This
book is a collection of essays, contributed by a wide range of scholars,
scientists, and activists. It includes essays by Noam Chomsky, media
critic Ali Abunimah, human rights activist Rania Masri, environmental
biologist Huda Ammash, British journalist Robert Fisk, a leader
of the anti-sanction movement, Kathy Kelly, and former UN official
Dennis Halliday, who resigned in protest against the sanctions.
In
the editorial introduction, Arnove exposes the vulgar saber-rattling
jingoism of some of the mainstream media’s leading lights by
quoting New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman. Nasser
Aruri provides a historical account to the U.S. war against Iraq.
Noam Chomsky characterizes the air and missile attacks on sewage
treatment plants, irrigation systems, and water purification plants
during the Gulf War as biological warfare. Dennis Halliday categorically
states it is appropriate to apply the term “genocide”
to the deadly impact of sanctions and war in Iraq. John Pilger tells
a moving story of Mohammed Amin Ezzat, conductor of Iraq’s
national orchestra, whose personal story epitomizes the punishment
inflicted upon the people of Iraq. Due to economic hardship caused
by the sanctions, Ezzat’s family was compelled to use highly
inflammable substance as a source of energy and lighting. The family’s
use of inflammable substance led to an accident in which Ezzat’s
wife perished in flames in front of him. Ali Abunimah and Rania
Masri’s detailed media analyses expose the biased coverage
of Iraq in U.S. corporate media, which dehumanizes the Iraqi people.
Their
findings are quite disturbing. The U.S. media has either ignored
or downplayed the devastating impact of the sanctions on the Iraqi
people. The civilian casualties of U.S. bombings have been brushed
aside. Iraq is portrayed in the media as if Saddam Hussein is the
only person who lives there. The media relies on pro-establishment
figures for opinions and news analysis. The mainstream media ignore
the diversity of views on Iraq. Thus, persons closely associated
with American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), a lobbying
group, are treated as unbiased and objective experts on the Middle
East. Disruption on civilian life caused by U.S. bombings rarely
appears as news in the U.S. press.
Investigative
journalist Robert Fisk reports on the problems caused by depleted
uranium. Not only thousands of Iraqis, particularly in southern
Iraq, but also U.S. and British Gulf War veterans are victims of
the effects of depleted uranium. Fisk’s description of children
dying in cancer wards is absolutely disheartening. Kathy Kelly’s
account of her experience in Iraq is a deeply moving story of a
person with empathy for the people of Iraq. For violating laws that
bar providing humanitarian assistance to Iraqis in distress, Kelly
and other activists are being persecuted by the U.S. authorities.
Barbara Nimzi Aziz gives an account of the life of an Iraqi intellectual
family. Huda Ammash, an environmental biologist, reports on the
impact on environment and health in Iraq due to radiological, chemical,
and electro-magentic exposure.
There
are two important lessons that may be drawn from what has happened
to the Iraqi people as a result of sanctions. First, the sanctions
against Iraq have brought catastrophic misery on the people. It
is completely avoidable and needless suffering which must be stopped
immediately. Second, one must remain ever vigilant against war and
violence because the consequences are deadly. Iraq is an example
of the common tragedy that engulfs the world today. The patterns
of death and destruction in Afghanistan, Balkans, Colombia, East
Timor, and Israel/Palestine, are stark reminders of the arrogance
of the illegitimate concentration of power.
This
book is an informed indictment of the sanctions policy. It exposes
the brutality of sanctions against Iraq and therefore deserves to
be widely read. It should be of value to concerned citizens, activists,
academics, journalists, students of actual international regions,
and Middle East scholars. An in-depth coverage of economic conditions
in Iraq with a statistical appendix of the key economic and social
indicators would have been a very useful addition to the book. Researchers
will find Geoff Simons’ (1996) and Sarah Graham Brown’s
(1999) detailed analyses to be useful complements to Arnove’s
edited volume. Economists interested in the political economy and
the empirical effects of sanctions will learn much from this book.