Krista and Mark Clement of Bruderhof on Iraq. From my memoirs to be published soon on Iraq By Ibrahim Ebeid.

Krista and Mark Clement of Bruderhof on Iraq.
From my memoirs to be published soon on Iraq
By Ibrahim Ebeid.

The following interview was conducted by Ibrahim Ebeid on 12 March 2000, on behalf of Almoharer,

Krista and Mark Clement of Bruderhof are working for peace and justice in the US and around the world. They are active in opposing racism and injustice, the death penalty, US sanctions on Iraq and Cuba, and all forms of capitalistic imperialism. They are very active in resisting the genocidal sanctions imposed unjustly upon Iraq and its people.
They participated with other members and other organizations in taking medicine to the children of Iraq, thus challenging the US tyrannical rules and risking jail because they believe the price is worth it to save a child.
Al-Moharer has the honor of introducing its readers to the following interview with Krista and Mark Clement.
The Unjust Deadly Embargo

Al-Moharer: Krista, as an American mother who is witnessing the results of the genocidal sanctions and their effect on the Iraqi children, what would you like to tell the American people, and what would you like them to do?
Krista: I would tell them that the suffering and anguish of the Iraqi mothers cannot be described with words. They must go there themselves.
And I would tell the American people that their government has deceived them and lied to them about Iraq. The oil-for-fuel program is a farce and does not provide the Iraqis with what they need to survive.
We destroyed the infrastructure of Iraq with our criminal bombing in 1991, and now we refuse to allow the Iraqis to acquire what they need to rebuild their sanitation and electrical equipment by claiming that this equipment would have a dual purpose. At the same time, we take a large portion of the oil for food money from Iraq and use it to pay reparations to Kuwait and other nations for damage sustained during the Gulf War. Before the sanctions, Iraq had free medical care and education for all. This has never been the case in the US, and our medical and educational systems are a shambles today.
Yet we blame the Iraqi Government for the suffering of the Iraqi people when, in reality, it is our sanctions that prevent them from providing the people with what they had before the sanctions. I would urge Americans to go to Iraq and see for themselves what is happening. I would ask them to meet the Iraqi people as fellow human beings, look into their eyes, and ask them for forgiveness for the suffering our government has inflicted upon them. I would ask them to go to the graves of Iraqi children with the parents of those children and grieve with them for their child that we killed with our brutal policies.
Al-Moharer: Krista, can you tell us about the agony and feelings of the mothers of the Iraqi children that you met in the hospitals?
Krista: It is not possible to convey the agony of the mothers of Iraqi children as they helplessly watch their children die. I have five children of my own, and they have had their share of sicknesses and injuries. But each time we were able to get excellent medical care, and my fear and anxiety for them were quickly laid to rest as the doctors dealt with their problems. I cannot truly imagine what agony it must be for a mother to watch her child die a slow and agonizing death with no medical help available. Even pain medication is in very short supply due to sanctions. Imagine watching one’s own child in agony day after day because of the policy of a foreign government. As one stands beside the bed of a dying Iraqi child, one realizes that again a slaughter of the innocents is taking place. This pain and suffering are written on the faces of the mothers, and I could only stand by them and try to comfort them. Their courage and spiritual strength impressed me deeply.
Their faith sustains them in their anguish, and they forgive me, an American, believing the American government, and not the people, is responsible for what our country has done to them.
Al-Moharer: What would you like to tell Hillary Clinton, who is known for her concern about the state of children in the United States and abroad, but ignores the Iraqi children?
Krista: I would ask Hillary Clinton if she truly believes that an Iraqi child is of less value in the eyes of God than a child born in the United States. I would ask her if she believes that children should be slaughtered on the altar of her husband’s foreign policy just because he does not want to admit that sanctions are a failed and bankrupt attempt by his government to control the oil in the Middle East. I would tell her that if she truly cares about children, she would go to Iraq and see for herself what our policies are doing to the children and mothers of Iraq. If she truly has a heart for children, she would come home and plead with her husband on their behalf.
Al-Moharer: What would you like to tell the Secretary of State who said the “price is worth it” about the Iraqi children?
Krista: I believe that these words from Madeline Albright are among the most shocking, cruel, and heartless ever uttered in the history of the world. And they came from the mouth of a mother.
I would ask Madeline Albright if she believes in God.
I would also tell her that I stood beside a weeping young mother as she helplessly watched her child dying, the third child she had lost to the sanctions.
I would ask Madeline Albright, who has three daughters of her own, if she would be willing to meet this mother, look her in the eye, and tell her that her children were indispensable and worth the price.
Mark Clement
Al-Moharer: Can you inform our readers about the type of work you and your Organization, Bruderhof, are doing to help Iraq and its people break the unjust embargo?
Mark: We have sent six delegations to Iraq, with two of our sisters scheduled to go to Iraq on March 12 on board the jet that George Galloway has chartered to fly from London
to Baghdad with a load of medicines. Our delegations have taken extensive video footage of the suffering of children and mothers and used it to produce a short, powerful documentary called “Worth the Price?”
We have distributed this across the United States and around the world in the hope that it will change people’s hearts and turn them against the sanctions. Our delegation, in February 1999, cleaned the Leukemia ward at the Saddam Hussein Pediatric Hospital. Afterward, it produced a small booklet, Tears of the Heart, that depicts the suffering of some of the children who lay dying in the hospital while we were cleaning. These items are available for use in working against the sanctions.
Al-Moharer: Also, can you provide our readers with the organization’s addresses in the United States and Europe?
Mak: I would suggest contacting us through my e-mail: [email protected]
Al-Moharer: Did you notice any worsening in the state of health and medical services between your visits?
Mark: It is not possible to quantify the change in conditions, but I had the strong impression that conditions had worsened during the eight months between my visits.
Al-Moharer: As a father, did you feel the agony of the Iraqi fathers who lost their children to the sanctions, or of those who cannot provide their children with the necessary nourishment to help them grow healthy, and toys to keep them happy?
Mark: Yes, I felt the agony of the fathers. I have met many fathers in Iraq who have lost their children to the sanctions. It is heartbreaking. Krista and I have five sons, and each of them has been sick or injured in accidents. Had they contracted their illnesses or sustained their injuries in Iraq during the period of the sanctions, they would almost certainly no longer be alive. This would be very hard for my wife and me to carry. Our children have been able to get a good education and have had what is needed for proper physical, emotional, and educational growth. This is being denied to millions of children in Iraq because of the sanctions. For the parents, this is a great need. This is a crime against humanity and will have lasting consequences for generations.
Al-Moharer: Did the resignation of the Humanitarian Workers in Iraq send a message?
Mark: The resignation of the Humanitarian workers underscores what was already known: Security Council Resolution 1284 is a smoke screen behind which the United States wants to continue the sanctions. It is a grossly unfair and deceitful resolution. Hans von Sponeck and Jutta Burghardt have recognized that, with this resolution, the United States has made it virtually impossible for the sanctions to be lifted. Iraq has every right to refuse the resolution.
Al-Moharer: …. and what would you like the presidential candidates to know?
Mark: I would tell the presidential candidates that the sanctions have already created a legacy of justified hatred and mistrust in the Arab world towards the United States government that will last for generations. If they are truly concerned about the well-being of the United States and the world, their first act as US President would be to call on the UN Security Council to revoke the sanctions. Their second act would be to call on Congress to appropriate many billions of dollars to help Iraq rebuild its infrastructure and to make reparations for the damage we have done to their country, including the Depleted Uranium pollution.