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<b>Today, in Iraq, the stakes are high . . . a world dominated by representative governments with civil rights, human rights, and personal freedoms . . . or a world dominated by the radical Islamic Wahhabi movement, by the Jihadist under the Mullahs and the Sharia</b>. The Liberal mentality is supposed to favor human rights, civil rights, democracy, multiculturalism, diversity, etc. But if the Jihad wins, wherever the Jihad wins, it is the end of civil rights, human rights, democracy, multiculturalism, diversity, etc. Americans who oppose the liberation of Iraq are coming down on the side of their own worst enemy. If the Jihad wins, it will be the death of Liberalism. (end of quote)

<b>Today, in Iraq, the stakes are high . . . a world dominated by representative governments with civil rights, human rights, and personal freedoms . . . or a world dominated by the radical Islamic Wahhabi movement, by the Jihadist under the Mullahs and the Sharia</b>. The Liberal mentality is supposed to favor human rights, civil rights, democracy, multiculturalism, diversity, etc. But if the Jihad wins, wherever the Jihad wins, it is the end of civil rights, human rights, democracy, multiculturalism, diversity, etc. Americans who oppose the liberation of Iraq are coming down on the side of their own worst enemy. If the Jihad wins, it will be the death of Liberalism. (end of quote)

Former U.S. Attorney General in the [[Johnson Administration]], [[Ramsey Clark]], wrote the UN Security Council on July 29, 2002 claiming UN sanctions, "are the direct cause of the very cruel deaths of more than a million people" <ref>[http://www.radioislam.org/bush/act.htm Letter from Ramsey Clark to the U.N. Security Council members], 29 July 2002.</ref> [[Osama bin Laden]] cited this same figure in his 1998 Declaration of War Against the United States.<ref>http://www.pbs.org/newshour/terrorism/international/fatwa_1998.html</ref>  It is a matter of public record that the sanctions specifically exempted food and medicine; that they applied only to weaponry; that Iraq had far more humanitarian supplies available to it under the Oil For Food program (first offered to Iraq in 1992) than it would have had over the same period based on the trends that existed before the Gulf War; and that excess deaths did not occur in the North of Iraq, where the US and UN administered the same program under the same sanctions regime, but only in those parts of Iraq were Saddam was charged with rationing the humanitarian supplies.<ref>http://www.fas.org/news/iraq/1999/09/iraq99.htm  

Former U.S. Attorney General in the [[Johnson Administration]], [[Ramsey Clark]], wrote the UN Security Council on July 29, 2002 claiming UN sanctions, "are the direct cause of the very cruel deaths of more than a million people" <ref>[http://www.radioislam.org/bush/act.htm Letter from Ramsey Clark to the U.N. Security Council members], 29 July 2002.</ref> [[Osama bin Laden]] cited this same figure in his 1998 Declaration of War Against the United States.<ref>http://www.pbs.org/newshour/terrorism/international/fatwa_1998.html</ref>  However:

</ref>  A study by Michael Rubin in the ''Middle East Review of International Affairs'' disputed the idea that the disparity between north and south was caused by anything other than Iraqi government policy. It argued that South and Central Iraq had the means to purchase an amount of supplies equivalent to the amount of money the North received per capita, but that Baghdad simply refused to order them in sufficient quantities. It further noted that the North suffered a separate blockade imposed by the central government, was plagued by civil war, had far worse medical facilities than the rest of the country, had recently been subjected to chemical genocide, and that its development projects were regularly held hostage by the central government. Finally, the study asserts that, because ''half'' the funds Northern Iraq received had not been spent, the amount of supplies the North actually purchased were less per capita than what the central government was provided--even with Baghdad deliberately under-ordering goods. The sanctions, in and of themselves, would actually have saved lives (according to the study)--their goal was not to prevent humanitarian supplies from reaching Iraq, but to force the Iraqi government to spend more of its revenue on such commodities (as opposed to weapons). They ''required'' the government to spend at least 72% of its income on human services, whereas the government had previously never spent more than 25%. President Bill Clinton argued that Iraq actually had far more money to spend on humanitarian supplies under the sanctions regime than it would have had over the same period based on the trends that existed before the Gulf War, adding that "we have worked like crazy" to avoid the unnecessary suffering of civilians.

