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| Joined: | Mon Nov 21st, 2005 |
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Large urban societies would require enormous financial support and the funds found in Iraq’s Banks would eventually disappear in the hands of looters.
Please read:
http://www.amazon.com/Different-Kind-War-Sanctions-Regime/dp/1845452224
Try also:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=Oil+for+Food+Iraq
Eample:
http://vitw.org/archives/935#more-935
It was known to all members of the Security Council that the linkage between disarmament and comprehensive economic sanctions meant that the people of Iraq were made to pay a heavy price in terms of life and destitution for acts of their government. It was known to all members of the Security Council that the inadequacy of the Council’s allocations for the oil-for-food programme and the bureaucracy with which this humanitarian exemption was implemented worsened the chances of survival of many Iraqis. It was known to all members of the Security Council that the refusal by the Council to allow the transfer of cash to Iraq’s central bank needed to run the nation, to pay for training, installation of equipment and institution building, encouraged the Government of Iraq to increase illegal means to obtain cash.
It was known to all members of the Security Council that the establishment of the two no-fly-zones within Iraq had little to do with the protection of ethnic and religious groups but a lot with destabilization. All members of the Security Council were aware that following ‘Operation Desert Fox’ in December 1998, the US and the UK governments, giving their pilots enlarged rules of engagement, used Iraqi airspace as training grounds, eventually in preparation for war. The Security Council had access to air strike reports when such reports were prepared by the UN in Baghdad and therefore all members of the Security Council knew of the destruction of civilian life and property. Yet, the Security Council did not ever debate the legality of the no-fly-zones to challenge two of its members that they maintained these zones without a UN mandate.
All this was known.
With rare exceptions, members of the Security Council allowed the Council to become a convenient tool for the pursuit of bilateral policies. There was ample experience in the Council concerning the danger of misuse of consensus resolutions as demonstrated by the handling of resolutions 687 (1991) and 1284 (1999) by the United States and the UK governments. This did not deter members of the Council from going along with yet another consensus resolution, 1441 (2002). The likelihood of misuse by individual members of the Council of provisions such as ‘material breaches’ and ’serious consequences’ to justify military invasion should have prevented the adoption of such a resolution.
In summary, Iraq remains ‘unfinished business’ for the international peace movement and responsible citizens everywhere. The challenge is to address three major issues:
1. The United Nations has failed in preventing unjust economic sanctions, an illegal war and carnage under occupation.
This means that in the short term, the peace movement must persevere in their demands that those responsible be brought to justice. It must not be forgotten that what was done in the name of ‘freedom’, ‘democracy’ and ‘human rights’ represents a travesty of the meaning of ‘freedom’, ‘democracy’ and ‘human rights’
In the medium term, the peace movement must forcefully contribute to the debate on UN reforms to create a structure which is protected against misuse. This involves much more than the enlargement of the Security Council.
2. The international peace movement, too, has failed in preventing unjust economic sanctions and an illegal war.
In the short term, the peace movement should take this as an important opportunity to carry out a self-critical review why this failure occurred and what factors contributed to this failure.
The dangers looming on the political and socio-economic horizon are horrific. The reaction of the peace movement, in the medium term, must be to leave turf battles and institutional or personal ambitions behind to facilitate significantly better organized responses to international crises. Only combined commitment and a joint strategy offer a chance to make a difference.
3. As individuals who understand and cherish the ethos of the UN Charter, who believe in peace and justice for all, who are abhorred by what has happened in Iraq before, during and after the illegal war, we must first and foremost work on ourselves to become equipped for the tasks ahead. Beyond this obligation, we have to remain, in the words of Dag Hammarskjoeld, the UN’s second secretary general, ‘conscious of the reality of evil and the tragedy of individual life, and conscious, too, of the demand that life be conducted with decency.’
Please place yourself in the shoes of a person victimized to a point of economic destitution and moral outrage. A person who has his land bombed, his neighbors tortured and slaughtered. Picture yourself in someone's shoes if you can.
Pictures?
http://www.dahrjamailiraq.com/gallery/
What will you do?
Must you wait for permission to think?
Human conscience is individual. No one tells you right from wrong; that is your sole responsibility.