Interview with Joy Gordon, Fairfield University philosophy professor, conducted by Between the Lines' Melinda Tuhus
U.N. Ends Sanctions on Iraq, Giving U.S./U.K. Open-Ended Occupation Authority
Interview with Joy Gordon, Fairfield University philosophy professor, conducted by Melinda Tuhus
After Saddam Hussein's 1990 invasion of Kuwait, the United Nations, led by the U.S. and Britain, imposed comprehensive economic sanctions against Iraq which devastated the nation's economy and infrastructure. Thirteen years of sanctions, which made it difficult for Baghdad to purchase medicines, fertilizer and other materials basic for health care, agriculture and sanitation, were -- by the U.N.'s own estimates -- responsible for the deaths of more than half a million Iraqi children.
But following the American-led war that overthrew the government of Saddam Hussein, the U.S., now the occupying power in Iraq, prevailed on the U.N. Security Council to end the sanctions on May 22. This occurs as the U.S. occupation of Iraq continues to confront lawlessness, slow restoration of basic services and seething anger over the delay in establishing an interim government.
Between The Lines' Melinda Tuhus spoke with Joy Gordon, professor of philosophy at Fairfield University and author of "Cool War: Economic Sanctions as Weapons of Mass Destruction," a widely circulated article published in Harper's Magazine. She discusses how the U.S. used the sanctions to cripple Iraq, and the respective roles the U.S. and U.N. will now have in establishing a new government in Baghdad and rebuilding the wartorn nation.
Joy Gordon's article, "Cool War: Economic Sanctions as Weapons of Mass Destruction," appeared in the November 2002 edition of Harper's Magazine and can be read online at
www.harpers.org
Gordon is author of the book, "A Peaceful, Silent, Deadly Remedy: The Ethics of Economic Sanctions," forthcoming from Harvard University Press.
Related links
* "The U.N. Has Capitulated," by Tariq Ali, The Guardian, May 24, 2003
* "Don't Lift the Sanctions Yet!" by Rahul Mahajan, CommonDreams.org, May 9, 2003
LISTEN to this week's half-hour program of Between The Lines by clicking on one of the links below:
66.175.55.251/btl060603.html
*
For an email subscription of "Between The Lines Weekly Summary" which features a RealAudio link to the week's program for Between The Lines, send an email to
btlsummary-subscribe-AT-lists.riseup.net
*
For an email subscription of "Between The Lines Q&A" which features a RealAudio link and weekly transcript to one of the interviews featured on Between The Lines, send an email to
btlqa-subscribe-AT-lists.riseup.net
*
"Between the Lines," WPKN 89.5 FM's weekly radio news magazine can be heard Tuesdays at 5:30 p.m. ET; Wednesdays at 8 a.m. ET and Saturdays at 2 p.m. ET (Wednesday's show airs at 7:30 a.m. ET during fundraising months of April and October).
*
betweenthelines-AT-snet.net
*
©2003 Between The Lines. All Rights Reserved.
**