UN Sanction within Iraq Post-Gulf Storm War - Research Proposal Example

?UN Sanction within Iraq post-gulf storm war, how they affected the people and how they provided perhaps breeding ground for terrorist ideology The Gulf Crisis of the year 1990 / 1991 set the stage for many significant political events that changed the political and economical thinking of the people of the Gulf countries, more specifically affecting the country of Iraq. The event that was immediately being followed by the Gulf War was Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait on the day of 2nd August 1990. The period in the history of Kuwait in which the country was a part of Basra’s Ottoman ‘vilayet’ was also being followed by the gulf war of 1990/ 1991. A series of political events led to the stage of the war that was fought between the contrived coalition forces of the United States of America and the military troops of the then ruling leader Saddam Hussein. The frontiers of the countries of Kuwait, Saudi Arab and Iraq were decided in the conference of Uqair in the year 1922 by the then high commissioner of the British controlled Indian Army, Sir Percy Cox, for the city of Mesopotamia. The commissioner resolved the constituents of the frontiers of the country, cutting through different series of ridiculous claims and arguments that seemed to be almost impossible for the period. This event was one of the contributors to prepare the stage for the Gulf war. Finally in the year 1930 the high commissioner of the British army in Baghdad passed the judgment of the encouragement of the absorption of Kuwait into the geographical boundary of Iraq gradually by the government of Britain. According to the British government and their representatives the sacrifice of a small and expandable state of Kuwait would not be a huge concern if there had been an existing demand by the struggle of powers of the then period. Kuwait depicted as an ‘oil well’ was being maintained by the United Nations serving as the proxy for the western world. The colonialism policy of the British government along with the imperialism strategy of the United States of America proved to be economic, provided the accommodation were mutually congenial for both, and for the protection of the hegemony of the western world in the fulfillment of the interest of democratic freedom over the natural oil reserve of the Gulf countries. They were being buttressed by the feudalistic policies of the other regional countries. Previously the government of the United States of America was indifferent regarding Iraq’s conflict with Kuwait, evidence from the period of late nineties or the period of the beginning of the year 1991 showed the strategies of the American government were in favor of war against Iraq. The United States of America provided a positive signal to Iraq, for the invasion of Kuwait by the later. However they emphasized on the lack of commitment from their part in the supply of troops to back the invasion of Kuwait. There were quick moves on the part of the government of United States on the economical, military and political fronts during the period of the invasion of Kuwait by Iraq though no serious opposition was provided by United States on the country’s invasion. The result was too threatening for the government of Iraq. Saddam Hussein was named the ‘new Hitler’ and ridiculed in Britain, apart from the United States and elsewhere. This led to the introduction of economic sanctions that were comprehensive under the auspices of the United Nations. (Simons, 1–3: Schmid, 3) This invasion of Kuwait by Iraq resulted in the providence of a sanction by the Security Council of United Nations, which imposed tremendous impact on the economy of the country and more devastatingly on the lives of the countrymen.  United Nation Sanction on Iraq  During the period of the invasion of Kuwait by Iraq under the governmental leadership of Saddam Hussein the sanctions were mainly applied by the United Nations to pressurize the government of Iraq, which would act as an indirect force to make them leave. The sanctions mainly and predominantly focused on the immediate withdrawal of the forces of Iraq engaged in the invasion of Kuwait. The military forces of the country of Iraq crossed the border of Kuwait to occupy the independent state and claimed it as an integral part of the country on 2nd august of the year 1990. The possibility of the political disturbance that could occur in the international environment forced the Security Council of United Nations to quickly initiate the sanction against the country for condemning the invasion and demanded the withdrawal of the military force from the independent state of Kuwait. (Wallensteen, Staibano and Eriksson, 6) The United Nations government mainly focused on non-military methods for creating pressure on the government of Iraq. The forms of the pressure include interruption on the economic relations of the government, interruptions in their different means of communications like air, water and rail etc and on the diplomatic relations of the government of Iraq that were severe. The interruptions on the part of the government of United Nations might be a complete interruption or even a partial one.  As per the sanction the right to use force for the proper implementation of the resolution was also possessed by the Security Council of the nation. The security council which had both the United States of America and the United nations as their lead players were so reluctant that unilateral efforts on the part of the government of Iraq for the export of oil from the country worth approximately one billion dollars to buy for themselves food and other necessities that were then essential like the tablets of purification of water, were blocked by the Security Council. (Simons and Benn, 15-16) The sanction contained in itself the order for the government of Iraq in returning the assets and the properties of the Kuwait government that was seized by Iraq during the invasion of the former country. Moreover the losses and the damage that occurred in the country of Kuwait as the result of the occupation by Iraq were according to the sanction, the liability of the government of Iraq. By the resolution 688 