Sanctioning Saddam: The Politics of Intervention in Iraq
Sarah Graham-Brown
I .B .Tauris
Throughout the 1990s, Iraq has been the target not only of military attack but also of the most draconian and protracted economic embargo ever imposed by the international community. In the immediate aftermath of the 1991 Gulf war, the embargo was accompanied by an effort to provide aid to the Iraqi people and to protect them against human rights abuses by Saddam Hussein. This initiative seemed to break new ground in providing protection for civilians in a situation of conflict. Yet the outcome of the international community's efforts has fallen short of the promise. Why has there been such a large gap between the rhetoric and reality? How exactly have the combination of economic sanctions, international humanitarian aid and limited protection of civilians affected Iraq? And what lessons can be drawn from the experience?
This is the most carefully documented and comprehensive account to be published on the consequences of international intervention in Iraq during the 1990s. Sarah Graham-Brown's account follows the intricacies of international policy on Iraq during this time, discussing the background events of the 1970s and 1980s and culminating in the US and British air actions in early 1999. She examines not only the record of intervention but also the complicated political context that has shaped international policy and the Iraqi response to it.
The importance of the book - which will interest general readers, Middle East specialists and students of International Relations alike - lies in the author's explanation of issues which have made events seem so unpredictable.
Sarah Graham-Brown has written extensively on the Middle East and is the author of several books on the region, including the highly successful Images of Women: The Portrayal of Women in Photography in the Middle East 1860-1950 (1988). After three years of involvement with British aid agencies after the Gulf crisis, she has, since 1995, studied the situation in Iraq in depth.
Contents
Acknowledgements / vii
Glossary / ix
Introduction / xi
Maps / xviii
Prologue / 1
Part I International Policy on Iraq and its Consequences 1991-8 / 15
1 Unforeseen Circumstances / 17
2 The Politics of Economic Sanctions 1991-8 / 56
3 Protecting the Vulnerable? / 105
Part I Overview / 141
Part II State Power, Survival and Conflict in Iraq since 1991 / 151
4 The Impact of Post-war International Intervention on the Iraqi State / 153
5 Iraqi Society Since 1991 / 179
6 Iraqi Kurdistan Since 1991 / 213
Part II Overview / 252
Part III Picking up the Pieces? Humanitarian Aid Programmes in Iraq 1991-8 / 259
7 The Aid Programme and its Constraints / 261
8 The Impact of Aid Programmes / 295
Part III Overview / 324
Conclusion / 332
Appendix: The Use and Threat of Force Against Iraq, July 1991-February 1999 / 351
Bibliography / 355
Index / 373
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The writing of this book was made possible by a grant for research and writing from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. It is being published in association with the Middle East Research and Information Project in Washington DC, and I thank its staff and editorial committee for their encouragement and support. Finally, I thank Christian Aid in London, both for the support and encouragement given to me by its Middle East team when I was in the last stages of completing the book and for its help with promotion in the UK.
I have used a large number of libraries in the course of research, and I would particularly like to thank all the staff at the Documentation Unit, Centre for Arab Gulf Studies, University of Exeter, who helped me gather together material on several flying visits to Exeter, and Paul Auchterlonie, Librarian for Middle Eastern Studies, University of Exeter for his help in tracing more obscure titles. Thanks also to Kendal Nezan and Akil Marceau who kindly helped me with sources at the Kurdish Institute in Paris.
My job as coordinator of the Gulf Information Project, based at the Refugee Council in London, gave me the impetus to write this book. Although many of my collegues in the aid agencies concerned - CAFOD, Christian Aid, Oxfam, Quaker Peace and Service and Save the Children Fund, as well as the Refugee Council - have now moved on to other jobs, their ideas, experience and concerns provided the basis for this book. I also benefitted greatly from the fund of information within the NGO community, including both humanitarian and human rights organisations in Europe and the US, as well as Iraqi ones set up since 1991. Thanks are especially due to the staff responsible for Iraq over a number of years at Amnesty International in London and Human Rights Watch in New York.
