SYDNEY — August 6 was the 12th anniversary of the imposition of sanctions on Iraq by the United States. To mark the day and demand that the sanctions be lifted unconditionally, a 24-hour picket was staged outside the US consulate in Martin Place.

The picket was organised by members of the Worker Communist Party of Iraq, who talked to passers-by about the horrendous impact of the sanctions on the Iraqi people — widespread disease, starvation and unemployment — which has cost more than a million lives to date.

Meanwhile, the dictatorial regime of Saddam Hussein remains intact and the looming new military offensive by the US, backed by the British and Australian governments, threatens countless more lives in that devastated country.

The picket was addressed by representatives of the Democratic Socialist Party, the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union, the Socialist Alliance and Free the Refugees Campaign.

Many people stopped to sign the call for a large, peaceful protest rally to be organised in Sydney on November 3 around the demands: No US attack on Iraq; lift the sanctions on the Iraqi people; and no Australian government support for a war. To get involved in building the rally in Sydney, contact Nick Everett at <nick.everett@lycos.com>.

From Green Left Weekly, August 14, 2002.
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