Iraq: The Human Cost of History

Why did the sanctions continue if they did not fulfil their avowed purpose? The contributors argue that the real motives of the US and the UK were much more complex: instead of revolving around violations of human rights, terrorism and nuclear weapons proliferation, sanctions may have had more to do with political powerbroking and the danger that Iraq and Iran presented to the US hegemony in the oil-rich Middle-East. Assessing these and other related questions, the contributors put forward the idea that the current sanctions against Iraq are illegal under international law.