[Islam-Online- Europe]

The decade of sanctions that has drained the power of the Iraqi people has only made the Iraqi regime stronger. Breaks are now appearing in the international sanctions on Iraq, limiting their ferocity and indicating the start of a spate of successive violations of these sanctions. The United States and Britain, the greatest advocates of sanctions, can no longer find plausible justifications as they did in the wake of the events on August 2, 1990.

The visit to Iraq by the Venezuelan President, Hugo Chavez, was described in Iraqi circles as "a slap in the face to American policy." The United States has always rebuked any step towards lifting the sanctions off Iraq's back and called for isolating the Iraqi regime, in implementation of the "double containment" principle that has driven American foreign policy over the past years. It is true that the Venezuelan President's visit was of a practical nature. It was made within the context of preparations for the OPEC summit, which will be convened for the first time in 25 years of OPEC's 40 years. The U.S. Department of State has severely criticized President Chavez' visit with undertones of threats and warnings. These have been like stones that send ripples across the surface of the lake of the Iraqi crisis, which has been stagnant for the past decade.

Facing American patronage:
Chavez' statements and rational responses to the American campaign of criticism echoed an entreaty to developing countries to release the shackles of American patronage and hegemony and go against the American will that so many countries have succumbed to. He said, "I am amazed at the United States' objection to my visit to Iraq at the time when Kuwait did not object to the visit. We have our dignity, and we are a sovereign country that makes the decision to serve our interests. We resent and denounce interference in our domestic affairs. We do not accept it, and we reject it. We are using our right, so why are they [the Americans] angry? Small, poor and backward countries have no option but the option of unity." They are strong words from a democratically elected president of a country dependent on the United States and part of "America's backyard."

In the press conference held by the Venezuelan President and the Iraqi President, a message was sent to developing countries that it was high time for them to rid themselves of their unjustified American patronage. Indonesia's President, Abdul Rahman Wahid, has already announced his intention to visit Iraq, which will make him the second head of state to take this step. The United States will immediately oppose it, just as it did with Chavez' visit. However, the visit of the Venezuelan head of state has caused a great crack in the wall of the international blockade that was built around Iraq ten years ago. The credibility of the sanctions is starting to erode under the onslaught of denunciation by many voices in NGOs, civil communities, popular movements, parliamentary associations, and even governments. The examples are many, including the Caravan of Mary, visits by Arab trade union delegations to Baghdad and the visit to Iraq by a high-level Russian delegation on a Russian aircraft. This affirms that the solidity of sanctions is an American-British desire, not shared by the vast majority of the international community. However, the anti-sanction stand has not manifested into action.

The impact of the sanctions:
This international conviction that the sanctions cannot remain in place forever has come as a result of the losses sustained by the Iraqi economy - about $240 billion - and the deaths caused by the international blockade - totaling some 1.5 million people, most of whom are children and the elderly. Economic sources in Iraq say that Baghdad will need $30 billion to repair the Iraqi economy if the economic sanctions are to be lifted. Sanctions have led to an acute shortage of medical supplies and food, not to mention major sectors of the Iraqi economy that are on the brink of collapse, such as water, electricity, roads, sanitary drainage, and energy. There are also many installations that lie in disrepair after being destroyed by successive American and British air attacks. They have stood in ruins since 1990. The whole population living on the country's massive area of 400,000 km square has only 12 trains at their disposal. Iraqi statistics say that about 19% of Iraq's population has fled the country to Jordan, Britain, the United States, Yemen, Sudan and Libya. They also say that the average, monthly pay for professionals in Iraq now ranges between $2 to $10 per month. Many doctors and engineers work as drivers or peddlers!

The international blockade is crumbling:
The experience of the ten years that have passed since the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait has generally proved that the United States has failed to topple Saddam Hussein's regime, to the extent that official American sources were quoted as saying, "Saddam Hussein continues to annoy and make fun of us, but he is on the defensive and has been contained to a great extent. This may not be a good policy, but does anybody know a better one? We have prevented him from threatening his neighbors, and we are continuing the pressure in the hope that someday someone will be able to topple his regime, but there is nothing we can do to bring that day closer."

What has aggravated the American failure is the state of fragmentation and collapse that has afflicted the international coalition (created by former U.S. President George Bush) in the aftermath of French and Russian objections to the British and American way of keeping the sanctions in place, and their carrying out periodic air-strikes. The French Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hubert Vidrine, said on the tenth anniversary of the Gulf War, that the sanctions on Iraq had become serious, dangerous, and ineffective. He added, "The continuous implementation of sanctions has become a danger to Iraq's social cohesion, and therefore represents a threat to regional stability," indicating that the sanctions had become cruel because they punished only "the Iraqi people and its weakest classes."

Thus, the major players on the international arena have realized that a decade of sanctions has left a negative impact on the Iraqi people and reinforced the ruling regime in Baghdad instead of weakening it. The paradox here lies in the fact that sanctions have made it easier for Saddam Hussein to control the flow of food and money into Iraq under the "oil-for-food program." The Iraqi people now live in a vicious circle of hopelessness, as it has fallen between the hammer of the ruling regime and the anvil of years of unfair sanctions. The visit to Baghdad by the Venezuelan President and the announcement of the Indonesian President's intended visit to Iraq represents the strongest international reaction to the continuation of the sanctions against Iraq so far.

Chavez's visit, opposed by the United States and Britain, has come as an affirmation to the developing world that it can take a stand and make decisions that serve its own interests, regardless of the American stand, and without waiting for permission from the White House