I thought they were ended in 2003. The Wikipedia article on Iraq sanctions says "they began August 6, 1990, four days after Iraq's invasion of Kuwait, and continued until May 22, 2003." The economic situation in Iraq has changed drastically since 2003. Multi-national companies have signed oil deals with the Iraqi government, even without an oil law, and Iraqis can buy pretty much whatever they want these days. I think this proves that the UN sanctions were really enforced by the US and its allies. It didn't matter that UN sanctions on Iraq existed. What really mattered was US enforcement of those sanctions.
"The UN Security Council will on Wednesday end a swathe of Saddam Hussein-era sanctions against Iraq in a sign of the changes in the country, diplomats said.
US Vice President Joe Biden will chair a Security Council meeting that will lift the international penalties mainly dating from Saddam's 1990 invasion of neighboring Kuwait that set off the first Gulf War.
...There will still be sanctions against some minor members of the Saddam regime who are still on the run. Iraq is also required to pay five percent of its oil revenues into a UN fund for reparations for Kuwait.
More than 30 billion dollars has already been paid out by the fund, and Iraq has protested that the measure is too severe and should be lifted.
Kuwait has countered that before being released from the sanctions, Iraq needs to agree the border between the two countries, and pay a further 22 billion dollars due in war reparations."
1 comment :
[mojo] "I thought they were ended in 2003."
Ha ha ha! Quite the optimist, eh?
No, they weren't.
The practical consequences of the sanctions were effectively lifted, but America kept the legislation around so as to be able to pressure any given Iraqi government to do its bidding. Sovereignty, eh?
Nice, ain't it, that Kuwait still wants cash from Iraq even though the Kuwaitis are rolling in the money and Iraqis are eating their shoes out of hunger?
:(
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