Well, that story I was bitching about last week finally ran, apparently, in the Seattle Times on Sunday. B-5...today's story brought to you by the letter "B," for "buried." Shit, it's better than nothing, right?

I know it ran not because it's online (it's not), not because my editor gave me the heads-up, and not because B&G ("I hate newspapers") judiciously kept vigil over a stack of the Seattle Times, as he should be doing.

No, rather, I know this 'cause the focal point of the story shot me an email, thanking me. (And pointing out that he violated U.S., not U.N. sanctions. Eh, what's the difference - 'just one little letter, right?)

Anyways, besides that little gaffe I thought it was pretty interesting, and I'm glad it got at least some play (unlike the writer.) Since it wasn't cool enough to go online, here's a copy for your reading pleasure:


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Sunday, July 12, 2005 Seattle Times Local B5
Government pursues activist over Iraq trips
BY DICKIE CRONKITE

Medill News Service

WASHINGTON - Whether at home in Washington state or away in
Washington, D.C., Bert Sacks can't seem to get the federal government to see things his way.

Sacks, an outspoken Seattle antiwar activist, took nine trips to deliver medicine to Iraqi children between 1996 and 2002 in defiance of U.N. sanctions. Last week, he faced new legal hurdles from the Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC), the Treasury Department agency that enforces economic and trade sanctions.

Sacks says his trips were motivated by a 1992 article in the New England Journal of Medicine which estimated that because of economic sanctions, more than 46,900 children had died in Iraq between January and August 1991.

"It's a matter of principle," Sacks said in defending the trips. "It's a matter of what we're doing as a country."

He cited a 1999 UNICEF report estimating that more than 500,000 Iraqi children under the age of 5 died between 1991-98 as a result of sanctions.

In 2002, OFAC fined Sacks $10,000. He refused to pay, sued the agency in federal court and lost. His appeal is pending before the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

OFAC spokeswoman Molly Millerwise said the agency does not comment on lawsuits.

Last week, Sacks faced more problems resulting from other
sanction-defying trips to Iraq: OFAC brought a suit in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., against Voices in the Wilderness, a group founded in 1996 to raise awareness of the humanitarian crisis posed by sanctions against Iraq.

With nine trips, Sacks stands out among some 11,000 Voices members, said Kathy Kelly, co-coordinator for the organization. His persistence has earned Sacks extra attention from OFAC.

"To me, he's one of the most exemplary people I've ever encountered," Kelly said. "He left work he enjoyed, but he couldn't live with his conscience. Once he went to Iraq the first time, he assiduously stayed on this issue."

Originally, the second OFAC case carried a fine of $10,000 for Sacks and fines totaling $33,000 for three other members. The case has been amended to collectively fine Voices $20,000 instead.

"It's a possibility that if this case is decided against us and it's handed over to the Treasury Department for collection, they may sue me for part of that money," Sacks said.

OFAC fined Voices for humanitarian-aid missions taken in 1998, but it did not issue the penalty until four years later -- nine days after Voices members participated in an antiwar demonstration in Washington, D.C.

OFAC filed the lawsuit seeking to enforce the fine.

Lawyers for Voices argued last week that OFAC's timing was retaliation for the protest and was a case of selective enforcement.

They cited congressional testimony by Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., in May that Houston-based BayOil had paid $37 million in illegal surcharges to the Iraqi government for 200 million barrels of oil, a violation of U.N. sanctions. OFAC sought no penalties against BayOil; Levin said OFAC claimed the matter fell outside its jurisdiction.

A lawyer for BayOil was unavailable for comment.

Judge John Bates, who is hearing the case brought last week, said in court that he does not think the BayOil situation is comparable to the Voices in the Wilderness case.

Sara Clash-Drexler, a Justice Department lawyer, said OFAC's four-year delay was simply a "function of the need to spread limited agency resources over increasing demand." She said the agency works to enforce penalties within the five-year statute of limitations.

Bates is expected to rule within the next few weeks. Kelly said if the group is found liable, it will refuse to pay the fine on moral grounds.