"The sanctions are the real weapons of mass destruction," declared Rania Masri of the Iraqi Action Coalition. Masri narrated a slide presentation with documentation from various United Nations agencies on the effects of the economic sanctions against Iraq. More than 1 million Iraqis have died - 567,000 of them children - as a direct consequence of economic sanctions. Iraq's health care system is being deprived of medicine, and other basic supplies such as anesthesia and painkillers. Sanctions are inhibiting the importation of spare parts, chemical reagents, and the means of transportation required to provide water and sanitation services to the civilian population of Iraq.

Masri explained this is why the Iraqi people are angry with the U.S. government. The lifting of the sanctions is conditional on certification that Iraq does not possess weapons of "mass destruction."

"But the American inspectors have dominated the UN inspections teams in Iraq," Masri said, "and they are the ones providing the reasons to prolong the blockade. The U-2 flights," she added, "provide the Pentagon information for future bombing missions."

Masri and other Arab-Americans present also denounced the U.S. mainstream media for fueling anti-Arab racism. The meeting ended with a call for an end to the war on Iraq; for a lifting of the blockade on the Iraqi people; and for continuing the campaign to get out the truth about the U.S. aggression against the Iraqi people.

Janice Lynn

Washington, D.C.

Debating Iraq on the job
On November 19 supporters of the Militant talked to members of the United Auto Workers at the shift change at Lear Seating Corp. in Atlanta where I work. No one bought a copy of the paper, but many took notice of the Militant distributors' sign reading, "U.S. Hands off Iraq." The next day some of my co- workers were mimicking the signs, which led some people to ask me what I thought about Saddam Hussein. I said that Saddam was just as bad as any other capitalist and the Iraqi people over there needed to make a revolution to overthrow him and the Iraqi government. But that's not the issue. The real issue is the U.S. wants control of Iraqi oil and they will go to any lengths to get it.

Some other people said that he was stockpiling chemical weapons and that he bombed his own people. They said that if he bombed his own people that he would try to bomb the United States. I pointed out that during the civil rights movement the U.S. government turned on its "own people."

Then a co-worker named Tim, who was a chemical weapons specialist in the army, said the United States needs to get their hands off Iraq and that it was none of the U.S.'s business what Iraq is doing. He said "the U.S. is starving innocent people with the sanctions and that the real criminal Saddam is sitting pretty because he is rich and doesn't have to worry about food."

Then another worker yelled out "I think we should just smart bomb them all!" Tim replied very sharply, "Smart bomb! Smart bomb! There is no such thing as smart bombs!" The other worker said, "Yes there is." Tim answered, "You call killing innocent people smart? I don't think so."

Clint Ivie

Atlanta, Georgia

More on Promise Keepers
The Oct. 20 Militant used out of context something I wrote on the Promise Keepers, missing the point that NOW leader [Patricia] Ireland and I were both attacking the rightwing base of the PK movement from different angles. This led a reader to label me a "formerly pro-feminist" writer who believes women must submit to subordination as an alternative to rape. Oh, puh- leeze! Contrary to the charge that I have "either forgotten or never contemplated the possibility . . . of women fighting for equality and social justice," that's exactly what I advocate in my new book, The Way We Really Are: Coming to Terms with America's Changing Families.

My op-ed piece tried to explain, however, in contrast to feminist accounts that lack a class or historical perspective, why some disempowered women, lacking the leverage of economic independence or the support of political allies, often claim that the Promise Keepers have made their lives better. PK rallies reflect the pressures of the women's movement even on conservative Christians. These men are playing catch-up with the 1990s, offering women benevolent paternalism as a step up from autocracy but also as a substitute for equality.

Though some wives may see paternalism as an improvement over their husbands' former neglectful self-centeredness, I argued, it is not a solid basis for reorganizing male-female relations. Such relations must be built on equality and justice, not paternalism.

Don't those of us who struggle for justice and equality have enough real opponents without misrepresenting our allies?

Stephanie Coontz

Olympia, Washington

The letters column is an open forum for all viewpoints on subjects of general interest to our readers. Please keep your letters brief. Where necessary they will be abridged. Please indicate if you prefer that your initials be used rather than your full name.  
 
 
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