Past efforts to tailor sanctions to avoid humanitarian repercussions have never succeeded, and are not likely to succeed now.That's right. What works is the complete and utter destruction of the enemy's ability to make war. Complete annihilation or unconditional surrender. Then comes peace.
I guess the gassing of the Kurds and other civilians, the destruction of Iranian cities, firing missles into Israel, the invasion of Kuwait, etc. doesn't constitute "grave breaches of international law"?
Beam me up Scotty (where's Traficant when you need him?).
5.56mm
No where in his article does he explain how the sanctions are responsible for the deaths of these Iraqiis. Neither, does he explain why Saddam is not responsible for their lives. He just states that Saddam has not substantially misspent funds (never mind the money to Paletinian bombers). The author makes wild assertions without any evidence. I sure wouldn't want this guy defending me.
Please see the related thread regarding Saddam's production of a nuclear bomb Here.
I hate to break the news to you international law buffs, but the likelihood of nuclear annihilation may require some legal niceties to be broken.
This is right out of those who lust for Saddam, pr book, page 1. Or how to lie and spread Bravo Sierra for your buddy, Killer Saddam.
First of Saddam is worth over 7 billion $'s. If he used his personal wealth to buy food, no one in Iraq would ever starve to death.
Recently Saddam bought 5,000 luxury sedans probably Mercedes for his 5,000 most loyal thugs. Figure at least $50,000 per vehicle or $25,000,000 for luxury cars for thugs who kill innocent people. That would buy a lot food.
Saddam is giving each family of suicide murder bombers, $25,000. This blood money would buy a lot of food.
The number 1 and 2 causes of death in Iraq are cardiovascular and diabetes. Those are diseases from too much food, not starvation.
How much is Saddam paying to service and to get into flying order his 300 plus old planes. That would buy a lot of food.
Finally how much money does Saddam spend to get articles like this one written and then published in a maggot infested fishwrap?
STOP STARVATION IN IRAQ! KILL SADDAM AND HIS SUPPORTERS THERE AND AROUND THE WORLD!
The premise of this article--that sanctions don't work--is correct. Where the author takes that premise misses the point completely. The cause of the suffering in Iraq is the madman running the country. He has a bloodlust for power, a determination to lead the arab world to victory over the infidels. He has stolen all the funds received from "Oil for Food" sales to build more and deadlier weapons of mass destruction and allowed his subjects to die by the thousands. His removal, and the destruction of the country's ability to ever wage war again, are the only solution to the genocide that HE has perpetrated on the Iraqi people.
Yeah, so?
The sanctions are hurting Iraqi civilians much more then their hurting Saddam. The civilians did not gas the Kurds, they did not invade Kuwait, they do not have any choice in what Iraq does, so why should they suffer?
Obviously Saddam does not care about his civilians, so it is up to the US to do something to help them. Anyone who disagrees with me is worse then Saddam.
So when the oil runs out - these children starve anyway...
These " children under 5 " were all conceived under the sanctions -
I guess the parents get enough food for the important activities
"George Bisharat joined the Hastings faculty in 1991, after serving four years as a Deputy Public Defender for the City and County of San Francisco. He conducts the Criminal Practice Clinic and teaches Criminal Procedure, Law and Social Anthropology, and Law in Middle East Societies.
Professor Bisharat graduated cum laude from Harvard Law School in 1983 and holds a B.A. in anthropology (UC Berkeley, 1975), an M.A. in history (Georgetown University, 1979), and a Ph.D. in anthropology and Middle East studies (Harvard University, 1987).
He has lived, studied, and traveled throughout the Middle East and North Africa, with extended sojourns in Beirut, Tunis, Cairo, and the Israeli-occupied West Bank. His field of specialization is legal anthropology, the cross-cultural study of law, legal institutions, and modes of dispute processing. His study of the impact of Israeli occupation on the Palestinian legal profession of the West Bank, Palestinian Lawyers and Israeli Rule: Law and Disorder in the West Bank, was published in 1989. In recent years, Professor Bisharat has consulted with the Palestinian Legislative Council over the structure of the Palestinian judiciary, reforms in criminal procedure, and other aspects of legal development. He also is concerned with problems of social identity, ethnicity, race, and racism, and their interrelations with law and the legal system in the United States and abroad.
Professor Bisharat is married to Jaleh Bisharat, a businesswoman, and is the exceedingly proud father of a daughter, Valerie Shirin, and a son, Austin Rashid. His principal passions outside of work are wine, blues, and fly fishing for trout."
Personally I believe that a T.O.T. strike at all of the palace complexes in order to obliterate them would solve the problem. Include the barracks of the Repulblican Guards as well, along with leaflets suggesting a regime change and see if you can't get their attention. What was that punchline..."So what was the 2 by 4 for. Oh, you just need to get the donkey's attention".