July, 2001

Intelligent Sanctions

Abu Bakr Al-Dessouqi

The Security Council has started to review the US-French proposal of 'intelligent sanctions' with the aim of alleviating civil sanctions and intensifying military sanctions imposed against Iraq. However, Security Council members have not reached a pertinent decision. Permanent members had agreed at the outset of June to extend the oil-for-food programme for another month during which negotiations were to go on to reach a unanimous resolution.

Since the end of the Gulf War, Iraq has been subject to a number of sanctions, chief of which was Resolution 661, imposing a trade boycott against it, and Resolution 687, which called on Iraq to unconditionally destroy all its unconventional weapons as well as its long- and medium-range missiles. This was followed by Resolution 986, known as the 'oil-for-food resolution', which allowed Iraq to sell oil worth $2 billion in return for food and medical supplies. Finally, Resolution 1284 was issued, suspending sanctions against Iraq on the condition that it agrees to cooperate with the UN inspection teams.
The intelligent-sanctions resolution proposed by the United States and France attempts to re-impose sanctions against Iraq in a way that alleviates the suffering of the Iraqi people by allowing the flow of civil and consumption products, except for products of a dual use, which could be used for civil and military purposes. The project also implies the full control of the UN Iraqi funds in order to prevent Iraq from successful re-armament, as well as a number of proposals to tighten supervision of territorial and marine boundaries with the aim of abolishing smuggling.

The United States proposed the project, realising that the current system of sanctions is no longer valid given the increasing promotion of regional cooperation with Iraq. International reactions differed; whereas the United States and Britain advocated the proposal, China and Russia articulated their objection to the intelligent sanctions, pointing out that this proposal intensifies the sanctions, rather than alleviating human suffering.
France, however, adopted a mid-way policy, though its proposal was nothing more than a change in form, and in not content. While regional positions vary, in general, they are against the application of the intelligent-sanctions proposal. Iraq, for its part, rejected the sanctions project, stopped its export of oil in the framework of the oil-for-food formula and called for the complete lifting of the sanctions, pointing out that it had met all its commitments to the UN.
The United States is expected to pass the project with either the approval or the abstention of Russia and China. It is possible though that Russia and China impede the project for the longest period possible by means of veto. The United States might succeed in marketing the project on the international level, but still fail to apply it regionally, as the regional atmosphere is not prepared for the acceptance of any other sanctions in the light of the move towards the promotion of cooperation with Iraq.