passed by the government of United Nations it was demanded that the government of the country should end the repression of the citizens of Iraq. However during the period following the invasion a new purpose was undertaken by the sanctions. As per the United Nation resolution 687 the sanctions included the elimination of the weapons of Iraq that may lead to severe cases of destruction of the masses and Iraq to be complied with the cease of the terms embodied in the resolution. Moreover the sanction also contained in itself the recognition of sovereignty for the country of Kuwait by Iraq. The imports of the country became so restricted that it was limited to only a fraction of the level of the total imports of the period before the Gulf War. According to the government officials of the United States of America, the sanctions were not to be lifted till the end of the regime of Saddam Hussein but it had been continuously opposed strongly by the top ranking officials of the United Nations and also activists belonging to the grass root level. The main reason for the opposition was the ill effect of the sanction on the common citizens of Iraq who were left to suffer. However in the month of July of the next year the country was allowed to sell certain portions of their oil reserves with close monitoring and regulations of the activities by the Security Council mainly for the ground of humanity. (Schmid, 14: Wanniski: Shah)  The role of the sanction against Iraq  The economic sanctions were always mostly effective under certain stringent circumstances. It always becomes successful by bringing about policy changes in certain targeted countries. In the case of the invasion of Kuwait by Iraq, the economic sanctions became the means of forcing the country for being compliant with the Security Council resolution of the government of United Nations. From the standpoint of the economic situation of any country the first and the foremost necessity for being appropriate to use the sanction was the convergence of some theoretical requirements with the real situation of the country that was being targeted. There were basically three theoretical essential requirements that made the country of Iraq ideal as the candidate for economic sanctions. The first one was the economic vulnerability of the country which was mainly because of the huge dependence of the country on the international markets in terms of both imports brought to the country from the rest of the world and also the products that were exported from the country in the market of international trade. The economy of the country was heavily dependent and susceptible to the pressures from the international market. Oil constituted about 99 percent of the total export of the country of the period. Viewing the necessity of the import of the country the domestic demand of the country was hugely dependent on products from the foreign markets. Data reveals that about three to four billion dollars were spent on the import of medical products and food items each year during the period before the world war. The second one was the capacity of the country in circumventing the sanctions imposed on the country and to economically retaliate it. This capacity was limited for the country. The capacity of the country in the creation of alliances with the outside world was very limited due to the absence of certain products that can be used by the country for the process of effective retaliation. The country being one of the many oil producing countries of the Middle East the gap that would have been created by the absence of the country from the international export of oil would be easily filled up by the neighboring oil producing nations specially Saudi Arabia. Thus considering the adoption of retaliatory steps rather the country of Iraq proved to be truly weak. The third requirement as pointed out is the political isolation of the country from the rest of the world. The economic sanctions of the government of United Nations were strongly supported by other international powers, which made the position of the country of Iraq extremely isolated in the international circumstances. There were full-fledged economic sanctions for the country. Along with it there were also the prevalence of Boycott and even embargo of the country’s economic products. This affected the economic situation of the country worst as a considerable large amount of the financial assets of the country were either invested in foreign countries or were held by the banks of the foreign countries from before the period of the gulf war. Thus the sanction though primarily aiming at pressurizing the country for their removal of forces from Kuwait adopted policies that affects political as well as the economical situation of the country and altered their position in the international ratings. The sanction of the United Nations against Iraq performed for the attainment of security and peace in international environment and the benefits of the community of the international world was one of the largest operations in the history of United Nations (Wanniski: Wallensteen, Staibano and Eriksson, 3)  Special features of the sanctions of United Nations  The experience of the United Nations’ sanction regarding the country of Iraq was rather unique in every aspect and standard. The political attributes undertaken by the member states for proper implementation of the measures of the sanction resulted in its uniqueness. There were certain special features of the sanction. Firstly the sanction of the United States on Iraq continued for almost thirteen years from its implementation. The huge span of the contract made it merge with the sanctions of Rhodesia and the sanctions of South Africa, both by the government of United Nations, which made it the longest in the history of United Nations. Secondly the sanctions were initiated by detailed resolutions those were maintained properly. The resolutions of the sanctions were discussed continuously. Moreover the same set of resolutions did not exist for those long thirteen years; the Security Council continuously refined the resolutions and made them updated according to the prevailing circumstances. The Security Council of United States focused thoroughly