NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Iraq sanctions

United Nations sanctions against Iraq were imposed by the United Nations in 1990 following Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1990, and continued until the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. They were perhaps the toughest, most comprehensive sanctions in history, and have caused much controversy over the humanitarian impact, culminating with two senior UN representatives in Iraq resigning in protest of the sanctions. The foundation of the U.N. The United Nations (UN) is an international organization whose stated aims are to facilitate co-operation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress and human rights issues. ... Combatants Republic of Iraq State of Kuwait Commanders Ali Hassan al-Majid N/A Strength 100,000[1] 16,000[2] Casualties 37+ aircraft (est. ... The subject of this article is the 2003 invasion of Iraq. ...

Introduction

On August 6, 1990 the U.N. Security Council adopted Resolution 661 which imposed stringent economic sanctions on Iraq, providing for a full trade embargo, excluding medical supplies, food and other items of humanitarian necessity, these to be determined by the Security Council sanctions committee. After the end of the 1991 Gulf War, Iraqi sanctions were linked to removal of Weapons of mass destruction by Resolution 687.[1]. is the 218th day of the year (219th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1990 (MCMXC) was a common year starting on Monday (link displays the 1990 Gregorian calendar). ... A session of the Security Council in progress The United Nations Security Council is the most powerful organ of the United Nations. ... RESOLUTION 661 (1990) Adopted by the Security Council at its 2933rd meeting on 6 August 1990 The Security Council, Reaffirming its resolution 660 (1990) of 2 August 1990, Deeply concerned that that resolution has not been implemented and that the invasion by Iraq of Kuwait continues with further loss of... Economic sanctions are economic penalties applied by one country (or group of countries) on another for a variety of reasons. ... Combatants United States Saudi Arabia Egypt United Kingdom & US-led Coalition Republic of Iraq Commanders Norman Schwarzkopf Khalid bin Sultan Saddam Hussein Strength 883,863 360,000 Casualties 240 killed in action, 776 wounded, 30 taken prisoner At least 183,000 victims of the Gulf War syndrome Est. ... For the album, see Weapons of Mass Destruction (album). ... United Nations Security Council Resolution 687 was adopted at the 2981st meeting on April 3, 1991, to welcome the restoration of the independence of Kuwait. ...

The United Nations economic sanctions were imposed at the urging of the U.S. to remove Saddam Hussein from power. The New York Times stated: "By making life uncomfortable for the Iraqi people, [sanctions] would eventually encourage them to remove President Saddam Hussein from power" (Seattle-Post Intelligencer August 7, 2003, archived at: [2]). In as much as the economic sanctions were designed to topple Saddam they were a failure, however the sanctions caused the death of between 400 000 and 800 000 Iraqi children (Seatlle-Post Intelligencer August 7, 2003, archived at: [3]; Hartford Courant, October 23, 2000, [4]). The foundation of the U.N. The United Nations (UN) is an international organization whose stated aims are to facilitate co-operation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress and human rights issues. ... Economic sanctions are economic penalties applied by one country (or group of countries) on another for a variety of reasons. ...

Effects of the sanctions

The sanctions crippled the Iraqi economy during the time they were imposed; much of Iraq’s infrastructure ran into disrepair from lack of materials and Iraq's capacity for aggression was all but destroyed. The initial purpose of the sanctions, and of all diplomatic sanctions, was to force Iraq's hand in cooperation with the United Nations and possibly cause a change in its previously aggressive foreign policy and abuses of human rights.

Critics of the sanctions say that over a million Iraqis, disproportionately children, died as a result of them, [5] although other researchers concluded that the total was lower. [6] [7] [8] UNICEF has put the number of child deaths to 500,000.[9] The reasons include lack of medical supplies, malnutrition, and especially disease owing to lack of clean water. Among other things, chlorine, needed for disinfecting water supplies, was banned as having a "dual use" in potential weapons manufacture. On May 10, 1996, appearing on 60 Minutes, Madeleine Albright (then U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations) was presented with a figure of half a million children under five having died from the sanctions. Not challenging this figure, she infamously replied "we think the price is worth it", [10] though she later rued the comment as "stupid."[11] General Name, Symbol, Number chlorine, Cl, 17 Chemical series halogens Group, Period, Block 17, 3, p Appearance yellowish green Standard atomic weight 35. ... Dual-use is a term often used in politics and diplomacy to refer to technology which can be used for both peaceful and military aims, usually in regard to the proliferation of nuclear weapons. ... Year 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display full 1996 Gregorian calendar). ... Not to be confused with a BBC news magazine program of the same name. ... Madeleine Korbel Albright (born Marie Jana KorbelovÃ¡, IPA: , on May 15, 1937) was the first woman to become United States Secretary of State. ... United States Ambasadors to the United Nations, full title, Representative of the United States of America to the United Nations, with the rank and status of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, and Representative of the United States of America in the Security Council of the United Nations (also known as the...

