Sir, - The British Ambassador, Sir Ivor Roberts (July 21st), did not display his usual thorough briefing on Iraqi sanctions.
Nobody who has worked under the UN rules would claim that "there are no restrictions on legitimate trade with Iraq". In practice, business is extremely difficult and subject to arbitrary delays. That is why former UN programme administrators (Irishman) Dennis Halliday and Hans von Sponeck (son of the general executed for plotting against Hitler), resigned from their UN posts and now condemn sanctions.
Many of the import refusals are farcical: oil drilling rigs are vetoed because they "could excavate missile silos". Has anyone heard of spades? The Royal Mail halts medical journals though these are exempt. Heart drugs have been refused because they contain nitroglycerine.
Yet when you notify Heathrow Airport officials that you are bringing these medicines to Iraq they raise no objection. In one case stud bulls were blocked because their medication could be harmful if taken by humans! Chlorine for water purification is refused because armies (including British and Iraqi), once used it in chemical weapons.
Count von Sponeck believes that such antics are a charade to pressure Iraq beyond the spirit of UN resolutions and international custom on siege warfare against civilians. We are causing the mass destruction that we claim to avoid.
Sir Ivor's assertions contradict Britain┤s Department of Trade and Industry and many UN officials. Money lies unspent in UN accounts because of Western vetoes. Iraq preferred to halt oil exports rather than concede because there are already billions locked in UN accounts; Iraq had nothing to lose by interrupting exports.
While true that Britain objects to only some items, these are often critical bottlenecks without which the remainder of the shipment is worthless; A refinery cannot safely function without controls. It is usually impossible to import telecom or computer aids essential for industrial development or even maintenance. As a result Iraqi oil production has fallen steadily and workers are forced to take avoidable risks. We once saw a welder repairing gas vessels without any inert gas or even protective gloves! What should have been routine maintenance has become life-threatening. How does this serve Western interests?
The ambassador┤s argument about better conditions in Kurdistan is disingenuous: the Kurds are not similarly restricted and anyway are less short of potable water. Impure drinking water is the major reason, according to UNESCO statistics, for the avoidable deaths of 5,000 children monthly.
Sir Ivor's point about Syrian smuggling, while true, is breathtakingly silent on the fact that most smuggled oil since 1991 has gone through Britain┤s NATO ally Turkey. Such arguments reinforce cynics┤ suspicions that the British Foreign Office is interested in spin rather than substance.
The stillborn initiative, misleadingly called "smart sanctions" was an attempt to maintain a fraying embargo in the face of rising unease, not least in Britain itself. Shrewd Foreign Office Arabists knew that the proposal would sound good to Western ears while being unacceptable to any sovereign state. That is why it was opposed by Iraq and vetoed by Russia. But the British government is increasingly out of step with informed opinion, including Pope John Paul II. A sense of fair play among ordinary Britons has provoked misgivings among a wide spectrum of religious, political and business leaders. Readers can gauge the arguments on the Cambridge University based website: www.cam.ac.uk/societies/casi/discuss.html.
Almost none of the embargo critics participating support the Baghdad regime. The embargo has long since de-fanged Baghdad but failed to topple the regime. It is now counter-productive.
Sanctions boost Arab nationalism. And Iraq holds 15 per cent of world oil reserves. The suffering of innocent civilians, particularly infants, is disproportionate to nay benefits.
The Irish Government is right to review UN practice and bring it to an acceptable standard of morality and common sense, - Yours, etc.,
David Horgan, Petrel Resources' Clontarf Road, Dublin 3.