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Re: A Note on Strategy



SANCTIONS-KUWAITI-605@newsroom.co.uk wrote:

> With respect, the Arab League and G.C.C. have clearly urged Iraq to comply with U.N. Resolutions 
>regarding the Kuwait 605 hostages [499] and PoWs [106] so why do you omit this subject matter when 
>mentioning Arab states ?

I omitted mentioning it, I suppose, because it didn't seem relevant to my point, which was that the 
political interests of several Arab States in the region are not dissimilar from the basic 
containment strategy pursued by the U.S. and Britain. Therefore, I doubted whether they could be 
counted upon as a crucial linkage in the anti-sanctions movement as Peter suggested.

The issue you raise has more to do with determining Iraq's compliance as a basis for removing 
sanctions. I suspect if Iraq were presented with a straightforward equation - release the hostages 
and POWs and sanctions will be lifted - they would all be home by now. The same is true of the 
other criteria for compliance. If these were clear and straightforward, sanctions would
already have been lifted.

They are not simple, clear, or straightforward, because sanctions on Iraq have become The Policy, 
not an instrument of policy.
Compliance is largely a shell game betweem the UN and Iraq while Iraqis themselves suffer the 
consequences. That said, I do look forward to any response Eric might receive regarding his letter 
to the FCO. I will happily be proven wrong on this, if any of the states concerned can provide 
clear, achieveable compliance criteria so that we can achieve a speedy end to this
debacle.

I do want to see the POWs and Hostages returned, not just to Kuwait, but also to Iran. I also want 
to see Abu Ghraib and other prisons opened, and the dissidents set free, I want to see the Kurds 
compensated for genocide, the Marsh Arabs compensated for their forced depopulation and 
environmental destruction, and the whole Baath Party mob brought before an international
tribunal. I just don't want the Iraq people to continue being hostages themselves until these goals 
are achieved.

Regards

Ben Rempel
 


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