Denis Halliday was appointed United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator in Baghdad, Iraq as of 1 September 1997, at the Assistant Secretary-General level. In October 1998 he resigned after a 34 year career with the UN in order to have the freedom to criticise the sanctions regime, saying "I don't want to administer a programme that satisfies the definition of genocide". Halliday's successor, Hans von Sponeck, subsequently also resigned in protest. Jutta Burghardt, head of the World Food Program in Iraq, followed them. According to von Sponeck, the sanctions restricted Iraqis to living on $100 each of imports per year. Denis J. Halliday was born in Ireland and holds an M.A. in Economics, Geography and Public Administration from Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland. ... September 1 is the 244th day of the year (245th in leap years). ... Genocide is the mass killing of a group of people as defined by Article 2 of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (CPPCG) as any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or... The World Food Programme (WFP) is an agency of the United Nations which distributes food commodities to support development projects, to long-term refugees and displaced persons and as emergency food assistance in situations of natural and man-made disasters. ...

Infant and child death rates

A May 25, 2000 BBC article^[1] reported that before Iraq sanctions were imposed by the UN in 1990, infant mortality had "fallen to 47 per 1,000 live births between 1984 and 1989. This compares to approximately 7 per 1,000 in the UK." The BBC article was reporting from a study of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, titled "Sanctions and childhood mortality in Iraq", that was published in the May 2000 Lancet medical journal.^[2]^[3] Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (935x754, 59 KB) Iraqi infant and child mortality over time, expressed as a percentage survival rate. ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (935x754, 59 KB) Iraqi infant and child mortality over time, expressed as a percentage survival rate. ... The British Broadcasting Corporation, which is usually known as the BBC, is the largest broadcasting corporation in the world in terms of audience numbers, employing 26,000 staff in the United Kingdom alone and with a budget of more than GBÂ£4 billion. ... Main entrance The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM or the London School) is a leading postgraduate institution in Europe for public health and tropical medicine, and is associated with the World Health Organization (WHO). ... Lancet may refer to: A lancet is a medical instrument, similar to a scalpel but with a double-edged blade. ...

The 2000 BBC article reported that after the UN sanctions were imposed after Iraq's 1990 invasion of Kuwait, "They found that in south and central Iraq, infant mortality had risen to 108 per 1,000 between 1994 and 1999, while child mortality - covering those between one and five years - rocketed from 56 to 131 per 1,000." Combatants Republic of Iraq State of Kuwait Commanders Ali Hassan al-Majid N/A Strength 100,000[1] 16,000[2] Casualties 37+ aircraft (est. ...

The 2000 BBC article also reported, "However, it found that infant and child mortality in the autonomous, mainly Kurd region in the North of the country, has actually fallen, perhaps reflecting the more favourable distribution of aid in that area."

Oil for Food

Main article: Oil-for-Food Programme The Oil-for-Food Programme, established by the United Nations in 1995 (under UN Security Council Resolution 986) and terminated in late 2003, was intended to allow Iraq to sell oil on the world market in exchange for food, medicine, and other humanitarian needs for ordinary Iraqi citizens without allowing...

As the sanctions faced mounting criticism of its humanitarian impacts, several UN resolutions were introduced that allowed the sale of Iraqi oil in exchange for goods such as food and medicines. The earliest of these resolutions were introduced in 1991.

UN Resolution 706 of 15 August 1991 was introduced to allow the sale of Iraqi oil in exchange for food. (PDF of resolution 706)

UN Resolution 712 of 19 September 1991 confirmed that Iraq could sell up to $1.6 billion US in oil to fund an Oil For Food program. (PDF of Resolution 712)

Iraq was in 1996 allowed under the UN Oil-for-Food Programme (under Resolution 986) to export $5.2 billion (USD) of oil every 6 months with which to purchase items needed to sustain the civilian population. After an initial refusal, Iraq signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in May 1996 for arrangements for the implementation of that resolution to be taken. The Oil-for-Food Programme started in October 1997, and the first shipments of food arrived in March 1998. While improving the conditions of the population, Denis Halliday who oversaw the programme believed it inadequate to compensate for the adverse humanitarian impacts of the sanctions. The Oil-for-Food Programme, established by the United Nations in 1995 (under UN Security Council Resolution 986) and terminated in late 2003, was intended to allow Iraq to sell oil on the world market in exchange for food, medicine, and other humanitarian needs for ordinary Iraqi citizens without allowing... A memorandum of understanding (MOU) is a legal document describing a bilateral agreement between parties. ... Denis J. Halliday was born in Ireland and holds an M.A. in Economics, Geography and Public Administration from Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland. ...

Thirty percent of the proceeds were redirected to a Gulf War reparations account.

In 2004/5 the Programme became the subject of major media attention over corruption, as Iraq had systematically sold allocations of oil at below-market prices in return for some of the proceeds from the resale outside the scope of the programme. Individuals and companies from dozens of countries were implicated.

