UN Sanctions in Iraq
United Nations sanctions against Iraq, which were put in place after the Persian Gulf War, are hurting the people of Iraq rather than Saddam Hussein himself. Hussein is using the money he receives from illegal trade and programs to help the people of Iraq for his own personal use. The sanctions were originally created to force Hussein to stop building weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Hussein, however, still maintains these weapons and uses black-market money to develop them. With lack of a better plan, the sanctions are still in effect. The economic sanctions against Iraq began over ten years ago when the Iraqi army began to occupy Kuwait in 1990 (1). These sanctions were created so that Saddam Hussein would pull his troops out of Kuwait. But the UN forces, led by the United States, were able to rid Kuwait of the Iraqis prior to the sanctions having been fully enacted. Since Hussein continued to possess weapons of mass destruction, the sanctions were not lifted until he permitted UN inspectors to verify that he had destroyed these weapons. Hussein has yet to let the UN inspectors into Iraq, therefore, the sanctions are still being imposed. The original embargo banned all trade with Iraq and froze all Iraqi assets t
In the beginning, the Security Council authorized Iraq to sell $1.32 billion worth of oil every six months. However, this sum provided just more than a dollar a month to cover food and medication for each person in Iraq (1). This money did not even cover the costs that were required to repair the infrastructure of the country. Because of the inefficient bureaucracy of both the Security Council and Iraqi officials, it took more than three months for the first shipment of food and medical supplies to arrive in Iraq (1). The sanctions being imposed on Iraq are hurting the people rather than Saddam Hussein. For example, Basra is Iraq's second largest city and the electric power, when available, flickers on and off. It can take up to ten minutes for a telephone call to be connected. There is a thick layer of smoke covering the city because of "jury-rigged" generators and vehicles (1). Pools of poisonous muck have penetrated the surface of the town because so many sewers have broken down. As a result, most of the fish in the Shatt al-Arab river have been killed and the rest have become unsafe to eat. Many people in the UN and the United States would like the sanctions to be lifted and the liberal perspective to international relations be enacted. This perspective allows free trade for all nations. Instead of war, there is free trade and all nations are satisfied and successful. The problem with the liberal perspective as applied to the UN sanctions in Iraq is that Saddam Hussein, it is feared, will not act rationally. It is thought that given the opportunity, Hussein will use the money from trade to rebuild his country militarily instead of helping his people. As a result, the UN refuses to take the liberal perspective. The United States and Great Britain are also hindering the prosperity of the oil-for-food program. By using their power to block suspicious imports, America and Britain have put nearly $1.7 million worth of oil-for-food contracts in limbo because the goods might be used for military rather tha
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Approximate Word count = 1375
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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