"Only countries like the United States and Britain had interdiction forces that could have stopped it. But he said they "decided to close their eyes to Turkey and Jordan because they are allies."
Interdiction forces are not just limited to shipments by sea. We had the air and land power to stop it if we wanted to, the same way we established the northern and southern no-fly zones in Iraq.
I suggest you read the CNN article more closely. The point is it was official US policy to turn a blind eye to these shipments. We never raised this issue at the SC even though we knew it was taking place. Specifically,
"Documents obtained by CNN reveal the United States knew about, and even condoned, embargo-breaking oil sales by Saddam Hussein's regime, and did so to shore up alliances with Iraq's neighbors."
"The unclassified State Department documents sent to congressional committees with oversight of U.S. foreign policy divulge that the United States deemed such sales to be in the "national interest," even though they generated billions of dollars in unmonitored revenue for Saddam's regime."
"It was in the national security interest, because we depended on the stability in Turkey and the stability in Jordan in order to encircle Saddam Hussein," Edward Walker, a former assistant secretary of state for Near East affairs, told CNN when asked about the memo documents." Note: I worked for Ned Walker
"Despite United Nations Security Council Resolutions," a 1998 memo signed by President Clinton's deputy secretary of state, Strobe Talbott, said, "Jordan continues to import oil from Iraq."But Jordan had a "lack of economically viable alternatives" to Iraqi oil, Talbott's memo said."
"Talbott's memo lauded Jordan's commitment to the Middle East peace process, citing the late King Hussein's personal efforts to broker a resolution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict." "Timely, reliable assistance from the United States fosters the political stability and economic well-being critical to Jordan's continuing role as a regional leader for peace," Talbott said.
Identical language was used four years later in a 2002 memo by Richard Armitage, undersecretary of state under President George W. Bush.
"Deputy State Department spokesman Adam Ereli told CNN Tuesday the waivers were given to Jordan and Turkey every year since 1998. He called both countries "special cases" in which the money Saddam made through the smuggling did not allow him weapons." "With Jordan and Turkey the circumstances were unique," Ereli said. "We approached them in a way that preserved key alliances and didn't help the regime of Saddam Hussein."
Former State Department diplomat Walker said, "It was almost a 'don't ask, don't tell' kind of policy. It was accepted in the Security Council. No one challenged it."
John Ruggie, a former senior adviser to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, said U.S. diplomats focused on assuring U.N.-approved shipments to Iraq were free of military components, and the United States felt Jordan and Turkey needed to be compensated for the adverse impact of the sanctions.
Ruggie said, "The secretary of state of the United States said each and every year that those illegal sales were in the national security interest of the United States. So it wasn't just that the U.S. was looking the other way."
"The memos obtained by CNN explain why both administrations waived restrictions on U.S. economic aid to those countries for engaging in otherwise prohibited trade with Iraq."
The US could have cut aid to Turkey and Jordan for violating the sanctions. We did not. As a result, we were complicit in Iraq receiving as much as $13.6 billion in sales outside the OFF program.
""Only countries like the United States and Britain had interdiction forces that could have stopped it. But he said they "decided to close their eyes to Turkey and Jordan because they are allies."
Interdiction forces are not just limited to shipments by sea. We had the air and land power to stop it if we wanted to, the same way we established the northern and southern no-fly zones in Iraq."
Interdiction forces can not stop smuggling on land unless there are boots on the ground on that land. We did not have boots on the ground in Iraq, Turkey or Jordan that had any authority to stop land shipments.
There are places where we could stop land smuggling like, here in the USA, we could help other countries if they agreed, but only if they agreed or if we were to go in with the force to occupy the land. When we asked the UN to join us in doing that in Iraq they told us NO.
Naval and air forces would not have been able to stop this kind of smuggling because it was all done by land and we did not have near good enough intelligence. The only reason that we can stop it today is because we sent troops in and took over the country of Iraq. But now that we have done that, we do not need to stop the shipments.