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Invisible War: The United States and the Iraq Sanctions
The economic sanctions imposed on Iraq from 1990 to 2003 were the most comprehensive and devastating of any established in the name of international governance. The sanctions, coupled with the bombing campaign of 1991, brought about the near collapse of Iraq’s infrastructure and profoundly compromised basic conditions necessary to sustain life.
In a sharp indictment of U.S. policy, Joy Gordon examines the key role the nation played in shaping the sanctions, whose harsh strictures resulted in part from U.S. definitions of “dual use” and “weapons of mass destruction,” and claims that everything from water pipes to laundry detergent to child vaccines could produce weapons. Drawing on internal UN documents, confidential minutes of closed meetings, and interviews with foreign diplomats and U.S. officials, Gordon details how the United States not only prevented critical humanitarian goods from entering Iraq but also undermined attempts at reform; unilaterally overrode the UN weapons inspectors; and manipulated votes in the Security Council. In every political, legal, and bureaucratic domain, the deliberate policies of the United States ensured the continuation of Iraq’s catastrophic condition.
Provocative and sure to stir debate, this book lays bare the damage that can be done by unchecked power in our institutions of international governance.
In a sharp indictment of U.S. policy, Joy Gordon examines the key role the nation played in shaping the sanctions, whose harsh strictures resulted in part from U.S. definitions of “dual use” and “weapons of mass destruction,” and claims that everything from water pipes to laundry detergent to child vaccines could produce weapons. Drawing on internal UN documents, confidential minutes of closed meetings, and interviews with foreign diplomats and U.S. officials, Gordon details how the United States not only prevented critical humanitarian goods from entering Iraq but also undermined attempts at reform; unilaterally overrode the UN weapons inspectors; and manipulated votes in the Security Council. In every political, legal, and bureaucratic domain, the deliberate policies of the United States ensured the continuation of Iraq’s catastrophic condition.
Provocative and sure to stir debate, this book lays bare the damage that can be done by unchecked power in our institutions of international governance.
376 pages, Paperback
First published April 15, 2010
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November 29, 2019
روایت 12 سال تحریمِ مستمر جهانی علیه عراق با سردمداری یِ آمریکا از طریقِ شورای امنیت سازمان ملل، سابقه، چرایی، تاثیرات پیدا و پنهان بر زندگی روزمره یِ مردمان عراق و استثنائات تحریمی که در نهایت با جنگِ 1382 و سقوط صدام خاتمه یافت
اولا
کتاب 120 صفحه بخش یادداشت و منابع داره و عملا ما با کتاب 378 صفحه ای مواجهیم
دوما
ترجمه به نظر خیلی عجله ای بوده و اصلِ "سهولت فهم" درش مغفول مونده
و آخر سخن،
رئوسِ مطالبی که تو کتاب، مفصلا یا به اجمال بررسی شده
تلاش های ظاهرا موفقِ عراق برایِ افزایش تولیدِ محصولاتِ کشاورزی که در بلند مدت جز "شکستِ صلابتِ زنجیره یِ تامینِ مواد غذایی" عاید ملت نمیکند
قدم های آمریکا برای فلج کردن فرآیند توسعه یِ زیرساختی و اجازه یِ ورودِ حداقلی یِ مواد غذایی و دارویی
عدم توفیق رسانه ها، مجمع عمومی، کنگره و ... برای اقناعِ آمریکا به شروع پرده یِ "شل کُنِ" تحریم ها از سویی و "مرغ یه پا داره یِ" آمریکا در منوط کردنِ آن به حذفِ صدام از عرصه ی قدرتِ عراق
استانداردهای فوق سخت گیرانه ی آمریکا در قبال کالاهایِ با کاربرد دوگانه که در دوره ای حتی مشمول "تخم مرغ" هم میشه، چرا که زرده ی آن میتواند محیط کشت میکروب های بیولوژیک باشد
کتاب خوبی برای خواندن است، هم برایِ منِ شهروند کشوری زیرِ فشارِ تحریم و هم برای مسئولینِ کشورم در ایرانِ98 ، مسئولینی که معتقدند بدون ارتباط با دنیا هم میشود از تحریم، سالم و کیفی گذشت و هم البته جواب آیندگان را د مورد تاثیراتِ بلند مدت داد. اما راستش را بخواهید چون تجربه بهترین معلم است، باید گفت که "نمی شود که نمی شود که نمی شود"، نه برایِ آمریکایِ ابرقدرت و نه برای عراق ها و ایران ها
اولا
کتاب 120 صفحه بخش یادداشت و منابع داره و عملا ما با کتاب 378 صفحه ای مواجهیم
دوما
ترجمه به نظر خیلی عجله ای بوده و اصلِ "سهولت فهم" درش مغفول مونده
و آخر سخن،
رئوسِ مطالبی که تو کتاب، مفصلا یا به اجمال بررسی شده
تلاش های ظاهرا موفقِ عراق برایِ افزایش تولیدِ محصولاتِ کشاورزی که در بلند مدت جز "شکستِ صلابتِ زنجیره یِ تامینِ مواد غذایی" عاید ملت نمیکند
قدم های آمریکا برای فلج کردن فرآیند توسعه یِ زیرساختی و اجازه یِ ورودِ حداقلی یِ مواد غذایی و دارویی
عدم توفیق رسانه ها، مجمع عمومی، کنگره و ... برای اقناعِ آمریکا به شروع پرده یِ "شل کُنِ" تحریم ها از سویی و "مرغ یه پا داره یِ" آمریکا در منوط کردنِ آن به حذفِ صدام از عرصه ی قدرتِ عراق
استانداردهای فوق سخت گیرانه ی آمریکا در قبال کالاهایِ با کاربرد دوگانه که در دوره ای حتی مشمول "تخم مرغ" هم میشه، چرا که زرده ی آن میتواند محیط کشت میکروب های بیولوژیک باشد
