Opinion Editorial | |
| Wednesday, February 25, 1998 | |
Sanctions No Big Problem for Iraq |
Among other things, the possibility of military action against Iraq
raises serious questions about the efficacy of economic sanctions against
Iraq that have been in effect since 1990. Originally, President George
Bush assured us that sanctions would be sufficient to force Iraqi forces
out of Kuwait. Of course, that did not happen and military force had to
be brought to bear. Since then, sanctions have been maintained in order
to compel Iraqi compliance with various United Nations resolutions. Yet
it appears that sanctions still do not work, as we prepare again for war. The failure of economic sanctions against Iraq is an old story. From
the beginning, even at the height of the Kuwait crisis, Iraq has had little
difficulty evading the sanctions. It has porous borders with a number of
countries that have never made a serious effort to comply with the sanctions.
Moreover, Iraq's borders with Iran, Jordan, Turkey and Syria are ill-defined,
difficult to police and have been home to smugglers for generations. Intelligence reports have long fingered Iran as a major culprit in undermining
the effectiveness of sanctions against Iraq. Although bitter enemies, Iraq
and Iran share a mutual hatred of the West. More importantly, the Iranians
have profited enormously from abetting Iraq's efforts to evade sanctions.
Iran buys Iraqi oil at cut-rate prices and resells it as its own, thus
giving Iraq access to hard currency that it uses to buy embargoed goods
that are smuggled through Turkey, Jordan and Iran as well. Smuggling is not the only reason why Iraq has borne the sanctions so
well. It has also adapted itself domestically to living without many foreign
goods. Food has always been exempt from sanctions and the U.N. allows limited
amounts of oil to be sold to pay for it. Indeed, the U.N. is now preparing
to double the amount of Iraqi oil that can be sold to buy food. Rationing
provides the Iraqi people with enough to live on, supplemented by remittances
from Iraqis living abroad. Iraqi agricultural production has improved,
while recycling of spare parts, appliances, clothes and almost everything
else helps offset the loss of other goods. Iraq has also loosened some
restrictions on entrepreneurs, who have been resourceful in adjusting to
sanctions. And because Iraq already had a regimented economy before the war, it
was able to adapt more easily to the sanctions than a market economy probably
would have. As one analyst recently put it, "Study of the Iraqi case
bears witness to the many recourses and subterfuges available to an autocratic
regime in resisting economic sanctions and other methods of international
enforcement." Despite the failure of sanctions to achieve their stated purpose, the
U.S. in particular remains adamant about their continuation. It appears
that U.S. policy is based on the belief that if sanctions are just kept
on long enough, eventually Saddam Hussein will relent. But Saddam himself
suffers not at all from the sanctions and their full burden falls entirely
on ordinary Iraqi people. A 1995 U.N. report said that as many as 576,000
Iraqi children may have died as the result of sanctions. Even if one takes
such figures with a grain of salt, it is still apparent that shortages of
food and medicine resulting from the sanctions are going to impact most
heavily on society's weakest members, children and the elderly. The latest reports indicate that Iraq is still able to acquire just
about anything it desires on international markets, including weapons.
By just about any standard, therefore, economic sanctions against Iraq have
been a failure. But like the "Energizer Bunny," they just keep
going.
Home | Support Us | All Issues | Social Security Debate Central | Contact Us |