Justifications for Continued Sanctions

[audigger]

The American-British demand for total Iraqi compliance with all resolutions has as its ultimate objective to so humiliate Saddam Hussein that his own people and army will rise up and remove him from power. Most Iraqis believe that the UN sanctions will never be lifted, as long as Saddam Hussein remains in power, regardless of whether or not the government complies with the resolutions. Yet, knowing this and despite the difficult conditions created by the sanctions within Iraq, Hussein's position remains secure. The everyday struggle of the Iraqi people has left them with "neither the desire nor the energy to rise up against their government, which they increasingly perceive as a victim of a superpower's agenda" (Rouleau 68). Also, the leader has simply responded by tightening control of his military and security forces, purging all opposition.

As a result, since the summer of 1994, three of the permanent members of the Security Council (Russia, China, and France) have been advocating a relaxation of the sanctions. The primarily American-British hard-line attitude toward Iraq and its compliance with the Security Council's resolutions has come under intense scrutiny, particularly in light of the recent rash of reports highlighting the deplorable living conditions inside Iraq. One of the principle arguments against the hard-line attitude has been: Why must the resolutions pertaining to Iraq be enforced so severely when many other UN resolutions have been ignored? More often than not, the example of Israel is used to argue this point. After the 1967 Arab-Israeli war and Israel's 1978 invasion of Lebanon, several UN resolutions were passed to punish Israel which were largely ignored.

The hypocrisy of American-British stance has led to a general feeling that the two nations care only about their oil and weapons interests in the Middle East. Iraq's return to the oil market could push prices down and make it difficult for Saudi Arabia to meet payments for its arms purchases from Washington and London. "The United States does not want to do anything that would affect Saudi Arabia's cash flow since American companies hold orders there for $30b worth of weapons and $6b worth of commercial aircraft" (Neff 3). Competition from Iraqi oil sales would have a severe impact on Saudi Arabia, forcing it to either lower its price or reduce its production output.

There are also rumors of a secret agreement by Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, guaranteeing cheap oil to the United States; "America' s economic recovery over the last three and a half years has been greatly aided by oil available at under $20 a barrel" (Neff 4). Assuming these rumors are true, Washington for its part of the deal would be required to ensure that the UN sanctions remain in effect as long as possible. Such an agreement is said to be the cornerstone of the United States "dual containment" policy whereby Tehran and Baghdad are to be squeezed into cooperation. Iran, like Iraq, could also drive the price of oil down were the US sponsored embargo of its oil industry lifted.

The United States has countered such rumors by arguing, ironically, that the sole reason for the recent change of heart by some of the Council members is economic. "US officials hit back at France and Russia by telling reporters 'off the record' that the two countries had selfish reasons for showing a more tolerant attitude toward Saddam than the US" (Neff 3). Apparently, both countries were major arms suppliers to Iraq before the Gulf War. Also, both hold large debts from Iraq and could expect to profit once the oil embargo is lifted and Iraq begins reconstruction of its infrastructure.

Conclusion

It is apparent that the citizens of Iraq are in fact being punished for the misdeeds of their political leader, Saddam Hussein. A continued enforcement of the sanctions in light of Iraqi compliance and the deplorable standards of living they have created, leads one to the conclusion that the initial objectives of the sanctions have undergone a radical transformation. Today, it is obvious that the United Nations organization functions at the mercy of US foreign policy and that the Security Council resolutions and sanctions have become the personal tools of the United States in the great chess game that is the Middle East. Unfortunately, it is the average citizen of Iraq who plays the pawn in this all too morbid game.

[fnbplanet]

Wow. That's old.

[pbrman71]

You would think the poster would have noticed that right at the top of the article it says " as long as Saddam Hussein remains in power"....

[usndiver]

You just demoted yourself to Newbie status with this post.

[dinar-racer]

Wow. That's old.

Yes ..poeple have been bringing old articles just to start crap.Saw something from 2007 on HCL this morning.

[audigger]

I was looking at the part about US paying 20.00 for oil from kawait and saudi then why would they sign anything from iraq for 30.00

The United States does not want to do anything that would affect Saudi Arabia's cash flow since American companies hold orders there for $30b worth of weapons and $6b worth of commercial aircraft" (Neff 3). Competition from Iraqi oil sales would have a severe impact on Saudi Arabia,

Yes ..poeple have been bringing old articles just to start crap.Saw something from 2007 on HCL this morning.

WASNT BRING ANYTHING TO START CRAP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! JUST SOMETHING I WAS READING

SOMETHINGS I BRING I GET FROM JORDAN, just like jordan's are having a problem right now getting iraq dinars thats straight from jordan fact

[Carrello]

Audigger, thank you for the post. History is what makes this RV a story, and history is what gave us the opportunity to be involved, and this is an interesting post. Heaven forbid, you think out of the RV box, over and aboe what day, what rate. You mean there is more?

Your $20 barrel premise sounds to be to be something that could be valid, and a reason to hold up the RV. Who knows?

I hope you know that people that like to contemplate, like to think out of the box, and think of possibilities, are very, very, sexy.

Thanks for the post.