![]() This ban included healthcare equipment and medications, which translated into immeasurable suffering for common Iraqis, but placed no immediate pressure on Hussein’s regime. Not only was Iraq barred from exporting oil (its main income source) on the world market for several years, but it was also prevented from importing products from abroad. The sanctions, implemented in August 1990 by the UN Security Council Resolution 661, included a total financial and trade embargo. Despite crippling sanctions, the president managed to build 80 to 100 luxury palaces during his tenure.īy 2003, it is estimated that nearly 1.5 million Iraqis, primarily children, had died as a direct consequence of sanctions.Īnd this devastating toll was hardly surprising, or unexpected. As poor Iraqis struggled to put food on their tables, President Hussein and his inner circle maintained their lavish lifestyles. The sanctions pushed the already struggling masses into deeper poverty, but only marginally affected the rich, widening the wealth gap in the country. ![]() Indeed, the US imposed sanctions on Iraq to punish Saddam Hussein’s regime, but it was innocent civilians, not the regime officials who suffered. When I visited Iraq, to my shock I saw even the most basic products – like milk – could not be found in local markets. It was almost impossible to maintain contact with family members and friends in the country, as telephone services remained very limited. She demonstrated, with no room left for any doubt, that she had no humanity – that she cannot and shall never be described as “a force for goodness, grace, and decency”. With this response, Albright showed that she sees innocent Iraqi children as nothing more than disposable fodder in a conflict between the US administration and the Iraqi leadership. “I think that is a very hard choice,” Albright answered, “but the price, we think, the price is worth it.” I mean, that is more children than died in Hiroshima,” asked Stahl, “And, you know, is the price worth it?” “We have heard that half a million children have died. In that now-iconic interview, veteran journalist Lesley Stahl questioned Albright – then the US ambassador to the United Nations – on the catastrophic effect the rigorous US sanctions imposed after Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait had on the Iraqi population. The most prominent memory of Albright that I have in my mind is from an interview she gave to CBS 60 Minutes in 1996. ![]() As we remember Albright’s life and achievements, we must also remember those innocent Iraqi lives lost because of her policy decisions. Millions of innocent Iraqis suffered terribly and hundreds of thousands died because of the sanctions which, in the end, achieved almost none of Washington’s policy objectives. President Joe Biden, meanwhile, proclaimed she “was always a force for goodness, grace, and decency – and for freedom”.įor me as an Iraqi, however, the memory of Albright will forever be tainted by the stringent sanctions she helped place on my country at a time when it was already devastated by years of war. Former President Bill Clinton, under whom Albright served as America’s top diplomat, referred to her as “a passionate force for freedom, democracy, and human rights”. ![]() Countless statements have been released, by governments, institutions and public figures, celebrating the “trailblazing” politician for being the first woman to hold the office of Secretary of State and for receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Western media responded to the news of her death with a plethora of obituaries eulogising her achievements. ![]() The passing of former United States Secretary of State Madeleine Albright on Wednesday has been no exception. Often, after the demise of political figures, their troubling histories are whitewashed in the name of respecting their memories and the feelings of their families. ![]()
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