We share blame in Iraqis' suffering

AS HARD as he may try, Foreign Minister Lloyd Axworthy cannot pass himself
off as an angel of mercy for the people of Iraq, who have been dying a slow
death under the decade-long economic sanctions he wholeheartedly supports.

He is portraying a new United Nations initiative as an innovative compromise
between the twin goals of ending the suffering of ordinary Iraqis and
controlling Saddam Hussein's nuclear, chemical and biological weapons. It is
not. It merely repackages a rotten America-led policy.

A new Security Council resolution, for which Axworthy takes some credit,
promises to ease sanctions in return for the resumption of international
inspections of Saddam's arsenal, and lift them upon the destruction of the
weapons.

This is the same rut we have been in since the Gulf War, give or take a few
nuances.

By tying humanitarian relief to military goals, we will continue to hold
millions of innocent Iraqis hostage to Saddam's non-compliance.

For he will continue to cheat. The new U.N. inspection team will not be able
to confirm that the last vial of his chemical and biological poison has been
destroyed. America will pronounce itself not fully satisfied. Iraqi
civilians will continue to die.

The only difference will be that America and its chief apologists - British
Prime Minister Tony Blair, and now Axworthy - can pretend that they, too,
like the rest of the world, and an increasing number of Americans and
Canadians, care for the plight of the Iraqis.

Axworthy and company are shedding crocodile tears.

They have been full partners in what 48 members of the U.S. Congress have
just decried, in a letter to President Bill Clinton, as ``the most
comprehensive economic embargo imposed in modern history.''

Thousands of Canadians and about half a million Americans have signed
petitions against this morally bankrupt policy that has reduced a highly
developed society to ruins; left millions destitute; killed hundreds of
thousands of malnourished people, especially children; and deprived a whole
nation of the most basic necessities, from milk to clean water to
antibiotics.

It is a policy that has also failed in its declared aims:
 

Cleanse Iraq of weapons of mass destruction that supposedly endanger
Saddam's neighbours but have, in fact, been used only on his own people.
Topple him. Rather than weakening him, sanctions have strengthened his
stranglehold on Iraqis more preoccupied with survival.
Yet Security Council Resolution 1284 is offering more of the same, despite
claims to the contrary.

Axworthy says it ``provides for the immediate and unconditional refinement
of the sanctions regime, by allowing for an expansion of the number and
types of products Iraq can import. The cap on Iraqi oil production has also
been lifted.''

Such soothing noises date back to the very first embargo resolution right
after the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait - Number 661, dated Aug. 6, 1990. It
exempted ``payments exclusively for strictly medical or humanitarian
purposes and . . . foodstuffs.''

That turned out to be ``a matter of political packaging rather than
humanitarian intent,'' in the words of Ulrich Gottstein of Germany, European
vice-president of the Nobel Peace Prize-winning group, International
Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear and all War.

The exemption did not alleviate Iraqi suffering. That prompted another
resolution - No. 706, Aug. 15, 1991 - permitting the once-only sale of $1.6
billion (U.S.) of Iraqi oil for purchases of food and medicine. The money
went into an escrow account, with United Nations expenses and compensation
to Kuwait getting first dibs, and the leftovers, in that case only $500
million, going for its announced purpose - a pattern that was to be repeated
in later years.

When that measure proved inadequate in stanching the bleeding of the Iraqi
nation or stemming the tide of worldwide anger, the Council came up with the
oil-for-food program - Resolution No. 986, passed in December , 1996. It
allowed for the sale of $2 billion worth of oil every six months. Gottstein:
``Only 35 per cent could be used to buy food and medicines for a population
of about 18 million, about $6 per person per month.''

That necessitated another gesture - Resolution No. 1153, dated June 3, 1998
- increasing oil sales to $5.25 billion every six months. But by this time,
Iraqi infrastructure was so dilapidated it could pump only $3.3 billion
worth.

Lifting the cap on oil sales now is not likely to bring any quick relief to
the suffering millions, notwithstanding Axworthy's soothing noises.

Also, his claim that ``full compliance by the Iraqi regime would trigger an
automatic lifting of sanctions'' is not new either. A similar promise was
made right after the Gulf War - Resolution 687, dated April 3, 1991. It said
that once ``Iraq has completed all actions contemplated . . . the
prohibition against import of commodities and products originating in Iraq
and the prohibitions against financial transactions related thereto . . .
shall have no further force or effect.''

Meanwhile, Axworthy has remained, by and large, silent on the ongoing
bombing of Iraq since December, 1998 in retaliation for minor Iraqi
violations of the two no-fly zones set up after the Gulf War. American and
British planes have flown more than 15,000 sorties, killing an indeterminate
number of civilians along the way.

As evil as Saddam is, we cannot go on pretending that it is he alone who is
inflicting misery and death on his people.
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Haroon Siddiqui is The Star's editorial page editor emeritus. His column
appears Sundays and Thursdays. His e-mail address is hsiddiq@thestar.ca