Iraq Under Siege: The Deadly Impact of Sanctions and War

228 Pages·2000·29.35 MB·English

by  Anthony Arnove (ed.)

THE DEADLY IMPACT
SANCTIONS
OF
AND WAR
EDITED BY ANTHONY ARNOVE
NOAM CHOMSKY KATHY KELLY JOHN PILGER DENIS HALLIDAY
PHYLLIS BENNIS NASEERARURI DAVID BARSAMIAN
ROBERT FISK RANIA MASRI HOWARD ZINN AND OTHERS
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Advance Praise for Iraq Under Siege 7//<g/<oo
—
"For almost a full decade, an inhuman campaign of sanctions the most
—
complete ever in recorded history has destroyed Iraq as a modern state,
decimated its people, and ruined its agriculture, its educational and health
care systems, as well as its entire infrastructure. All this has been done by
the United States and United Kingdom, misusing United Nations resolu-
tions against innocent civilians, leaving the tyrant Saddam Hussein more
or less untouched. This remarkable book is an invaluable documentation
of the tragedy in Iraq, and deserves reading by every citizen interested in
the appalling reality ofUS and UKforeign policy." —
EdwardW. Said
"This bookgives us a key to understand the NewWorld Order, andwarns
about how Iraq's tragedy may be a model for global bullying and global
impunity in coming times." —
Eduardo Galeano
"Iraq Under Siege is a solid, credible, and comprehensive rebuttal to the
prevailing US/British policy of continued enforcement of cruel sanctions
on the people of Iraq. It coincides with a heightened international con-
sciousness that deliberate disregard for human suffering tends to numb
and subsequently cripple the moral texture that underpins the pivotal role
—
of conscience in human affairs. This anthology authored by prominent
—
writers and practitioners constitutes a long-awaited corrective to the ob-
vious imbalances that characterize much of the media coverage, which, in
turn, often reflects a sickening obliviousness ofpolicymakers to the unend-
ing miseries of a proud and gifted people. While some recent positive de-
velopments are discernable, Iraq Under Siege will hopefully assist to
expedite the required changes, facilitate the process, and enlighten the
path. In this respect, the timing ofthis publication is most propitious and
welcome." —
Clovis Maksoud,
Centerforthe Global South
—
More Praise for Iraq Under Siege
—
"By documenting the impact of the sanctions and exposing the fallacies
and distorted arguments of the establishment and the bias of the media
Iraq Under Siege makes a valuable contribution to breaking the silence and
complacency that surround the humanitarian crisis in Iraq. This book is
bound to contribute to the mainstreaming of the growing anti-sanctions
movement, which is dedicated to helping the Iraqi people reclaim their
destiny." —
Hala Maksoud,
President,American-ArabAnti-Discrimination Committee
"[Iraq Under Siege] is not just an amazingly useful tool to activists working
to end the sanctions, but a very important work that adds to the growing
literature on international relations, the mainstream media's failure to in-
clude balanced coverage ofthis issue, [and] myths that cloud our vocabu-
lary and understanding ofthe Middle East." —
FellowshipMagazine
"The first task ... for anyone who wants to get rid of the sanctions is to
dismantle the massive cover-up that sustains what is an essentially geno-
cidal policy. Iraq Under Siege was compiled to serve precisely such a role in
the fight against the sanctions. The book brings together some ofthe most
trenchant critics of US imperialism, like Howard Zinn and Noam
Chomsky, along with an array of specialists, activists, media critics, and
academics. Each of the contributors takes on a different aspect of the
sanctions. What is their impact on the Iraqi population? Who imposed
them and why? What's at stake for the US? How complicit is the media?
How does the oil-for-food program really work? And, most importantly,
what can we do to end the sanctions? Through its powerful eyewitness ac-
counts oflife in Iraq and carefully researched, myth-busting chapters, Iraq
UnderSiege provides a powerful antidote to our rulers' lies and does a great
service to the cause ofending the sanctions." —
InternationalSocialistRevieiv
Iraq Under Siege
The Deadly Impact of Sanctions and War
Edited by Anthony Amove
With essays by:
AliAbunimah
Dr. Huda S.Ammash
AnthonyAmove
NaseerAruri
BarbaraNimriAziz
David Barsamian
Phyllis Bennis
George Capaccio
Noam Chomsky
RobertFisk
Denis Halliday
J.
KathyKelly
RaniaMasri
Dr. PeterL. Pellett
John Pilger
Sharon Smith
Voices intheWilderness
HowardZinn
South End Press
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Copyright © 2000 byAnthonyAmove.
Any properly footnoted quotation of up to 500 sequential words may be
