Invisible War: The United States and the Iraq Sanctions

The economic sanctions imposed on Iraq from 1990 to 2003 were the most comprehensive and devastating of any other sanctions imposed in the name of international governance; these sanctions, coupled with a military campaign against Iraq in 1991 that ended with its invasion in 2003, led to the collapse of Iraq’s infrastructure and the various basic elements necessary to sustain life in Iraq.

This book examines, in clear condemnation of American policy, the key role played by the United States in formulating those sanctions on Iraq, which resulted in strict restrictions on Iraqi imports, even for the most basic commodities, from water pipes to laundry detergents to children’s vaccines, under the pretext of “the dual use” of these goods and the potential for Iraq to use them to manufacture “weapons of mass destruction”.

The book explains in detail, based on thousands of UN documents, the internal access made available to the author at <http://www.invisiblewar.net>, the minutes of closed meetings, as well as interviews with US and foreign diplomats, how the United States not only prevented vital humanitarian goods from reaching Iraq, but unilaterally undermined any attempts at reform by bypassing UN weapons inspectors and manipulating votes in the Security Council to continue the aggression against Iraq, which ended in the destruction of all its components. Institutional, economic, social, military and civilian alike.