Iraq Under Siege: the Deadly Impact of Sanctions and War - Book Review

Journal of Cultural Diversity, Summer, 2003 by Jessie M. Colin

(updated edition) edited by Anthony Arnove (2002) (ISBN 0-899608-598-6, 264 pages, $40 hardcover, $16 paperback)

Iraq Under Siege: The Deadly Impact of Sanctions and War is a heart wrenching depiction of the inhumane campaign and sanctions that have devastated the people of Iraq for more than a decade, particularly Iraqi children. This book was written prior to the current war on Iraq. Recently, we have heard questions from around the world about the decisions by the United States (US) and United Kingdom (UK) to attack Iraq as well as international outcries that the attack cannot be supported. It is now two months after the war has officially ended, and weapons of mass destruction have not yet been found. This book clearly and convincingly illustrates why the destruction that has occurred in Iraq as a result of struggles with the Iraqi government should not continue. The book can also be used as a valuable reference for international activists working to end the sanctions.

All of the essays in this book are educational and powerful. Contributors include Noam Chomsky, John Pilger, Robert Fisk, Barbara Nimri Aziz, George Capaccio, Peter Pellett, and others with an afterward by Dennis Halliday, formerly the UN humanitarian coordinator in Iraq. Each chapter in Iraq Under Siege vividly exposes what the US government has tried to hide or cover. The 15 chapters are organized into 5 major parts. Part I addresses the roots of US/UK policy, Part II separates myths and realities, Part III provides real life stories of life under sanctions, Part IV documents the human and environmental impacts of sanctions, and Part V offers guidelines for activist response.

I was especially moved by Chapter 5, Myths and Realities Regarding Iraq and Sanctions by Voices in the Wilderness. In this chapter, 11 myths are reviewed with clear facts about who is truly affected by the US policy against Iraq. Myth 1 states that "The sanctions have produced temporary hardship. for the Iraqi people but are an effective, nonviolent method of containing Iraq." Realities presented to debunk this myth are as follows:

    Sanctions target the weakest and most vulnerable
    members of the Iraqi Society-the poor, elderly,
    newborn, sick, and young ... The sanctions coupled
    with pain inflicted by US and UK military attacks
    have reduced Iraq s infrastructure to virtual
    rubble ... Surveys by the United Nations Children'
    Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health
    Organization(WHO) note a marked decline in
    health and nutrition throughout Iraq (p. 84)

Myth 11 maintains that "US and UK plans to attack Iraq have nothing to do with oil interest. Nothing could be further from the truth. The tragedy that has occurred in Iraq is the New World Order. It is Colonialism a la 21st Century. The globalization of oil is, in fact, central to this conflict. The interests of American and British companies are "critical to their future leading role in the world oil industry" (pp. 94). Once again, this myth is factually refuted through reports of congressional testimonies in 1999 as well as other compelling evidence.

Kathy Kelly's chapter, entitled "Raising Voices: The Children of Iraq 1990-1999, depicts the outbursts that took place when she tried to question Madeleine Albright at her Senate confirmation hearing. Albright addressed the committee:

   "I am as concerned about the children of Iraq as any
    person in this room ... Saddam Hussein is the one
    who has the fate of his country in his hands, and he
    is the one who is responsible for starving children,
    not the United States of America."

Iraqi children are totally innocent of oil power and politics. Individuals and nations who prevent the lifting of sanctions are not.

US and UK representatives have made disclaimers about American and British responsibility in the horrors that have befallen the people of Iraq. Such statements may appear stylishly diplomatic, but children and other Iraqi citizens have suffered or are dead, and we have no one to blame but the US and UK governments. The record and the pictures of the atrocities in Iraq are constant reminders of selfish and immoral foreign policy in this region. According to the UN, children and other vulnerable Iraqi citizens died as a direct result of the embargo on commerce with Iraq. Many UN members favored significantly easing these sanctions. This economic embargo represents a silent war against the weak and most vulnerable citizens of Iraq. Today, even with the physical war supposedly ending, the suffering of innocent, noncombatant civilians--women, children, and families--continues.

Iraq Under Siege touches the core of our humanity. This book makes a significant contribution toward support for suspending sanctions against Iraq. Subsequently, war has added to the hardship and toll on the people, the environment, and the social fabric of Iraq. As noted in a review by Galeano (n.d.), Iraq Under Siege "... warns about how Iraq's tragedy may be a model for global bullying and global impunity in coming times."