Those of us in the United States have received a vivid and defining image of Saddam Hussein. He is evil, a monster, who cares nothing for the people of the United States, the people of the Arab world, or even for the people of Iraq. This image was a necessity of war. American parents will only send their sons and daughters over to fight pure evil. In order to get another side of the story, such as the story of what is really happening to the Iraqi people, you have to get outside of the U.S. and its media scope.

This month’s Mev Puleo conference did just that. It turned the perception of Iraq away from “the home of the evil dictator” and viewed it as the home of 23 million people who have no effect on terrorism, the war or Saddam Hussein. It is from this perspective that we hear nearly nothing from our media, or from our government.

So when I had the chance to talk to someone who had lived and worked in Iraq, and with its forgotten population, I had a chance to break through the propaganda and get a view from the desert.

Simon Harak, S.J., has worked, prayed and suffered with the people in his 17 trips to the Middle Eastern nation over the past few years. His interview painted a totally different picture, that destroyed many of the misconceptions about the Iraqi situation. It’s those misconceptions that have lead to an outrageous rate of death and injury among Iraqis.

From those who support the continuation of the sanctions comes the idea that while the sanctions are hurting Saddam, programs set up by the United Nations are trying to feed the people. It is Saddam who is preventing aid from such programs as “Oil For Food” so that he can appeal to the world that his people are suffering, which would lead to an end to the sanctions. To those people I present the following argument and evidence.

From church groups, human-rights groups, and the U.N. consistent testimony shows that the Oil For Food program is, in fact, working. When relief supplies get to Iraq, they are monitored from the ship, to the shore, to the warehouse, to the hospital and finally, to the people. All indications show that this process goes unhindered by the government. In fact, the process has worked so well that the United Nations has chosen it as a model for all similar situations in the future.

That raises the question: Why are the people still suffering? The answer is this: Oil For Food only supplies so much money. With this money Iraq must purchase relief supplies, medical supplies, infrastructure improvements and must also be used to pay for the monitors that are forced on them by the U.N. This leaves Iraq with limited resources.

The millions of dollars that have been given breaks down to only $100 dollars per person, per year. That $100 has to provide all of the services above. But beyond financial limitations, the situation is undermined by the countries who are supporting it. For Iraq to purchase anything, there is a 14-step process of red tape that the Iraqi government and the company that is contracted to ship the supplies must go through. Iraq has an extremely hard time finding companies that are willing to go through that. Especially with a time limit.

The U.N. committee that OKs all contracts with the Iraqi government meets in periods of six months. If the process of attaining a contract, agreeing on the shipment, and receiving the shipment isn’t completed in those six months, than no matter where the project is, it is scraped till the next six-month period. No aid, for all of that work.

It gets worse. The committee known as U.N. Committee 661 forbids Iraq from adding into the contracts any clauses for self-protection. These are basic clauses that show up in any contract world-wide and that protect the purchaser from having to pay for the product if the product is spoiled, damaged or otherwise unfit. Without these clauses, Iraq must pay all money up front and has no chance for recourse if the medical products are expired, if the food is spoiled or if the shipment is smaller than agreed upon. Therefore, much of the limited funds that Iraq is working with goes wasted.

Let’s consider this committee for a moment. It is made up of 15 representatives from the nations on the U.N. Security Council. Iraqi diplomats are not allowed in the meetings, or to even represent their nation. Any one of these 15 can veto any contract that appears before them, without providing any reason. The United States has vetoed more than 1,000 contracts, and in combination with the United Kingdom they make up over 98 percent of the vetoes.

So it is obvious, the countries who recently fought a war against Iraq have a stranglehold on their enemy, which does not reflect the United Nations attempt to regulate. It reflects vengeance. All contracts having anything to do with communications are vetoed.

That doesn’t just mean that Iraqis can’t call their moms. It means that hospitals can’t communicate how much product they need for a patient. This means the people can’t organize to force Saddam to back down on his acts of aggression. In reality, it brings the society and the culture to a standstill. Also vetoed are all crucial contracts that have to do with the electrical grid, water-treatment plants, or the oil industry.

But rarely does the United States simply veto the entire shipment. Usually it will go something like this: You need two gases to make anesthetics useful. The U.S. will allow for one to be sent, and not the other. The government will OK shipments of insulin but veto the shipment of the needles needed to administer it. The U.S. will OK life-support machines, but veto the shipment of the computers needed to run them. The list of examples is endless.

So the Iraqis, who have spent all of this money on stuff they can’t use, put it all in warehouses where they wait for the U.S. to OK the other parts of the contract. The U.N. inspectors come in, see all of the relief supplies just sitting around and return to the world screaming about how Saddam stockpiles all of the relief and won’t let it get to the people. And now we see where our concept of the Hussein administration comes from.

In a final column on the issue two weeks from now, I hope to dispel of the myths that form our opinion of the Iraqi situation. But as you can see, just a half hour talk with a man who has ACTUALLY been there, seen what happens and lives under the oppression can uncover the true story. But we don’t hear about it, and so the people continue to suffer.

Death is the result here. I don’t want to make any mistake about it. Mainly death among children and the elderly. These are not the people blowing up planes, buildings and boats. These are the people who are suffering because the world finds it easier to assume their guilt instead of realizing their innocence. It is a crime against humanity, and it is being done in our name.