Talk about humanitarian, or should I say un-humanitarian, half a million children under the age of five have now died in Iraq, in the past ten years due to sanctions.
Sanctions are being called "the silent war against Iraqi children" Countries that used to trade with Iraq are also suffering.
Jordan's Prime Minister had this to say about sanctions-"The sanctions impassed on Iraq have led to great human catastrophe of unpredictable destructive impact in the short and long terms. We call for lifting the embargo on Iraq."
UN weapons inspector Richard Butler had this to say- " sanctions as now applied to Iraq have been utterly counterproductive for the disarmament purpose."
The problem with sanctions is money and goods that get into the country are going to the elite and harming the poor. The basic needs of the civilian population are not being met. The 1949 Geneva Convention prohibits the starvation of civilian populations and the destruction of what is indispensable for their survival.

Can you all tell I've been doing my homework on sanctions? I find them deplorable. For US to say the Iraqi people tourture their own, well perhaps they are, but we as a world of people allowing sanctions to continue, are no better for creating a destruction of an entire country of human beings.

As I step down from my soapbox, Rustic