the twin phenomena of
"de-development" and "de-professionalization
." [emphasis added]

Today in Iraq, the medical, water and sanitation, education, electrical and
agricultural infrastructures are in a serious state of disrepair
. While
efforts by the United Nations and NGOs to ameliorate this awful situation
have been essential, they are merely stop-gap measures
[emphasis added]. Only Iraq's decision
to re-join the international community as a full-fledged member in good
standing will change things for the better.

Despite even our most robust efforts to craft the least disruptive enforcement
regime possible, negative consequences of the denial of free and fair trade
and commerce have inevitably arisen. Canada is concerned about the negative
impact that delays placed on the approval of humanitarian assistance by the
Council's Iraq Sanctions Committee are having on the health and welfare of the
Iraqi people. We will work with our Council partners to ensure that the flow
of health supplies, water and sanitation equipment, spare parts and teaching
tools encounter as few obstacles as possible in the future.

In pursuit of an end to the Iraq crisis, Canada will continue its efforts to
establish a constructive dialogue with the Iraqi government in hopes of
encouraging its compliance. By pursuing this path, Canada hopes to bring an
end to a situation that has gone on for too long. Too long for regional and
international security. Too long for the Iraqi people.
    [DroitVP: Let us hope that last bit was sincere and is followed by real diplomacy]


Thank you again for writing.

Sincerely,

Lloyd Axworthy



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