1st Response Post

Sofiya Bobrovnikova

HIS 336

Dr.Kieran

30 August 2018

“... the goal of stoking popular discontent and bringing about Saddam’s fall perversely had the opposite effect.” (The Wars’ Entangled Roots p.38)

This quote describes the failure of the UN economic sanctions in Iraq that, instead of aiding, worked against US goals and intentions. While the aim was to weaken the rule of Saddam Hussein, these miscalculations and false assumptions had, instead, caused most damage to the classes of Iraqis who were most receptive to the US and made the people more dependent on Saddam for the resources and goods that were no longer available to them (Reynolds, 38). Additionally, US reputation and support also suffered, as “the imposition of sanctions caused observers to shift attention to suffering under the sanctions regime” (Reynolds, 38). This can be seen as one of several US actions that not only failed to achieve their goal but worsen the situation as well, demonstrating the severe lack of awareness of the region and their own actions. Even after new concerns over Iraq and Saddam appeared and worsened following the Gulf War, President Bush went on to claim that the US “commitment to peace in the Middle East does not end with the liberation of Kuwait”, going on to outline the increased involvement that the US will have in the region (Bush Address Before a Joint Session of the Congress). This again shows the lack of perspective held by US leadership, as American forces are tasked with maintaining regional security and their own assertion of values in Iraq and its neighboring states. The US failed to see the tension that their military presence and application of economic sanctions created among their middle-eastern allies. For instance, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey all felt extremely uneasy, and even threatened, by the disorder that US involvement was causing and their increasing presence in regional conflicts (Reynolds, 39). Along with this, the foreign policy actions towards Iraq during this time had also caused the US to lose support from nearly all UN Security Council Members after it was seen that the sanctions denied Iraqis “even the most basic needs to sustain human life” (Invisible War, 23). When these sanctions proved to be ineffective, provisions, such as the “oil for food” arrangement, were crafted in order to provide some relief to the Iraqis. With this failure rose a debate over whether Saddam should instead be removed by force (Iraq Papers, 26-27). While the the US did not pursue this course, the suggestion to do so further displays the immediate inclination to look to solve issues with increasing action and force.