Letter: Iraq's medicine
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Your support makes all the difference.Sir: After reading their letter I felt that the gentlemen at the University of Texas have failed to see the real reason behind the suffering in Iraq. It is highly questionable to say, "Maybe more than 1 million ... Iraqis have died as ... a direct result of US/UK policy."
Perhaps the first area to lay the blame is the domestic policy of the Iraqi government. Saddam Hussein has proven himself to be an extremely cruel dictator who views his military capability as being far more important than the standard of living experienced by his own people.
Over recent years the majority of nations around the world have begun to reduce their weapons of mass destruction in an attempt to increase stability and improve relations.
Iraq has defied this norm and continued to risk the stability of the Middle East with its secretive development of chemical and biological weapons. As with all investments, there is a cost to be borne and it is the Iraqi people who are left with declining standards of living as Iraq attempts to outgun the rest of the world.
You have to ask why these people require the medical aid and why they need food supplies. All the answers point towards the investment decisions of Saddam Hussein and his continued defiance of the UN, which in turn lead to the suffering and shortages experienced by his people.
JAMES WILSON
London SE17
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