Excerpted from Bay Guardian Op Ed, by Richard Becker, the Western Regional Co-Coordinator of the International Action Center.

…Why had the world’s superpower launched a surprise attack on a country with the meagerest of resources, destroying its main source of life-saving pharmaceutical drugs?

…Dedicated in 1997, Al-Shifa was the flagship of Sudan’s health system. Heads of state and ambassadors from several countries attended opening ceremonies. Far from being a secret "chemical weapons-related facility," as President Clinton described it, Al-Shifa was a frequent stop for visiting dignitaries, and groups of Sudanese schoolchildren. …The plant had raised the Sudan’s self-sufficiency in pharmaceuticals from 3% to 50%. It was producing 60-90% of the country’s drugs for treating the seven leading causes of death. The list is topped by malaria and tuberculosis, both of which have resurged in recent years. Al-Shifa produced all of the country’s veterinary medicines. The Sudan’s large herds of camels, cattle, goats and sheep – critical to the food supply - are plagued by treatable infestations of parasites. It was also an important exporter of human and veterinary drugs to other African and Middle Eastern countries, and was recently contracted by the UN Sanctions Committee to ship medical supplies to Iraq.

…One person was killed and others terribly burned–one of whom we visited in Khartoum Teaching Hospital–in the missile attack. In the coming months and years, thousands more will die due to the lack of medicines Al-Shifa would have produced.

The bombing of Al-Shifa was neither a mistake nor an "intelligence failure." It was instead part of an on-going war against the Sudan. U.S. arms are fueling a devastating civil conflict that has made more than 10% of the country’s 28 million people refugees. U.S. economic sanctions block the acquisition of insulin, sutures, blood derivatives, and countless other medical supplies. This war is largely hidden here, but it is a daily reality for the Sudanese people.…No single act could have been more devastating to the health of the Sudanese people than the destruction of the Al-Shifa plant.

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