*[http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/4329469?uid=3739656&uid=2&uid=4&uid=3739256&sid=21101871211641 Amatzia Baram], Director of the Center for Iraq Studies at the University of Haifa, reported almost no difference in the rate of Iraq’s population growth between 1977 and 1987 (35.8%) and between 1987 and 1997 (35.1%).  The latter period also corresponds with the escalation of the war with Iran, genocide of the Kurds, invasion of Kuwait, Gulf War, and 1991 massacres.

Iraq expert Amatzia Baram compared the country’s population growth rates over three censuses and found there to be almost no difference in the rate of Iraq’s population growth between 1977 and 1987 (35.8 percent), and between 1987 and 1997 (35.1 percent). Demographically, any excess deaths appear either slight or nonexistent. Rubin writes: "In 1999, UNICEF released a glossy, detailed report that again concluded that sanctions had contributed to the deaths of one million Iraqis. UNICEF did not complete the report independently however, but rather co-authored it with the Iraqi government’s health ministry (according to the report’s own front cover). It is this report that is most often cited by activists and journalists, although seldom do they refer to it as a joint publication of Saddam’s government. Both current and former UN personnel admit this report to be problematic especially because its statistics come from the Iraqi government, which blocks independent information gathering. Former UN officials related that many statistics are of questionable veracity. One troubling sign of a lack of objectivity is a map on the first page of the first chapter. While purporting to show the region, the map omits Kuwait, and makes it appear that the country is actually part of Iraq. The inclusion of the map raises the issue of what compromises UNICEF made to complete the study....A potential explanation for the strange patterns displayed by the South/Centre in the [data] is that they were not real but, rather, results of manipulations by the Iraqi government." Genocide scholar Milton Leitenberg noted that "all alleged post-1990 figures on infant and child mortality in Iraq are supplied by the Iraqi government agencies."  These claims, despite their truth or falsity, became an extremely effective recruiting tool for suicide terrorists. In the aftermath of the [[9/11 terror attacks]] policymakers and legislators, such a [[John Kerry]], [[John Edwards]] and Richard Gephardt became convinced of the necessity of removing Saddam and ending sanctions. Senator [[Hillary Rodham Clinton]] said in a floor speech on October 10, 2002,

*[http://www.democracynow.org/2004/6/22/bill_clinton_loses_his_cool_in Bill Clinton] noted:  "Before the sanctions, the year before the Gulf War—how much money did Iraq earn from oil? Answer: $16 billion. How much money did Iraq earn last year from oil? How much money did they get, cash on the barrel head, to Saddam Hussein? Answer: $19 billion, that he can use exclusively for food, for medicine, to develop his country. He’s got more money now, $3 billion a year more, than he had nine years ago. If any child is without food or medicine or a roof over his or her head in Iraq, it’s because he is claiming the sanctions are doing it and sticking it to his own children. We have worked like crazy to make sure that the embargo only applies to his ability to reconstitute his weapons system and his military state."

*The [http://www.fas.org/news/iraq/1999/09/iraq99.htm US State Department] has stated that Iraq was offered the Oil-for-Food Program in 1991 but that Iraq refused to accept it for years. In addition: "In Northern Iraq, where the UN administers humanitarian assistance, child mortality rates have fallen below pre-Gulf War levels. Now those Iraqi children are better off than before the war. Child mortality figures have more than doubled in the south and center of the country, where the Iraqi government—rather than the UN—controls the program. If a turn-around on child mortality can be made in the north, which is under the same sanctions as the rest of the country, there is no reason it cannot be done in the south and center. The fact of the matter is, however, that the government of Iraq does not share the international community's concern about the welfare of its people. Baghdad's refusal to cooperate with the oil-for-food program and its deliberate misuse of resources are cynical efforts to sacrifice the Iraqi people's welfare in order to bring an end to UN sanctions without complying with its obligations."

