Dennis Halliday

Quotes from an article in Isalm-Online. The entire article is here.

Note: Halliday was the United Nation's coordinator of the Iraq Oil-for-Food program until he resigned in disgust over the fact that thousands of ordinary Iraqis were dying due to the harshness of the sanctions.

"The U.N. should not be in Iraq lest it would give legal respectability to the invasion and occupation of the oil-rich Arab country, or further promote the impression that it has collaborated against the Iraqi people."

"They [ordinary Iraqis] no longer see the U.N. as a friendly organization. It is a deadly one through their eyes, as they had suffered under the totally bankrupt – if not illegal and immoral - concept of sanctions."

"It [the UN] had allowed occupation of an independent sovereign country, and Secretary General Kofi Annan did not criticize the U.S. and Britain for their war ambitions sufficiently, Iraqis believe."

[The UN has become a victim of]"U.S. hegemony [and Annan] takes orders from the Security Council – dominated by five permanent members including Washington."

"This is about oil, Israel. It [the Iraqi invasion] is a stepping stone to the world domination and corporate business."

"Look at the way the Iraqis are detained and dragged into the night. Look how their infrastructure is now heavily damaged."

Halliday goes on to propose a restructuring of the UN, including ending the status of the five permanent members of the Security Council, and strengthening the veto power of smaller countries. He noted that "raw material suppliers" could have a tremendous influence on the policies of industrial nations, which rely on imported basic commodities.

Those who think the United States can go it alone are in for a rude shock once they realize just how dependent we are on the rest of the world when it comes to supplying our industrial base. For now, as the major purchaser of such commodities, we might be able to weather the coming storm. But look out: other regions--a resurgent Europe, or, especially Asia--might well take the prize, leaving the US with little more than a pile of bills generated by our foolhardy policy of militarism.