For Immediate Release April 14, 2003
Global Message
Military Update
The war is not over, and much work remains to be done.
Coalition forces have completely surrounded Baghdad, and are
continuing to secure large sections of the city.
U.S. forces are in Kirkuk and securing northern oilfields.
Coalition forces continue to engage pockets of resistance, Baath
Party irregulars, and regime death squads.
Humanitarian Update
The World Food Program has purchased 500,000 tons of food for
delivery into Iraq. In addition to the estimated 675,000 tons of
food identified by the UN under the Oil-for-Food program, these
commodities can feed the entire population of Iraq for several
months.
This week the first of two ships carrying 50,000 tons of
Australian wheat will finish offloading in Kuwait. The food, which
will be used as part of the OFF program, can feed 1.7 million Iraqis
in need.
The World Health Organization is flying 50 surgical kits to
Jordan. Each kit contains anesthetics, surgical equipment, and
medical disposables, such as bandages and syringes, for 100
surgeries and several days of post-operative recovery.
On April 8, UNICEF sent 11 trucks with relief supplies - mostly
water and supplies to transport water - to Um Qail, southern Basra,
Safwan, and Az Zubayr. UNICEF has sent a total of 87 trucks into
southern Iraq since the conflict began.
There are pockets of need, but no humanitarian crisis. Shortages
of water and food are not new, and not a result of Coalition action,
but of the deliberate policy of Saddam's regime to deny goods and
services from the Iraqi people.
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