Dr Gideon Polya – 2005-01-20 00:21:46

http://www.envirosagainstwar.org/edit/index.php?op=edit&itemid=2277

(January 17, 2005) — I have laid a formal complaint against the Australian Federal Government and its allies for their complicity in war crimes in Iraq, specifically:

1. Complicity in illegal invasion of a remote, non-threatening country which posed absolutely no threat (and indeed was a major trading partner);

2. Complicity in excessive (indeed horrendous) and continuing mass mortality (particularly of children) in the continued forcible occupation of Iraq;

3. The above complaints variously also apply to and are hereby made against all of Australia’s allies in the invasion and occupation of Iraq, most notably the governments of the USA and the UK (noting, however, that the USA rejects the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court over its citizens).

On the 17th August 2004 I made a detailed formal complaint over Australian Federal Government complicity in war crimes in Iraq to the 24 most important law officers of Australia, namely the State and Federal Attorneys General, Solicitors General and Police Commissioners (copy enclosed).

Only half responded and of those the responses variously included simple “noting” or assertion of “no jurisdiction”. However, several law officers referred me to the International Criminal Court, to which jurisdiction Australia (although not the USA) has made itself subject.

A senior biological scientist, I have been calculating “excess mortality” for all countries in the world for the period since 1950. “Excess mortality” (essentially “avoidable mortality”) is the difference between the ACTUAL mortality in a country in a given period (as reported by the UN Population Division) and the mortality EXPECTED for a decently-run, peaceful country with the same demographics.

Mortality Better Under Saddam
In short, the results are horrendous — noting that if an Iraqi child is killed by a Coalition bomb or dies from avoidable disease (through Coalition-imposed destruction of sanitation and other civil infrastructure and lack of clean water, medicine, nutrition and appropriate medical care), then the end result is the same and accordingly the culpability is the same.

The “excess mortality” for Iraq has been 5.2 million (since 1950) and 1.5 million (since 1991). These estimates, based on UN data, are constant with United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)-based estimates of under-5 infant mortality in Iraq, namely 3.3 million (since 1950) and 1.2 million (since 1991).

Notably, “excess mortality” in Iraq was at a MINIMUM in the 1980’s under Saddam Hussein (about 50,000 per year), sandwiched between periods of pro-Western, post-colonial regimes and the return of Western armies in 1991 (after which it climbed to and remained at about 120,000 per year) with sanctions, war and eventual occupation.

(Source: It’s Time! Australia, Issue 1. thevoiceaustralian@msn.com
email: gpolya@optusnet.com.au gmpolya@yahoo.com