West Asia At War: Repression, Resistance and Great Power Games

by Talmiz Ahmad

In implementing this, the conduct of the hegemon was extraordinarily vicious and cruel. The life of ordinary Iraqis was made exceptionally miserable through comprehensive sanctions in order to provoke a national uprising against Saddam Hussein or, failing that, a coup d’état to obtain regime change. In fact, it had the opposite effect: most Iraqis blamed the West, led by America, for their acute distress. The UNSC, under US influence, denied Iraqis basic foodstuffs and medication, as also materials to ensure clean water and electricity. Over 1.5 million Iraqis lost their lives as a direct result of these sanctions; this number included half a million children.53 These figures have a rather poignant aftermath: in a CBS TV interview in May 1996, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright was asked if the death of half a million Iraqi children as a result of sanctions was a ‘price worth paying’; she answered, ‘It is a difficult question. But, yes, we think the price is worth it.’