The following is an archived copy of a message sent to a Discussion List run by the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq.
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Here's how Noam Chomsky addressed this point in a recent interview: Question: Some advocates of war have suggested that if the economic sanctions on Iraq are as horrible as the left claims, then a war, even a war that killed 100,000 civilians, would be a humanitarian blessing, since, presumably, after a U.S. victory there would be no more sanctions. How do you answer this argument? Noam Chomsky: I've heard some zany arguments in the past, but this must break some new records. I suspect it was offered tongue in cheek. Note first the conception of "the left": the UN's humanitarian coordinators (Denis Halliday, Hans van Sponeck) who know more about the country than anyone else, UNICEF, etc. It's a bit like saying that the left is concerned about global warming -- and tells us something about where those who question "the claim" place themselves on the political spectrum. But that aside, the argument does have appeal. For example, we could offer Iran assistance in conquering Israel and carrying out appropriate "regime change," so that suicide bombings would stop. Since the war advocates doubtless regard suicide bombing as atrocious, they should be calling for that. Or, we could help Russia grind Chechnya to dust, so that Chechens would no longer have to suffer Russian terror and atrocities. The possibilities are endless. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Andrew Goreing" <amg@newnham.org> To: <casi-discuss@lists.casi.org.uk> Sent: Saturday, February 01, 2003 1:56 AM Subject: Re: [casi] No war no solution > I'm sorry to have seen no reflections yet on Abdulkarim Salih's message of > 30 Jan, though as he raised a serious and very bitter point for opponents of > the sanctions, people may well need some time to think how best to respond. > Or some may feel the issue has been gone over before, though I'm afraid I > don't recall it (there was a paragraph from Peter Brooke in his message of 6 > October 2002). > > > any body on this list knows horror of sanctins in my > > country. this will continue to happen if there is no action- so all these > > nice people against wars actually support many deaths due to sanctions and > > due to Saddam. and they say we are against sanctions also. and then what did > > you do. post messages to this list for 10 years? > > Anyone want to plead guilty to this? Or does anyone want to sum up the > positive achievements of the anti-sanctions campaign? Unfortunately the > achievements don't include any serious impact on US/UK policy -- or is this > a question of judgement? > > > No body has done anything to help end iraq suffering for 10 years. so when > > america wants to end it- and i know it doesnt do it out of liking for us... > > some american action is only way to end sanctions on iraq. > > It would no doubt be a tragic and disgusting spectacle if the chief authors > and perpetrators of the sanctions regime proceed to liberate Iraq at the > cost of thousands of Iraqi lives, congratulating themselves all the time for > their wisdom and resolve. > > And yet -- might a war, if it ends the sanctions, be better for the Iraqi > population than the continuation of the sanctions for 2 more years? Five > more years? Ten more? Even if one expects the sanctions regime to become > more porous in practice, and even if the nutritional and medical status of > the people recovers, the blockade suffocates so much in national and > personal life that the thought of it going on indefinitely is deeply > distressing. > > I have no wish to even think about making judgements of this kind, but at > some level it has to be faced. Any comments? > > Andrew Goreing > > > _______________________________________________ > Sent via the discussion list of the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq. > To unsubscribe, visit http://lists.casi.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/casi-discuss > To contact the list manager, email casi-discuss-admin@lists.casi.org.uk > All postings are archived on CASI's website: http://www.casi.org.uk > _______________________________________________ Sent via the discussion list of the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq. To unsubscribe, visit http://lists.casi.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/casi-discuss To contact the list manager, email casi-discuss-admin@lists.casi.org.uk All postings are archived on CASI's website: http://www.casi.org.uk