I understand your argument, Wolfgang. I agree with you that a strong UN is important and essential, as a brake to unilateralism (though it has thus-far failed to curb Bush's abrogation of broad international consensus). But I think that sanctions, by their very nature, do target civil populations. There are those who take a cynical view that sanctions will provoke the people to rise up against their oppressors. How often have sanctions accomplished this goal? I am not sure. What are the alternatives to sanctions? Again, I am not sure. But the failure of the sanctions in Iraq must give us all pause . . .