Westerners and moral judgements

The United Nations killed nobody in Iraq.

 

I think she may have been referring to the sanctions against Iraq, which led to a substantial increase in infant mortality and malnutrition amongst the children of Iraq.

There is a debate over how many children actually died as a result of those sanctions. Later research states it could be down to around 350,000 children, and that the sanctions, coupled with the bombings caused severe health and malnutrition issues for the Iraqi population.

Some more reading:

 

I beg to differ.

Their willingness to go along with and impose the sanctions led the the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people, predominantly children.

 

From what I remember at the time, all the countries represented in the SC, bar two who absented, voted in the positive.

Yes, the world community is at fault for allowing it and taking part in it. But when word started to get out of the severe health issues and the fact that the sanctions played a part in the deaths of so many people, predominantly children, the US demanded that the sanctions not only remain in place as they were.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0CE6D7133EF931A15750C0A967958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all

And the US kept to its word. The sanctions remained in place and the results were catastrophic. But according to Albright, "worth it".

 

A lot of research during and since then have stated quite plainly that the sanctions had the opposite affect. That instead of forcing the Iraqi people to bring down Saddam, it solidified his hold over Iraq.

This paper gives a good breakdown of the situation. Long but interesting to read if you have the time.

Anywho, I have to get going. Kids are up from their nap.

 

Most were in favour of continuing sanctions, but with less severity. The US refused. As a result, it basically stayed as it was. Then the oil for food program was implemented, but even under that program, not enough food was entering the country. Medical supplies were also barred under the sanctions. Lets not forget, the idea behind the sanctions was the hope that the Iraqi people would rebel against Saddam. That when things became hard for them and coupled with the fact that Saddam would not back down, that the people would rise against the regime. What did happen was the complete reverse.

There is absolutely no excuse for the world's participation and support in and for the UN Sanctions against Iraq. Worse still, that even with mounting evidence from the UN itself, as well as from external human rights sources, the US and her allies continued to push for the continuation of the sanctions and the UN, and thus, the world community, lacked the balls (for lack of a better term) to stand up to the US and her allies. In short, all countries are responsible for allowing the sanction to continue and for kowtowing to US demands in the UN. Is the UN responsible? Yes. Is the US responsible? Yes. There is a plethora of information, from both sides of the fence, on this issue and both sides recognise that the US was at the center of the continuation of the sanctions in Iraq, even after reports of deaths, starvation and severe health issues arose right from the start. In short, the sanctions caused a disaster that could have been averted, if not prevented entirely. And what we are seeing today in Iraq is a response to the pain and suffering the Iraqi people were made to endure, not just under Saddam's regime, but also at the hands of the "West" with the first Gulf War, the Sanctions and now with the current war. We treated the Iraqi people like pawns in a game and it was despicable. It backfired on us and I suspect it is something that will haunt us one way or another for a hell of a long time in the future.

You bring up an interesting point. Are we to blame for the actions of our Government and the organisations our Government's belong to? I don't think so.. not to a certain extent anyway. For example, if you know your Government is playing a huge part in the deaths of thousands of children a month in another country and you ignore that fact and vote them back into office, what does that say about you? I doubt the majority of Americans approved of the sanctions in Iraq, especially when the figures came out from UNICEF and other organisations. Are those individual Americans to blame? No. Could they have done something better? Maybe. Short of a coup, there was not much they could have done. It shows the issue that plagues so called democracies.. The Government does not do as the "people" desire. It didn't then and does not now.

My point, at least, I cannot speak for Tiassa and Sam, is that we are no longer in a position to point a finger of blame. We, in the "West", deemed ourselves morally superior... the bastions of human rights (as one example). But we have lost our way a great deal. The "West" can no longer cast moral judgments on others for doing things they are guilty of themselves. When people blame the "West", they aren't blaming the individuals who reside within the Western countries or those who are considered 'Westerners'. It is more the political and ideological beliefs that many Western countries espouse and demand of others, but fail to adhere to themselves. Hence the issue.

We cannot demand from others what we are unable to do ourselves.

 

Economic sanctions, to some extent, can work.. but sadly, when applied to countries led by dictators, the innocent public suffer from the sanctions while their despotic leaders wallow in wealth. But when sanctions make the innocent public suffer, it is a total failure. And they always make the public suffer. Some more than others. We just need to recognise and admit that the public suffers instead of saying we're doing something great.

Sanctions are seen as one of the tools of diplomacy.

The sanctions in Iraq went many steps further. They prevented medicine and food items from entering the country. As well as water purification systems were seen as being possible WMD parts. Coupled with the fact that the West had bombed the water plants.. well.. speaks for itself really. It was an absolute disaster and how in the hell they were allowed to continue for so long is something the world community should be ashamed of.