used without permission, as long as the total number of words quoted
does not exceed 2,000. For longer quotations or for a greater number of
total words, please write for permission to South End Press.
Cover design by Ellen P. Shapiro.
Cover photo by Karen Robinson/Format.
Page design and production by the South End Press collective.
Printed in Canada.
First edition.
Library ofCongress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Iraq under siege : the deadly impact of sanctions and war / edited by
AnthonyAmove,
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
—
ISBN: 0-89608-619-4 (pbk.) ISBN 0-89608-620-8 (cloth)
— —
1. Economic sanctions Iraq. 2. Persian Gulf War, 1991 Economic
—
aspects. 3. Iraq Economic conditions. I. Amove, Anthony, 1969—
HF1586.3 .173 2000
330.9567'0443-^dc21
00-021052
MA
South End Press, 7 Brookline Street, #1, Cambridge, 02139-4146
[email protected]
www.lbbs.org/sep/sep.htm
05 04 03 02 01 00 12 3 4 5 6
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction
AnthonyAmove
PartI:The RootsofUS/UKPolicy
1.America'sWarAgainstIraq: 1990-1999
NaseerAruri 23
2. Iraq: The ImpactofSanctionsand US Policy
Pjxyllis_Bennis andDenis J. Halliday; InterviewedbyDavid Barsamian 35
3. USIraq Policy: Motivesand Consequences
Noam Chomsky 47
Part2: Mythsand Realities
4.Collateral Damage
John Pilger 59
5.Mythsand RealitiesRegarding IraqandSanctions
Voices in theWilderness 67
6.TheMedia's DeadlySpinon Iraq
AliAbunimah andRaniaMasri 11
7.The HiddenWar
RobertFisk 93
8. OneIraqi'sStory
Howard Zinn 105
1
Part3: LifeUnderSanctions
9. RaisingVoices: TheChildrenofIraq, 1990-1999
KathyKelly 1 1
—
10.Targets NotVictims
Barbara NimriAziz 127
11.Sanctions: KillingaCountryanda People
George Capaccio 137
Part4: DocumentingtheImpactofSanctions
12.Sanctions, Food, Nutrition,and Health in Iraq
Dr. PeterL. Pellett 151
13.ToxicPollution,theGulfWar,andSanctions
Dr. Huda S.Ammash 169
Part5:ActivistResponses
14.SanctionsAreWeaponsofMassDestruction
Noam Chomsky, Edward Herman, Edward Said, Howard Zinn, etal. 181
15.BuildingtheMovementtoEndSanctions
Sharon Smith 185
16. Resources: OrganizationsWorkingtoEndSanctionson Iraq 199
AbouttheAuthors 201
Index 205
AboutSouth End Press 217
Acknowledgments
South End and Pluto Press books are always intensely collaborative pro-
jects. Iraq Under Siege is perhaps even more so than usual. Sonia Shah de-
serves special thanks for encouraging me to edit this book; Loie Hayes and
Sonia Shah provided valuable editorial advice; and Lynn Lu, Anne Beech,
and Kathleen May also gave much-needed support for this project.
Every one of the contributors to Iraq Under Siege deserves special
thanks for their labors not only on this book, but to build the movement
to end the war against Iraq.
Robert Jensen Rahul Mahajan, Romi Mahajan, Stacey Gottlieb,
,
Nagesh Rao, Erica Rubin, Sandy Adlers, Joe Richey, Nick Arons, and
Chuck Quiltyhelped cruciallywith the preparation ofseveral chapters.
Mathew Rothschild at The Progressive, Robert Fisk, The Independent,
Boston Mobilization for Survival, David Barsamian, and The Link gener-
ously allowed us to use or reprint material for this anthology.
Philippe Rekacewicz andLeMondediplomatiquewent to great lengths to
provide the map that opens this book. Nikki van der Gaag, the staff at
New Internationalist, Alison Reed at Format, Karen Robinson, and Alan
Pogue made available the powerful photographs in the book and on the
cover, which was designed by Ellen P. Shapiro. Shea Dean copyedited the
first draft ofIraq Under Siege, providing many useful editorial suggestions.
Rania Masri, Ali Abunimah, Sami Deeb, NickArons, Glenn Camp, Rich-
ard Pond, Kathy Kelly, Bilal El-Amine, George Capaccio, Afruz Amighi,
Drew Hamre, Ellen Repelda, Gillian Russom, and Stacey Gottlieb pro-
vided important endnote references, as did the many people who regularly
disseminate information useful to the anti-sanctions movement.
My
understanding of depleted uranium was aided critically by the
generous assistance ofRosalie Bertell, Beatrice Boctor, and Dan Fahey.
I have had the privilege ofhaving a family, friends, and allies who have
taught me the meaning of Frederick Douglass' slogan "without struggle,
therejs no progress." There are too many to mention, but I would espe-
cially like to thank Nita Levison, Robert Amove, Howard Zinn, Noam
Chomsky, Edward W. Said, Jason Yanowitz, Annie Zirin, Sharon Smith,
Gillian Russom, Elizabeth Terzakis, Bilal El-Amine, Bo Ekelund, and my
many_comrades in the International Socialist Organization, the Rhode Is-
land Emergency Response Network, and the anti-sanctions movement.
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