GUEST 26 Apr 04 - 12:19 AM

"sanctions were responsible for the deaths of 567,000 Iraqi children."

Utter crap Guest, those figures were based on very shakey projections, not on any study, not on any facts - so read the findings of the WHO.

Other factors that were not taken into account:
- The draining of the Southern Marshes
- What Saddam could not drain he poisoned
- Physical displacement of up to 900,000 Marsh Arabs by Saddam
- Saddam's punitive attacks against the Southern Shia population in the wake of "Desert Storm"

All the above I suggest would have a negative effect on childbirth statistics for the region.

Over the same period I take it that you will attribute the growth in the population of Iraq from 18.1 million to just over 23.3 million to US actions and UN sanctions?

"we can't possibly put all the blame on Saddam, as after the Iraq war, he and Iraq were broke, and the country's infrastructure was in shambles."

But he found the where-with-all to build, what was it? Seventeen Presidential Palaces, and purchase, what was it? 384 rocket engines for his missile programme - no mean feat under the rigorous sanction regime in place at the time - Eh?