> Foreign Affairs - May/June 1999
>
> Sanctions of mass destruction
> John Mueller; Karl Mueller
>
> THREAT ASSESSMENT
.
Moreover, the Pentagon's Gulf War target planners explained quite clearly
what their goal was. They said that most civilian destruction in Iraq was
deliberate - not accidental - and that it was done in the hope that they
could use the UN sanctions as leverage after the war. They could prevent
Iraq from rebuilding its civilian infrastructure until it capitulated to all
U.S. political demands. The most important element was the destruction of
Iraq's water treatment systems, which was also deliberate and documented in
chilling detail in now-declassified January 1991 Defense Intelligence Agency
documents. Accordingly, today a big part of Iraq's surging mortality rates
come from water-bore illnesses like cholera.
Nevertheless, most people prefer to believe that this is Iraq's fault. I guess it's comoforting to believe this.
Seth Seth