on the proper implementation of the resolutions. They made efforts in the enforcement of those through different commissions. The United Nations Special Commission or UNSCOM hold the responsibility from the year of its implementation in 1991 and continued till the year 1999. The International Atomic Energy Agency or IAEA was the one mandated with the responsibility following UNSCOM. After IAEA the Commission for Monitoring Verification and Inspection of United Nations or UNMOVIC took the responsibility from the year 1999 and then the multinational interception force of the country continued with the implementation of the resolutions till the end of the period of sanction in the year 2003. The other sanctions did not possess the features of these continuous efforts of monitoring and hence made this sanction a unique one. Moreover the special feature of the sanction was that it was followed by efforts from international organizations for coping up to the consequences of the sanctions from humanitarian ground. A program that was administered through the Iraq program office namely ‘the oil–for–food program’ was one of the international efforts undertaken. (Wallensteen, Staibano and Eriksson, 4-5)  The effects of the sanction against Iraq  Dr Raundalen, a child psychologists, with respect to the impact of the war and the sanction on the children of the country, observes, “the trauma, the loss, the grief, the lack of prospects, the feeling of threat here and now, that it will start again, the impact of the sanctions, make us ask if these children are not the most suffering child population on earth” (Simons, 19) The sanction provoked detrimental impact on the lives of the civilian and led to the questioning of the measures. Disease as well as starvation and hence malnutrition were spreading virtually to the entire nation as the direct consequence of the machinations of the then leader of Iraq Saddam Hussein that was nothing but a callous step. (Simmons and Benn, 14: Bianchi, 881) A report published by the United Nations International Children’s Emerging Fund or UNICEF in the year 1998 contained in itself the independent account of the immediate, the short term or the intermediate as well as the long term or the chronic effects of the sanctions on the life of the common people of Iraq. The immediate effects of the sanction The first direct effect of the sanction was the fall in the imports of the country which include agricultural as well as industrial raw materials and other inputs, materials for education, fuels along with many items of regular necessity like food items as well as medicines and even the systems for purification of the water supply of the country. The exports from the country were also restricted which rendered impact on the decrease in the earnings of foreign currencies in the economy earned generally through the country’s exports. The communication systems of the country including the systems of telecommunications as well as media were also hampered by the sanction and the overall communication of the country with the outside world was also decreased. The sanction also rendered significant impact on the diplomatic efforts on the part of the government of the country. (Shah) The intermediate effect The country experienced a considerable deterioration of the status of the health of its citizens because of the decrease in the imports of required medicines through the reduction in the country’s import. There occurred deterioration of the nature of the health service that had been provided by the government of the country because of the decrease in the proper availability of medicines required for vaccinations. The infrastructural requirements for a proper set up of vaccines laboratory and tests for diagnosis of diseases were lacked and reduced following the reduction in the import of the country.  There were complete breakdown of the medical equipments for x- ray and other laboratory purposes. There had been a considerable increase in the morbidity and the mortality rate of the nation with more significant increase in the cases of child mortality. The maternal as well as the perinatal mortality rate also experienced significant increase.  There occurred prevalence of infectious diseases that continued to spread in the country like epidemics because of the lack of medication facilities and proper arrangements of precautions from the part of the governing body.   The food securities of the country were also affected because of the shortage that arose in the food items of basic need. With the reduction in the import of the required inputs for production the agricultural production of the country experienced decrease at a considerable rate. There was also a decrease in the productions of the livestock in the country. This reduced production resulted in rising in the prices of the food items in the domestic market because of the reduced supply. It again resulted in the problem of proper entitlements of the products with the increased incidents of purchase through the emerging black markets of the economy. Thus the minimum calorie intake and the regular diet of the households of the country experienced significant decrease. The economic situations of the country were also affected considerably. The earnings of the country from its exports were reduced.  