DATE=4/12/2000
TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT
TITLE=RETHINKING IRAQ
NUMBER=5-46112
BYLINE=ED WARNER
DATELINE=WASHINGTON
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: A number of countries as well as members of
the U-S Congress have urged that economic sanctions on
Iraq be lifted. They argue that sanctions have not
weakened Saddam Hussein or changed his behavior, but
have brought great hardship to the Iraqi people. The
United States insists on maintaining the sanctions,
which were imposed by the United Nations, until the
Iraqi leader complies with U-N inspections of his
weapons of mass destruction. VOA's Ed Warner reports
the growing debate.
TEXT: "Slowly, inexorably, a generation is being
crushed in Iraq. Thousands are dying, thousands more
are leading stunted lives and storing up bitter
hatreds for the future."
That is how the British weekly "The Economist"
describes conditions in Iraq because of economic
sanctions. The sanctions, imposed by the United
Nations, are intended to force Iraq to comply with U-N
inspections of its weapons of mass destruction. Since
Saddam Hussein has ejected the inspectors, the
sanctions remain in place.
The Economist says they impinge on the lives of Iraqis
every moment of the day. Electric power flickers on
and off. Tap water is polluted. Sewers overflow,
breeding swarms of insects Iraqis cannot afford to
spray.
U-N reports indicate thousands of children are dying
each month from malnutrition and diseases once unknown
in Iraq. At a hospital in Baghdad, reporters from the
Seattle Post-Intelligencer were shown children
suffering from typhoid fever, pneumonia, leukemia,
tuberculosis, cholera, and polio.
While they looked on, a two year old girl afflicted
with meningitis was trying to breathe through a small
oxygen mask. She could not. With a final gasp, she
died in front of her parents. The doctor said a fifty
cent tube would have saved her, but the sanctions
prevented him from getting one.
Are the sanctions worth the suffering? By no means,
says Michael Hudson, professor of International
Relations and Arab Studies at Georgetown University.
He notes they have not weakened Saddam Hussein, who
does not suffer along with his people. Under the
sanction policy, he seems more entrenched than ever:
/// HUDSON ACT ///
It does not seem to be doing much to bring down
the regime of Saddam Hussein, and it clearly has
been doing a great deal of damage to the
civilian population. Even though Iraq is now
making more money from its oil -- partly because
of higher oil prices and partly because they are
allowed to sell more - there are still very
serious hardships being inflicted on the Iraqi
population
/// END ACT ///
For others, the sanctions are worth the price. It is
not the United States but Saddam Hussein who is
devastating the Iraqi people, says Jim Phillips,
Middle East analyst for Washington's Heritage
Foundation:
/// PHILLIPS ACT ///
I think the sanctions are accomplishing their
purpose, which is to delay and prevent Saddam
Hussein from reconstructing his weapons of mass
destruction. The sanctions, at least until now,
have succeeded in preventing him from rebuilding
his military machine. Iraq's problems are not
with U-N sanctions but with the dictatorship of
Saddam Hussein, and the sooner that dictatorship
is gone, the quicker the Iraqi people can return
to normal living conditions.
/// END ACT ///
That opinion is also held by U-S policymakers. Asked
last December if the United States bears any
responsibility for the deaths of Iraqi children from
lack of food and medicine, Secretary of State
Madeleine Albright replied: "No. Saddam Hussein bears
full responsibility for that."
Jim Phillips says Iraqis might suffer more without
sanctions:
/// PHILLIPS ACT ///
If the United Nations lifted its sanctions,
Saddam goes back to business as usual, building
his nuclear weapons, chemical and biological
weapons. It is only a matter of time before
there is more trouble in the Persian Gulf -
another Gulf War, and then the Iraqi people are
even worse off.
/// END ACT ///
That is in the future, contends Professor Hudson. The
suffering is now. He says some Americans are beginning
to recognize a moral catastrophe for what it is. More
than seventy members of the U-S Congress recently
signed a letter urging President Clinton to lift the
sanctions.
Opponents of the sanctions say U-S and British planes
patrolling the no-fly zones in northern and southern
Iraq add to the suffering. When Iraqis fire on the
planes or track them with radar, the radar and missile
sites are often bombed. Inevitably, there are
civilian casualties.
France has called these attacks pointless and deadly.
China and Russia also object. In general, Europeans
are growing impatient with both the air attacks and
the sanctions.
What concerns Professor Hudson is the lack of
discussion about Iraq in the American media. He
believes that acts of warfare go largely unreported
and unnoticed:
/// HUDSON ACT ///
It is a strange thing. This issue really does
not get the attention one might think it ought
to get. After all, it is an ongoing military
operation of the United States. It is taking up
a lot of energy and time from the American
military, and yet there is very little
discussion. I must say there seems to have been
a particular kind of blackout on this business
with Iraq.
/// END ACT ///
Professor Hudson says this blackout leads to
suspicions, especially in the Muslim world, that the
United States has a hidden agenda. It may want to keep
Iraq weak so it can maintain its considerable forces
in the Persian Gulf for the benefit of its Arab allies
and Israel. It is time, says Professor Hudson, for a
full-fledged debate on U-S policy toward Iraq.
(Signed)
NEB/EW/KL
12-Apr-2000 12:40 PM EDT (12-Apr-2000 1640 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
|
Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list
|
|
|
