We have no enemies who are children - The first Gulf War 1990-91
by Nigel Fisher
The months went by; my family was evacuated, as were international staff and their dependents. With RD Richard Reid temporarily seconded to headquarters, I was left in charge of the Regional Office. Scud missiles whooshed overhead, aimed at Israel. We were pretty sure that the Israeli armed forces would respond (they didn’t). They would have had to pass through Jordan on their way to Iraq, so anxiety was high in Amman. I used to go to bed with a survival kit by my bed and my small portable radio on.
Then, at about 1:30am on the night of 16/17 January 1991 (I think), I was awakened by an announcer shouting that the Coalition air war against Iraq had started. Life got even more hectic, evacuation plans were revisited for the nth time and the MENA desk in HQ became accustomed to calling so frequently in the middle of my night that I, more than once, pressed down the receiver in the midst of yet another long call – and subsequently complained about the terrible connection….. tricks of the trade. Demonstrations outside the regional office against “the war on Iraq” became commonplace and I, with calm linguistic support from Hind Khatib, became an instant seasoned negotiator, diplomat and drinker of coffee with delegations of protesters invited in to discuss their outrage, their fears and the actions that the UN might take to protect civilians in Iraq.
Hurrying along…. By early February, Iraq’s health services were in a mess, it's cold chain destroyed, paediatric drugs and health supplies were running short. Children, as usual, bore an unfair share of the suffering. Iraq appealed to UNICEF and WHO for help. With a few calls to Washington, Jim Grant resolved any suggestion of sanctions busting and it was decided that UNICEF and WHO should act jointly. But how? We could not fly into Baghdad in the midst of the air war, while the road from the Jordanian border to Baghdad was getting bombed and was far too dangerous for travel. A short phone call with Jim Grant ended with the decision that I should fly to Tehran, to see if the Iranian Government would permit us to send a convoy across the Iranian border with Iraq. This, just a couple of years after a murderous eight-year war between the two countries.
So after hurried calls to Reza Hosseini, then OIC in Tehran, off to Tehran I went. In another example of perfect timing, I landed at the start of Nowruz, the Iranian/Persian New Year, marked by almost a week of holidays. Government, like everything else, was closed down. But not to worry, Reza made some calls and meetings were arranged – with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, security officials, customs and immigration, and the Iranian Red Crescent. I will never forget our meeting at the foreign ministry. When I made our request for permission for UNICEF and WHO to run a cross-border convoy to Iraq, there was no hesitation on the part of the senior official who said: “Of course you can, we have no enemies who are children”.
That was almost that. Within days, we had planes coming into Tehran airport loaded with UNICEF drugs, medical supplies and equipment. The Iranian army dispatched a platoon to help us unload the supplies onto Red Crescent trucks. Off they trundled to a Red Crescent warehouse allocated to us for our operation, where our goods were unceremoniously dumped. Then it was up to us to mark and repack the goods back onto the trucks. We were on our own – all Red Crescent personnel were on their Nowruz break.
For the next three days, Reza and I, now joined by his brother Hamid, grunted, huffed and puffed, re-organised the goods and loaded them back onto the trucks. These then had to be covered by tarpaulins and painted, by this trio of UNICEF artists, with large UN letters on top – large enough to be seen from above by Coalition warplanes as the planned convoy made its way to Baghdad (the discussions with General Schwarzkopf’s staff about timing etc. were being led from New York). Stewart McNab was our point person in New York. I caused him to have a mild seizure when I told him that we had run out of UN blue paint and had to use pink instead, which was definitely not part of the terms agreed upon with the Coalition (I lied).
With the trucks loaded, the UNICEF-WHO team members accompanying the convoy arrived in Tehran. Richard Reid co-led the mission with Dr. Ali Khogali of WHO, while Gianni Murzi, El-Fateh El Samani and Raymond Naimy completed the UNICEF contingent.
We were discussing logistics and final preparations for the convoy when news broke of the Coalition bombing of the Al Amiriyah shelter in Baghdad. That was on 13 February. Hundreds of civilian lives were lost, many of them children. We were absolutely stunned – and of course, this would mean delaying the mission. Somberly, we awaited news from headquarters and finally, we received the all-clear. On the appointed day, Reza, Hamid and I bid farewell to mission members and watched as the trucks and accompanying jeeps, UN flags flying, set off for Bakhtaran on the border with Iraq. In the early morning of 16 February, the convoy crossed the border and headed towards Baghdad, where it arrived late that afternoon. The journey to Baghdad is someone else’s story.
I was at those difficult times in Palestine, just left Jordan where I finished my first degree. But never learnt that much of engagement and support UNICEF provided and led at that time. Certainly inspiring journey of Nigel and of what UNICEF was and still doing.
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