Business and industries of the country experienced closures because of the decreased opportunity of international trade. The unemployment rate of the country experienced an increase henceforth. Because of the closure of the industries and the country’s producing units there occurred a decrease in the wage rate, which again implied a reduction in the purchasing power of the country. Due to the lack of required funds, absence of trading partners due to restricted trade options and lack of required resources and inputs for production the economic activities of the country experienced an overall decrease. The economy became prone to huge inflation arising due to the lack of the supply of commodities in the markets of the economy. (Shah) The long-term effect These immediate and the intermediate effects of the sanction imposed on the country of Iraq imposed huge consequences on the country’s economical, political and social developmental fronts that had long term impacts. The after-effect of the sanction was sometimes denoted as ‘the greatest humanitarian disaster’ of the era of the sanctions imposed by United Nations. The overall health status of the people of the country deteriorated with huge incidents of premature end of lives of children, due to poverty, lack of the capacity of the nation to provide care to the countrymen etc. On the economical aspect decline in the total revenue of the country along with the decline in the per capita income of the country with almost two third fall in the country’s GDP and also GNP led to the total collapse of the infrastructure of the country both public and private. (Case Studies in Sanctions and Terrorism)As the political consequence of the sanction it can be inferred that the country lost the freedom of its democratic rights and the balance of the power and the social security changed completely. The social consequences of the sanction on the country were something that had the maximum significance since it could not be cured through any forms of foreign support. The inequality of the society increased hugely due to the increased poverty. The psychological consequence that was hard to measure numerically got reflected in the increased cases of social upheaval that often turned to violent distress. The violent acts of terrorism might have its root in the socially distressed conditions of the country. (Shah; Cortright and Lopez)  Effect on military and terrorism  Sanctions against countries often resulted in cases where the targeted people support the prevalence of international terrorism and often not in the position to fight against it for lack of required resources. The sanction imposed embargo on Iraq, which prohibited the country in importing arms and ammunitions. With some indigenous capability of manufacturing arms the military was not totally dependent on external sources. The military of the country was formidable however the size reduced to less than half of the period before the sanction. Thus the military power of the country was still capable of handling the social upheavals and arising problems of terrorism within the country, but the operational capability was drastically suffered due to the longevity of the sanction. (Odle, 24-26; Anthony, 204-205) However according to the reports of the ABC news and also of the ‘Guardian’, the government of the country had been reported against for maintaining a relationship with the terrorist group of Al-Qaida which began from the time of the imposition of the sanction and several elements of terrorist attacks were reported of being supervised by different experts and officials of several specialized departments of the country. (Israeli, 154) Moreover for affecting the policies undertaken by the government of a country, the normal citizens are sometimes being threatened. This act is what is sometimes called International Terrorism. By this definition of terrorist acts, the most significant conclusion that can be made of the effect of the sanction was that the sanction in some form or the other also contributed to International Terrorism. Viewing in terms of the international humanitarian law the sanction contributed to international crimes and consequently, war. Thus the Security Council, which is the key authority of coherent responding against terrorism, had in some way contributed to terrorist act through this sanction. (Faces of Resistance: Lehto, 343)  In order to evaluate the UN sanction against Iraq it can be concluded that for restoring international peace that had been disturbed due to the invasion of the independent state of Kuwait by Iraq, the sanction brought with it another period of humanitarian disturbances for the common countrymen and spread misery in their lives. The political ill effects fell on the general people and were not a desirable outcome.              References 1. Anthony, Ian, Sanctions applied by the European Union and the United Nations, SIPRI Yearbook 2002, 30th April, 2011, from http://www.sipri.org/research/disarmament/expcon/researchissues/resultoutput/yearbook/yb0205 2. Bianchi, Andrea, Assessing the Effectiveness of the UN Security Council’s Anti-terrorism Measures: The Quest for Legitimacy and Cohesion, European Journal of International Law, 2007, 17.5,881-919, 30th April, 2011, from http://www.ejil.org/pdfs/17/5/106.pdf 3. Case Studies in Sanctions and Terrorism, Peterson institute for international economics, 2011, 30th April, 2011, from http://www.iie.com/research/topics/sanctions/iraq3.cfm#top 4. Cortright, David and George, A, Lopez, Towards Ethical Economic Sanctions, Fourth freedom Forum, November 2000, 30th April, 2011, from http://www.fourthfreedom.org/Applications/cms.php?page_id=33 5. Faces of Resistance, responding to the crisis in Iraq, n.d, 30th April, 2011, from http://www.cpinternet.com/~mbayly/facesofresistance5.htm 6. Israeli, Raphael, The Iraq War, Sussex academic press, 2004 7. Lehto, Marja, Indirect responsibility for terrorist acts, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 2009 8. Odle, Randy, T, UN SANCTIONS AGAINST IRAQ: THEIR EFFECTS AND THEIR FUTURE, Air University Press Maxwell, (April, 1997), 30th April, 2011, from http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?Location=U2&doc=GetTRDoc.pdf&AD=ADA424680 9. Schmid, Stephan, Gulf War II (1990/91) - Iraq between United Nations' Diplomacy and United States' Policy, GRIN Verlag, 2007 10. Shah, Anup, Effects of Iraq Sanctions, Global Issues, (October, 2005), 29th April, 2011, from http://www.globalissues.org/article/105/effects-of-sanctions 11. Simons, Geoff and Tony Benn, Iraq from summer to Saddam, Palgrave MacMillan, 1996 12. Simmons, Geoffrey, Leslie, the Scourging of Iraq, Palgrave McMillan, 1998 13. Wanniski, Jude, Review of Iraq’s sanctions and Washington’s Iraq policies, Americans against World Empire, n.d, 29th April, 2011, from http://www.iraqwar.org/impossible.htm 14. Wallensteen, Peter, Staibano Carina and Mikael Eriksson, the 2004 Roundtable on UN sanctions Against Iraq: Lessons learned, Department of Peace and Conflict Research, September, 2004, 29th April, 2011, from http://www.smartsanctions.se/literature/iraqreport_050210.pdf Read More