Quote:
Originally posted by Skunk:
quote:
Skunk, you are simply unlearned on this issue. The several American vessels patrolling the Iraqi waters catch:
1. Outbound illegal (i.e. against the oil-for-food program) oil, and
2. Inbound weapons
All the time!! Every few days!!
If they are starving, why's that petty despot sending perfectly good oil out for something other than food and against UN Sanctions????
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Do you work for no money? Why do you expect the Iraqi sewage workers, Garbage workers etc to work for no cash? Iraq HAS sell oil outside the sanctions or the entire system will collapse - more civilians will die from sickness and disease if you don't pay these guys (for example).
Inbound weapons - well, do the police in your area have no guns at their disposal? What about the army? So why not Iraq?[/QUOTE]Why not Iraq? Because Saddam invades his neighbors and has no qualms about using chemical/biological weapons in addition to conventional means. After the invasion of Kuwait, and his subsequent defeat, he was refused the right to purchase such items. His continued desire to purchase weapons is what starves his people and their economy.
If Saddam insists on spending his money on illegal items, maybe he should focus on pumps, the supplies for salinization, and the other items you mention as being necessary. He has been quite effective at smuggling, so why doesn't he do that? Because he doesn't want to. He prefers weapons.
Even if you think the conventional weapons are ok, wouldn't it be better if he spent that money on food? You don't need an police force or army to protect a population that died from starvation.
Besides, Iraq isn't without the ability to protect itself. The purpose of leaving Saddam and part of the Iraqi army intact after the Gulf War was to avoid creating a power vacuum in the Middle East by leaving Iraq with enough of a military to protect itself from it's neighbors. At the height of his military power Saddam couldn't withstand the coalition, and since he's not being threatened by his neighbors, what exactly is the purpose of trying for a military build up over the past decade? It isn't what's needed by his country, but it is what he wants.
Skunk, Saddam holds his people hostage, so good hearted people like you will say life the sanctions. He doesn't care if they live or die, or he would spend what he could to feed them. If he'd co-operated after the Gulf War, the sanctions would have already been lifted.
5 extra rations of food for his people to prepare for a possible invasion? Sounds like he's sitting on some supplies, but only feels the need to give it to the civilian population when he hopes they'll fight an urban war for him.
If the sanctions were lifted today, what makes anyone think his focus on spending would change?
[ 01-22-2003, 02:21 PM: Message edited by: Ronn_Bman ]