Such brazen disregard for human life is as perplexing as it is infuriating. If these sanctions were killing innocent people, yet accomplishing American foreign policy goals, then sanctions would be equally inhumane, but at least it would be possible to understand why people like Powell would support them. However, as the current situation stands, even the savviest foreign policy hawk would have trouble showing how these sanctions are furthering US interests in the region.
On the contrary, sanctions are strengthening Hussein's grip on power. The Iraqi president's clandestine dealings with Russia and other Arab states have ensured that, in spite of the trade embargoes, the needs of his inner-circle are fulfilled. For Hussein and his allies, there is no shortage of luxury items. Of course, these goods are not available to the Iraqi people. Only those lucky enough to have a personal connection to the dictator have access to imported fruits and vegetables, medical care and other supplies. In essence, the only Iraqis who are not threatened by poverty are those who rely directly on Hussein for their subsistence. How can an opposition ever emerge if the only people not teetering on the brink of ruin are those who are most loyal to Hussein?
If there is ever to be a force from within Iraq that can threaten Hussein's supremacy, the people must be allowed to rebuild their nation.
Admittedly, ending sanctions will not solve all of Iraq's problems. The battle scars of a nation mired by a generation of war will still be highly visible. Children have grown up without education or hope. Families have been decimated first by the physical violence of war and then by the aftermath of ten years of isolation and economic strangulation. And for the foreseeable future, a ruthless dictator will continue to rule over their country.
But right now, as the game of high-stakes international politics is being played out in their backyard, the people of Iraq care little for Hussein, the United Nations, weapons inspections or any other abstract ideal that is being upheld by starving them. Worrying about high politics is a luxury of the well-fed. What the people of Iraq want is an end to their suffering. They have paid the price for living under a ruler they neither chose nor support.
In the prelude to the Gulf War, then-President George H. W. Bush declared, "Our quarrel is not with the people of Iraq. We do not wish for them to suffer. The world's quarrel is with the dictator who ordered that invasion." Few could have expected such rhetoric to be accompanied by a frontal assault against the Iraqi people. By lifting the sanctions against Iraq, President George W. Bush has an opportunity to fulfill the promise his father should have kept.
Nader R. Hasan '02 is a government concentrator in Lowell House. His column appears on alternate Wednesdays.