The difficult road to lifting of sanctions

While UN resolutions subsequent to the cessation of hostilities during the Gulf War imposed several requisite responsibilities on Iraq for the removal of sanctions, the largest focus remained on the regime's development of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons, and in particular its laggard participation in the UNSCOM-led disarmament process required of it. The goal of several western governments had been that the disruptive effects of war and sanction would lead to a critical situation in which Iraqis would in some way effect "regime change", a removal of Saddam Hussein and his closest allies from power. Combatants United States Saudi Arabia Egypt United Kingdom & US-led Coalition Republic of Iraq Commanders Norman Schwarzkopf Khalid bin Sultan Saddam Hussein Strength 883,863 360,000 Casualties 240 killed in action, 776 wounded, 30 taken prisoner At least 183,000 victims of the Gulf War syndrome Est. ... United Nations Special Commission (UNSCOM) was a United Nations organisation performing arms inspections in Iraq after the Gulf War. ...

Hussein was at this point widely seen as a tyrant whose nominal cooperation concealed malign aims. With him in power, there was a general inclination to be skeptical about whether Iraq would disarm, and about whether it would be open and cooperative about the inspection process, particularly after revelations of post-war concealment forced a reevaluation of the extent of the country's biological weapons program. [12] Hussein may have considered the many governments' displeasure with him, but particularly that of two veto-wielding UNSC members, the United States and United Kingdom (both of which took the hardest lines on Iraq), as a no-win situation and disincentive to cooperation in the process. [13]. â€œUNSCâ€ redirects here. ...

Additionally, UNSCOM had allegedly been infiltrated by British and American spies for purposes other than determining if Iraq possessed WMDs. [14] [15] Former inspector Scott Ritter was a prominent source of these charges. While not agreeing with Ritter fully, former UNSCOM chief inspector David Kay said "the longer it continued, the more the intelligence agencies would, often for very legitimate reasons, decide that they had to use the access they got through cooperation with UNSCOM to carry out their missions."[16] [17]. Scott Ritter speaks at SUNY New Paltz on March 16, 2006. ... David Kay Dr. David A. Kay (born c. ...

Saddam, who portrayed all this as a violation of Iraq's territorial sovereignty, became less cooperative and more obstructive of UNSCOM activities as the years wore on, and refused access for several years beginning in August 1998. Ultimately Saddam condemned the US for enforcing the sanctions through the UN and demanded nothing less than unconditional lifting of all sanctions on its country, including the weapons sanctions. The US and UN refused to do so out of concern that Saddam's regime would rebuild its once-powerful military and renew its WMD programs with the trade revenues. Renewed pressure in 2002 led to the entry of UNMOVIC, which received some degree of cooperation but failed to declare Iraq's disarmament immediately prior to the 2003 invasion of Iraq, for which it was withdrawn and became inactive in Iraq. The United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) was created through the adoption of Security Council resolution 1284 of 17 December 1999. ... The subject of this article is the 2003 invasion of Iraq. ...

The sanctions regime was finally ended on May 22, 2003 (with certain arms-related exceptions) by paragraph 10 of UNSC, after approximately 1.5 million people had died.Resolution 1483. [18] The Security Council, Recalling all its previous relevant resolutions, Reaffirming the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Iraq, Reaffirming also the importance of the disarmament of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction and of eventual confirmation of the disarmament of Iraq, Stressing the right of the Iraqi people freely to determine their...

Footnotes

The British Broadcasting Corporation, which is usually known as the BBC, is the largest broadcasting corporation in the world in terms of audience numbers, employing 26,000 staff in the United Kingdom alone and with a budget of more than GBÂ£4 billion. ... The Lancet is one of the oldest and most respected peer-reviewed medical journals in the world, published weekly by Elsevier, part of Reed Elsevier. ...

External links

Categories: History of Iraq | Foreign relations of Iraq | United Nations | International sanctions | Human rights abuses The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is an influential and independent, nonpartisan foreign policy membership organization founded in 1921 and based at 58 East 68th Street (corner Park Avenue) in New York City, with an additional office in Washington, D.C. Through its membership, meetings, and studies, it has been... The United States Department of State, often referred to as the State Department, is the Cabinet-level foreign affairs agency of the United States government, equivalent to foreign ministries in other countries. ... This article concerns the British newspaper. ... In These Times is a biweekly magazine of news and opinion published in Chicago. ... John Pilger John Pilger (born October 9, 1939) is an Australian journalist and documentary filmmaker from Sydney, primarily based in London, UK. // Life and career Pilgers career in journalism began in 1958, and he has developed his reputation through both his reporting and the various books and documentary films... The New Statesman is a left-of-centre political weekly published in London. ... October 4 is the 277th day of the year (278th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... shelby was here 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 62nd day of the year (63rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2000 (MM) was a leap year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

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