*[http://www.iraqwatch.org/perspectives/meria-rubin-sanctions-1201.htm Michael Rubin], adjunct fellow of The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, wrote:  "While claiming to face dire food shortages, Iraq actually exported food to other countries....Less than six months after the end of hostilities, the Security Council adopted resolutions to allow Iraq to sell its oil in order to provide revenue for the purchase of essential humanitarian supplies. The Iraqi government refused....Before the imposition of sanctions, the Iraqi government spent less than 25% of its income on humanitarian programs. Under the sanctions regime, Iraq was ordered to allocate 72% of its oil income for humanitarian projects. While there is plenty of money for meeting the needs of the Iraqi people, there is supposed to be none left over for obtaining weapons....While trying to pressure the Iraqi government to dispense with its WMD programs, the sanctions regime has also tried to force that same government to pay more attention to the needs of its own people. The health and welfare of those in Iraq has increased tremendously, at least when the Iraqi government does not interfere with the implementation of the oil-for-food program. It is difficult to be hungry when receiving oil-for-food rations....Barham Salih recently called the sanctions regime "truly revolutionary" in that "never before in our history have we had a government obliged by international law to devote Iraq's oil revenues to the well being of the Iraqi people."....The per capita income available in Saddam's Iraq is now far higher than it was in Iraqi Kurdistan, and yet the Iraqi government continues to either not spend the revenue available, or not spend it wisely. Most damning to arguments about disproportionate funding in the north is that, according to Oil-for-food coordinators in Irbil, northern Iraq has so far only spent half the money actually allocated to it....The oil-for-food program has already spent more than $1 billion in water and sanitation projects in Iraq. There is no reason to blame sanctions for any degradation in water and sanitation systems."

*The UNICEF report on infant mortality was co-authored by the Iraqi government, and claimed that Kuwait was part of Iraq.  Iraq [http://www.nytimes.com/2000/09/12/world/iraq-won-t-let-outside-experts-assess-sanctions-impact-on-lives.html denied] UN requests to admit independent experts to assess living conditions. [http://www.instituteforthestudyofgenocide.org/oldsite/newsletters/28/Saddam.html Milton Leitenberg], from the Center for International and Security Studies, pointed out: "All alleged post-1990 figures on infant and child mortality in Iraq are supplied by the Iraqi government agencies."  (Independent observers were allowed in the north, where conditions improved as a result of the sanctions regime.)

*According to economist [http://personal.rhul.ac.uk/uhte/014/Truth%20and%20Death.pdf Michael Spagat], "one potential explanation" for the statistics showing an increase in child mortality is that "they were not real, but rather results of manipulations by the Iraqi government."

 

These claims, despite their falsity, became an extremely effective recruiting tool for suicide terrorists. In the aftermath of the [[9/11 terror attacks]] policymakers and legislators, such a [[John Kerry]], [[John Edwards]] and Richard Gephardt became convinced of the necessity of removing Saddam and ending sanctions. Senator [[Hillary Rodham Clinton]] said in a floor speech on October 10, 2002,

{{Cquote|In the four years since the inspectors left, intelligence reports show that Saddam Hussein has worked to rebuild his chemical and biological weapons stock, his missile delivery capability, and his nuclear program. He has also given aid, comfort, and sanctuary to terrorists, including Al Qaeda members. <ref>[http://clinton.senate.gov/speeches/iraq_101002.html October 10, 2002 Floor Speech of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton on S.J. Res. 45, A Resolution to Authorize the Use of United States Armed Forces Against Iraq],  United States Senate, October 10, 2002. </ref>}}

{{Cquote|In the four years since the inspectors left, intelligence reports show that Saddam Hussein has worked to rebuild his chemical and biological weapons stock, his missile delivery capability, and his nuclear program. He has also given aid, comfort, and sanctuary to terrorists, including Al Qaeda members. <ref>[http://clinton.senate.gov/speeches/iraq_101002.html October 10, 2002 Floor Speech of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton on S.J. Res. 45, A Resolution to Authorize the Use of United States Armed Forces Against Iraq],  United States Senate, October 10, 2002. </ref>}}