20 Years of Oppression

by Dror Baron

Roughly two weeks ago, bright orange posters on campus condemned the UN-imposed economic sanctions against Iraq as U.S.-sponsored genocide. Genocide. Hitler committed genocide against the Jews, and the Ottomans did the same to the Armenians, but in both instances the aggressors had total control of their victims - political, military, and otherwise. Is the United States perhaps carrying out the first of what may be called "long-distance" genocide? I believe it is not; indeed it cannot, for only one man has enough power and satanic qualities to cause so much pain and suffering: his name is Saddam Hussein.

While thousands of Iraqi children are dying across Iraq, Saddam's elite forces - his Special Republican Guards - are well-armed and fed; their special treatment is a necessary condition to keep Saddam in charge. His regime has outlawed all political opposition, and regularly executes potential threats. Saddam's iron grip over his people knows no limits. He has even engaged in a brutal campaign of eco-terrorism against the Ma'dan (the "Marsh Arabs," an Iraqi minority which has traditionally enjoyed relative autonomy) in southern Iraq. The Iraqi National Congress, a dissident group, notes that dumping "toxic chemicals and poisons into the marshes to kill the fish which are the main part of their diet, and dropping napalm to burn large areas of vegetation" are among Saddam's tactics.

Convincing evidence that Saddam's regime truly thrives on the suffering of the masses was provided when Abbas al-Janabi, a close aid to Saddam's son Uday Hussein for 15 years, defected last year. In an interview to the al Hayat newspaper, Janabi describes Uday as a brutal, violent monster who imprisons and tortures people on mere impulse. To Uday, Janabi explains, "Iraq is a milking cow. He lives in it in a very privileged way and takes anything he wants from it at any time. Like his father, he thinks Iraqis are not more than slaves."

While UNICEF paints a poor, starving, and diseased picture of Iraq beneath sanctions, Janabi is quick to point out that this hellish description does not apply to the ruling elite. The sanctions, Janabi asserts, have greatly benefited Uday and it is in his interest for the embargo to continue. Janabi explains that Uday controls an extensive network that smuggles oil out of Iraq and smuggles whisky, tobacco, and other luxury goods (such as fast European cars) into Iraq. The oil-smuggling activities are the most profitable, and, Janabi estimates, earns Uday earns hundreds of millions of dollars annually.

Iraq's is a story of a country governed by gangsters. Uday's illegal business ventures show how easy it has been for Saddam's regime to undermine the U.N. economic sanctions, an endeavor whose sole purpose is one of fattening the elitists' wallets. Saddam, Uday, and their cohorts only show concern for the starving children to the extent that it portrays Iraq as the nation bullied by the "Great Satan." Uday's smuggling networks have flooded Iraq's elite with American dollars and luxury goods, while completely ignoring the severe shortages of medicine and hospital supplies. One assumes that smuggling medicine or grain into Iraq would not pose a greater challenge than smuggling, say, cars or gold watches. Why, then, has Saddam never taken the initiative to help his subjects, even if it means disregarding a U.N. embargo? The answer is that just as Saddam thrived on a generation of Iraqi blood spilled during the Iran-Iraq war and again during the Gulf War, he now thrives on the starving and diseased helpless. In his twisted mind, he is fighting a war against the United States and the West where the children are ammo.

Easing the sanctions won't make much of a difference for the average Iraqi; as history shows, Saddam needs total control in his Republic of Fear. Certainly, he won't let the United Nations provide his people with food and medicine, lest it wins their hearts and minds and weaken his control of their suffering. Such was the case when the United Arab Emirates recently granted humanitarian aid to Iraq: upon their arrival, Uday Hussein usurped control of the shipments and stored them in his warehouses. According to Abbas al-Janabi, Uday would "only distribute a small portion of it, always in front of the press." Uday would later sell the rest for large profit.

The severe human toll which the sanctions have taken on the Iraqi masses is regrettable, but the blame for this suffering must only be put on Saddam. A Nasser-wanna-be who also claims to be the modern-day version of Nebuchadnezzar (Babylonian leader who destroyed Jerusalem in 587 B.C.), Saddam has imposed his obsession with war on the Iraqi people for nearly two decades. The time has come to stop this cowardly thug. Anything short of an overwhelming American military action against his regime would be too little, too late. MR

This article was published in the 18 November 1998 edition of The Michigan Review (Volume 17, Number 4).
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