More recently, in 1999, chlorine, which is important for the disinfection of water, was blocked from reaching the hands of the needy civilians (Source M).
"Just before Christmas [1999], the department of trade and industry in London blocked a shipment of vaccines meant to protect Iraqi children against diptheria and yellow fever. Dr. Kim Howells told parliament why. His title of under secretary of state for competition and consumer affairs eminently suited his Orwellian reply. The children's vaccines were banned he said, " because they are capable of being used in weapons of mass destruction". That his finger was on the trigger of a proven weapon of mass destruction -sanctions- seemed not to occur to him"-John Pilger "SQueezed to Death" Guardian, March 2000
In this same article, Pilger documents an interview with Madeline Albright, United States Secretary of State. "When asked on television is she [Albright] thought that the death of half a million Iraqi children [from sanctions in Iraq] was a price worth paying, ALbright replied: "this is a very hard choice but we think the price is worth it"" (Source M).
No price should be worth killing millions of innocent Iraqi civilians, when the civilians themselves have nothing to do with the problem.
In 1998, UNICEF published an independent report on the impact of sanctions, written by Eric Hoskins, a consultant (Source W). This report showed the direct effects, short term effects and long term effects of the sanctions.
The 1991 attacks on Iraq was the first time the United States used hardened Depleted Uranium to tip their ammunition (Source K). Therefore, not only could the bullets and anti-tank shells pierce through armor of miscellaneous types, but could also disintegrate into thousands of miniscule radioactive particles upon impact. Although, after the attacks were completed, this muddle of material was cleaned up in Kuwait, but it was not done so in Iraq's a result, cancer rates have increased dramatically. Childhood cancers, including leukemia, Hodgkin's disease, lymphomas, congenital diseases, and deformities in fetuses, in addition to limb reductional abnormalities, and increase in genetic abnormalities have been more and more apparent in the past few years (Source K).
These aftermaths usually affect the majority of children born after the Gulf War (Source K). Prior to sanctions, these same childhood cancers, proved an 80 percent cure rate (Source B). However, after rhe imposition of current sanctions, the survival rate for these diagnosed children has fallen to 0 percent, leaving them no chance to live (Source B). With the sanctions still in place, these innocent children suffer silently, with no access no modern day remedies that would normally be readily available. Antibiotics, drugs, painkillers, and now hope remain just out of reach for the dying children of Iraq.
The sanctions have not only affected the overall health and well-being of the country, but also the economic situation of the country. With most of the wealth of the middle class being virtually wiped out, the country's economy has collapsed (Source B). The average wages for a worker in Iraq has fallen to less than $5 a month, and hyper-inflation has given way to exorbitant rises in the price of goods, thus, making it difficult for the average Iraqi civilian to get their hands on essential goods such as milk and bread (Source B).
Beofre the imposed sanctions began, the Iraqi dinar was worth $3 of American money (Source B). However, by May of 1997 the value had decreased to a measly $.000625. One doctor, at a hospital in Baghdad summed up his feelings about Iraq in just one sentence: " Our life is over" (Source B). Another doctor in the same hospital, asked the delegation, "What does your country gain from our suffering?"(Source B). This is a question our government should be asking itself. This same doctor, makes 3000 dinar a month, which is equivalent to approximately $2 in the United States, despite the fact that he has practiced his profession for over eight years. This salary which is significantly higher than most Iraq wages, does not even cover the cost of a bottle of milk for his family, which is around 3,500 dinar (Source B). This predicament is felt by most of the Iraq civilians, who have no options to better their way of living.
The economic sanctions that we as the United States have imposed, and held on Iraq are obvioulsy not hurting Saddam Hussein, as they so intended. Instead, they are only making life miserable for the many Iraqi civilians, powerless against their own government. With an increasing mortality rate, increasing malnutrition rate, and a wide spread of disease and other sicknesses, as exemplified above, along with the fall of the economy, the situation of the country is only sure to deteriorate more as we hold these sanctions.