i would fight for aus.would you??????, page-73

re: here's a brave military boy like bultana In his June 2000 report, the UN Secretary-General wrote that "clean water and reliable electrical supply are of paramount importance to the welfare of Iraqi people" (§98). Such basic needs cannot be provided through the imports allowed to Iraq under oil for food.

Even if the food rations delivered by the Iraqi government cover in principle the caloric intake of Iraqis, under-nourishment persists due to a wrecked economy. When Tun Myat, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Iraq, returned to New York in October 2000, after six months in Iraq, he emphasized the problem of poverty in a Press Briefing:

"The food distribution system ... now ensures that under the new Distribution Plan over 2,470 kcal of energy of food is being made available to every man, woman and child in the country ... but the fact is, of course, people have become so poor, in some cases, that they can’t even afford to eat the food that they've been given free because for many of them, the food ration represents the major part of their income ... they have to sell it in order to buy clothes and shoes or hats or whatever other things that they would require. So the sort of upturn in nutrition that we would all want to be seeing is not happening".

Another limitation of oil for food stems from the increasing number of holds placed on imports to Iraq. All 15 members of the sanctions committee have to approve contract applications made by the Iraqi government. In the UN Secretary-General's report of 29 November 2000, he warns that holds are "certainly one of the major factors that are impeding programme delivery in the centre and south. Current holds on such sectors as electricity, water and sanitation and agriculture impact adversely on the poor state of nutrition in Iraq. Similarly, holds on trucks badly needed for transportation of food supplies may soon affect distribution of food rations, which is also compounded by collapsing telecommunications facilities" (§128). And yet holds continue to increase both in numerical value and in proportion to the total value of contracts circulated. It is alarming that 20% of holds by value were being effected with no reason given by the holding missions.