For Germany I can say that it is often the very same people who have been for the UN sanctions against South Africa and are now against the sanctions against Iraq (and vice versa, of course). Then, people coming more from the political right said that the sanctions only affected the poor black people and the pro-sanctions people (then from the political left) said the sooner the regime collapses the better for the poor people and that they therefore supported the sanctions.

Am I too cynical when I think that the general political stance is the main reason why people are in a certain situation pro or contra sanctions and that all the talk about human lives is mainly propaganda?

Sanctions are one of the very few weapons of the UN. I personally prefer a strong UN to a weak UN. A general stance against sanctions helps in the long run Bush's politics of weakening the UN.

Wolfgang