I interviewed a large number of people for this book. Some of the interviewees are cited in the footnotes, where they are quoted or provided specific information. However, many others contributed valuable background and analysis, and I would particularly like to thank the following people for taking the time to help: Dr Shaul Bahkash, Frederic Charillon, Dr Shahram Chubin, Chris Dammers, Terry Giles, Karim Ghezraoui, Amanda Harding, Joost Hilterman, Yousif al-Khoei, Michiel Leezenberg, Bronwyn Lewis, David McDowall, Dr Kamil Mahdi, Dr Phebe Marr, Sir John Moberly, Dr David Nabarro, Roger Normand, Dr Soli Ozel, John Packer, Monica Press, Dr William Quandt, Laith Qubba, Dr Philip Robins, Gary Sick, Dr Stefan Sperl, Victor Tanner, Dr Charles Tripp, David Weaver, Valerie Yorke and Sarah Zaidy.
A substantial number of government, UN and ICRC officials and diplomats were also interviewed off the record. My thanks to all of them for their assistance.
On a more informal level, a number of people helped me by suggesting sources of information or contacts, providing ideas and analysis in informal discussions, and giving me the opportunity to attend seminars and debates. In particular, I thank Patrick Costello, Jeff Crisp, Dr Richard Garfield, Haris Gazdar, Falih A. Jabbar, Isam al-Khafaji, Larry Minear, Kamran Qaradaghi, Robert Rossborough, Barbara Stapleton, David Styan and Michael Yorke.
My thanks also to Baudouin Koenig and Maysoon Pachachi for allowing me to consult the interview material gathered for their films. Thanks also to ABC News, BBC Radio 4 and Roberts and Wykenham Films for the use of transcript material.
Many friends and colleagues came to my aid at various stages of the project, and put up with my complaints and doubts. David Cortright, Deniz Kandiyoti, Chris Johnson supported my application for funds to write the book, and Anna Enayat commissioned me to write the book and waited patiently for the manuscript. She joined Joe Stork and Nels Johnson in reading at least two drafts of the book. Particular thanks are due for their stamina as well as their insights. Barbara Harlow, Ann Lesch, Hania Mufti, Sami Zubaida also read all or part of the manuscript and provided valuable comments. Michele Cohen and Barbara Smith kindly gave their time at short notice to help with reading the proofs. Finally, thanks to all at I.B. Tauris who have been involved in production, and Robert Hastings who had the task of copy editing.
A Note on the Text
In this book, I have used the spelling ‘Saddam Hussein’, which does not conform with the system of Arabic transliteration otherwise used, as this is the spelling most familiar to Western readers.
Introduction
In early February 1999, on the eighth anniversary of the 1991 Gulf War, US planes were again in action against Iraqi targets over the no-fly zones, the economic embargo was still in place, and the permanent Security Council members were looking for ways to break the deadlock between them.
The sense of déjà vu is familiar to anyone who has followed the twists and turns of international policy on Iraq since 1990, and whatever view of the arguments is taken, it is deeply frustrating. This book is an attempt to explain how this impasse was reached. I decided to write it after working between 1991 and 1994 with a group of British aid agencies which had been running aid programmes in Iraq from the time of the Gulf War. My work was primarily to pull together information relating to international policy on Iraq, UN activities and the work of the many other NGOs and human rights organisations which were addressing various aspects of the ongoing crisis.
The practical difficulties of working in Iraq rapidly became evident. What, after the initial emergency, were NGOs supposed to be doing in Iraq? Were they, as some people felt, merely providing crutches for a population of 19 million or more, most of whose lives had been disrupted by sanctions and war? Most felt this was anyway a task beyond their capacities. Aid workers were also frequently perturbed by the confused - or deliberately obscured - goals of post-war sanctions. Who really was deciding what the rationale of sanctions was? Was it some impersonal force of international law? As unanimity in the Security Council on the goals of sanctions began to break down, whose version was valid?
Taking these questions as a starting point, the book explores the history of political, economic and humanitarian intervention in Iraq by the international community since 1991. Both my colleagues and I were constantly aware of how wider political developments - inside Iraq, in neighbouring states and in the international community - constantly affected, and often foiled, our attempts to develop any coherent strategy on aid to Iraq. For this reason, I felt that in order to discuss the dilemmas of delivering humanitarian aid in a crisis, it was important to understand and confront these broader issues.
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Sarah Graham-Brown
Sanctioning Saddam
The Politics of Intervention in Iraq
I .B .Tauris
I .B .Tauris Publishers
Sanctioning Saddam
The Politics of Intervention in Iraq
Sarah Graham-Brown
I.B.Tauris Publishers
London - New York
in association with
MERIP
Published in 1999 by I.B.Tauris & Co Ltd
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Copyright © Sarah Graham-Brown, 1999
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