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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> A 1999 [[UNICEF]] Report stated that there were, at that time, 500,000 deaths of children under the age of five probably attributable to the U.N. sanctions. <ref>[http://www.unicef.org/newsline/99pr29.htm  Iraq Surveys Show Humanitarian Emergency], (August 12, 1999).</ref> 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,

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  

</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.

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,

{{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>}}