March 17, 2000

To: Officers, Rabbis, Synagogue leadership, Info Net

From: Richard B. Stone, Chairman, Betty Ehrenberg, Director, International Affairs and Communal Relations

Re: Congressional Letter to President to Maintain Sanctions on Iraq

IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUIRED

A letter is circulating in the House of Representatives urging President Clinton to maintain the critical sanctions program on Iraq.  It is very important that Congress present a strong statement of unity to the White House and that the letter has as many signatures as possible.  The OU/IPA is urging all its members to write to their representatives requesting them to sign this letter.

Iraq receives sufficient funds under the oil-for-food program to feed its people.  However, Saddaam Hussein is manipulating and misusing the program by using these oil revenues to develop programs of non-conventional weaponry rather than providing for the basic needs of the Iraqi people, including food and medical care.  Saddaam Hussein is directly responsible for the suffering of the Iraqi people as he uses these funds to build palaces for his own personal aggrandizement while decrying the plight of his people.

Over the past decade, Iraq has become the world’s second largest exporter of oil.  The U.N. oil-for-food program, supported by the United States, mandates that Iraq spend 90 percent of its proceeds from oil sales for the humanitarian needs of the Iraqi people, including food, medicine and infrastructure development.  Indeed, the oil-for-food program provides more than enough food to meet the health needs of the Iraqi people.  Any malnutrition in Iraq is not the result of sanctions- it is because Saddaam Hussein is withholding distribution of humanitarian goods to the Iraqi people while spending funds on advanced weapons.

President Clinton must be urged by Congress to maintain the existing sanctions on Iraq.  If sanctions were lifted, Saddaam Hussein could spend the oil revenue to accelerate Iraq’s military programs rather than on the humanitarian needs of Iraqi citizens.  Congress and the Administration must send a united message to Saddaam Hussein that the economic sanctions will not end until the United Nations inspection team certifies that Iraq is free of weapons of mass destruction.  As of now, Saddaam Hussein will not even let the inspection teams into Iraq.

It is essential that you contact your representatives today and urge them to sign the letter to President Clinton.  It is important to include in your letter that Saddaam Hussein is directly responsible for the suffering of the Iraqi people, that Iraq receives sufficient funds under the oil-for-food program to feed its people, and that it would be misguided and dangerous to lift the sanctions.  Representatives can be reached at the following address:

Representative ______________
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515

You may also call your representatives now at 202-225-3121 and urge them to sign the letter to President Clinton urging that he maintain sanctions on Iraq.  Ask for the office of your representative. 

OU.ORG has provided a sample letter you may choose to use or adapt in your communication to your representatives.  When you contact your representative to maintain the sanctions on Iraq, kindly send a copy to the IPA to let us know that you have done so.