According to Prof. Pierre Gallois, the Iraqi people have been suffering in very bad living conditions since 1991, when the international community imposed sanctions. Though he had gained some knowledge from TV programs prior to his visit, Gallois was still deeply touched when he stepped onto Iraqi soil with the hardships faced by the Iraqi people, who are struggling to survive through wars and international sanctions. There have been countless air strikes by the US and Britain, but each time the local people rebuild their homes from out of the ruins. He admitted that it was the diligence and courage of the Iraqi people that most impressed him from among the many Arab countries he had visited. Iraq can still be seen as the most developed country in the Middle East despite the threats and attacks from the outside world.

As for President Saddam Hussein, Prof. Gallois said, some Western media portrayed him as a tyrannical dictator who abuses his power. Yet, the fact is that his government has done a really good job in managing this war-torn country under the heavy pressure of international economic sanction, he noted. Because of the great food shortage, people have to buy daily necessities with coupons issued by the government. It is common to see people queuing in long lines across Iraq to get tickets without rancor. In this respect, the government has won high respect and subordination from the Iraqi people.

Prof. Gallois pointed out that, on the one hand, the sanctions seriously handicap the economic construction of this developing country; on the other hand, the sanctions trigger anti-US sentiment across Iraq and enable the spread of Islamic extremism, thus, leaving room for terrorism.

During his stay in Iraq, Prof. Gallois met with Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz and Foreign Minister Naji Sabri. Both the leaders expressed their firm confidence in countering US attacks. They claimed that the most important weapon to deal with the US is not to provide any excuses so that their military actions win scant support.

According to Prof. Gallois, the US has been planning attacks on Iraq by repeatedly citing the failure of the UN weapons inspection program. However, the US finds itself embarrassed by the fact that, over the years of US-led intensive UN inspections, no evidence was found of an Iraqi capacity to produce and launch nuclear or chemical weapons. So, Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri expressed very strong dissatisfaction and regret about the continuation of sanctions. He pointed out that the US had arranged intelligence personal in the UN inspection group, so “they are not looking for nuclear weapons, but for targets of US missiles instead”.

Sabri was quoted as saying that Iraq had to stop cooperating with the UN arms inspection group in 1998 because the chief arms inspector Richard Butler himself was a US intelligence worker. In order to accuse Iraq of lack of cooperative, he purposely arranged several investigations, which ended in failure. Even so, only three of 430 investigations failed, said Sabri, who accused Butler of lying in his report to the UN in 1998 so as to provide excuses for US attacks. The Iraqi senior official had also told Prof. Gallois that they were working actively to welcome another UN inspection group as long as they were technicians and not spies.

Iraq has one more weapon against US attack.Through several years of diplomacy to promote “Arab friendship,” Iraq has successfully improved relations with its neighbors. The border issue and trade disputes with Saudi Arabia have been solved.Iraq has also exchanged prisoners of war with Iran and mended fences with Syria.

( china.org.cn, translated by Zheng Guihong, July 1, 2002)