Hi, Harry, The 'sanctions' are a fancy word for blockade. Blockades are illegal unless a state of war exists, and even then fall under a set of rules that specify what is permissible and what is not. The US has not been at war with Iraq, and thus a blockade itself is illegal. If there is any doubt about this, the justifications for it given by the countries that sought to impose sanctions specified that it was to create conditions within Iraq that would lead the people to rise against Saddam Hussein. This is in itself an illegal strategy: a civilian population cannot be made to suffer by external countries for the sins of its leadership; they cannot be held hostage under the many rules, including the Fourth Geneva Convention.
You are right to put the word 'illegal' in parentheses when you refer to the operation of Iraq's oil pipelines, for the blockade itself is of dubious legality. Yes, blowing it up was a silly thing to do, but a minor silliness compared to the greater one.... Cheers, Lawry > -----Original Message----- > From: Harry Pollard [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Fri, May 30, 2003 12:18 PM > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: RE: [Futurework] More American troops to Iraq > > > Lawry, > > At the beginning of the war with Iran, Syria closed the pipeline > - because > Iran asked them to. It was never officially reopened. > > However, it was thought that Iraq was sending oil through the once closed > pipeline that was not part of the sanctions count - thus > "illegal" in quotes. > > Whether, or not, it was recently blown up is beside the point, though it > seems a silly thing to do - but then . . . . . > > Harry > > -------------------------------------------------------- > > Lawrence wrote: > > >There was no 'illegal' pipeline between Syria (and the Med) and > Iraq. The US > >forces (or their agents) recently blew it up, otherwise it would be > >operating. > > > **************************************************** > Harry Pollard > Henry George School of Social Science of Los Angeles > Box 655 Tujunga CA 91042 > Tel: (818) 352-4141 -- Fax: (818) 353-2242 > http://home.attbi.com/~haledward > **************************************************** > > _______________________________________________ Futurework mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://scribe.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework
