It is currently a federal offense to visit Iraq. The punishment for breaking this law is a possible 12 years in prison plus a $1 million fine.

This punishment is not deemed “cruel and unusual” according to the 8th amendment in the Bill of Rights. In contrast, a number of Americans consider is the economic embargo which has been placed upon Iraq “cruel and unusual.”

Recently Fr. William Foley, S.J., of Boston, Mass., visited Iraq to observe its medical conditions. He visited the country Dec. 15 to 30 with a group of three other Jesuits.

The group witnessed conditions much worse than they had expected.

“I expected to be shocked,” Foley said, “but not as much.”

Foley observed hospital conditions and did some bedside teaching with the Iraqi doctors. Foley also experienced U.S. bombing first hand. “It is a strange experience to realize that the bombs falling on you are from your own country,” Foley said.

“I did hear a report that the U.S. has not hit a military target since 1998,” he added. “Most of the bombing is taking place in rural and suburban areas. There are no military targets in these areas. On a trip in town we saw amputees and others affected by the bombing.

“The U.S. media also reported that bombing had ceased during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. However, bombing continued,” Foley said.

Foley also had the experience of dealing with Iraqi citizens who were not a part of the medical field. “The country of Iraq is a police state,” he said. “The people cannot talk about their government. However they want us to know what is happening in Iraq, and that the people are [America’s] friend.”

Since the U.S. imposed the embargo after the Gulf War, the country has fallen from the most medically hi-tech nation in the Middle East to one in a pre-antibiotic state. This, along with several other conditions, has led to over 2 million embargo-related deaths. It is estimated that 6,500 children die each month from preventable diseases. Iraqi children also suffer from poor medical treatment and are expected to have a problematic future as a result. These statistics have caused many officials to call the embargo an act of genocide.

This has led Foley, along with many others, to work with congress to outlaw the embargo, which has gone on for about 10 years without congressional approval.

Prior to his visit, Foley received a letter from Secretary of State, Madeline Albright, stating the current law on visiting Iraq. Foley’s response to the letter was to state that, “A higher power calls people to go there and come back to give correct information to the people.”