کتاب خوبی برای خواندن است، هم برایِ منِ شهروند کشوری زیرِ فشارِ تحریم و هم برای مسئولینِ کشورم در ایرانِ98 ، مسئولینی که معتقدند بدون ارتباط با دنیا هم میشود از تحریم، سالم و کیفی گذشت و هم البته جواب آیندگان را د مورد تاثیراتِ بلند مدت داد. اما راستش را بخواهید چون تجربه بهترین معلم است، باید گفت که "نمی شود که نمی شود که نمی شود"، نه برایِ آمریکایِ ابرقدرت و نه برای عراق ها و ایران ها
February 19, 2018
A really well researched book, if not necessarily the most engaging structure. Invisible War tells of the American role in sanctions against Iraq during the 1990s and early 2000s. These were primarily administered through the United Nations, which wielded a massive bureaucratic baton that had profound effects on Iraqi society. Gordon focuses on the role of the United States in using sanctions as a way to force 'regime change'. We learn about how institutional quirks of the UN were exploited by the US and the UK to make it more or less impossible for Iraq to obtain even basic supplies. Non-permanent Security Council members tried to reform the sanctions system, but they had almost no power to do so and the system itself was set up to make this difficult.
There's a lot to learn from this book, though it is a little repetitive and circular in how it explains things. More useful as a reference work than a page-turner.
There's a lot to learn from this book, though it is a little repetitive and circular in how it explains things. More useful as a reference work than a page-turner.
September 25, 2019
Joke:
Q: How many social theorists/philosophers does it take to change a light bulb?
A: What light bulb?
Here finally is a philosopher who is willing to look at the light.
Joy Gordon generates an archive of material that all but indicts the U.S. government for genocide, crimes against humanity, and criminal responsibility as it destroyed Iraq, first with military force and then through sanctions. She is careful in two ways. Her mastery of details and her documentation is meticulous. And, she wants to temper her politics by permitting herself to say only what the record allows. She concludes that the U.S. cannot be charged for genocide or crimes against humanity (but she holds it criminally responsible):
"In light of the specific intent requirement for genocide, it seems to me that U.S. officials did not have the mens rea to be found responsible for genocide. The U.S. policy may have been deliberate and knowing, and deeply indifferent to the human consequences, but it does not seem that it was "calculated to" destroy the Iraqi population or that it was motivated by a drive to exterminate Iraqis specifically because they were Iraqis" (224).
This verdict disappoints her, "we have good reason to be deeply disappointed in international law" (228). She also feels betrayed by international governance (229). The best she can do is to claim that the U.S. produced a "legalization of atrocity" (230).
Two elements struck me powerfully in her presentation: the huge gap between world opinion versus the self-understanding of the U.S. (citizens and policy makers alike) on what the U.S. was doing to Iraq. Her presentation here leaves little doubt that U.S.policy makers and citizens were as one. They were completely out of touch with world opinion. Second, she explores and develops the concept of "willful ignorance." It is not that the U.S. state, population, and policy makers hated the Iraqis. Rather, they cared neither about Iraq, nor what was being done to its people. This massive indifference to the fate of others suggests a parochial exclusivity in the U.S. that, I think, cannot be bridged. Unless war is means for the self-education of the U.S. In which case, we have a long way to go.
This book is an achievement.
A second and third reading of this book allow me to amend my claim in the prior sentence. I now think this book is a masterpiece. Gordon's refined details, her evenhanded and understated tone, and her subdued conclusions make this book one the most important I have ever read.
We might note that Gordon's discipline is philosophy where her direct confrontation with the nearly genocidal actions of the U.S. stand out as remarkable and perhaps unique when we place her work next to the solipsism of what passes for post-modern, post-structural, and post-colonial philosophy/social theory.
Q: How many social theorists/philosophers does it take to change a light bulb?
A: What light bulb?
Here finally is a philosopher who is willing to look at the light.
Joy Gordon generates an archive of material that all but indicts the U.S. government for genocide, crimes against humanity, and criminal responsibility as it destroyed Iraq, first with military force and then through sanctions. She is careful in two ways. Her mastery of details and her documentation is meticulous. And, she wants to temper her politics by permitting herself to say only what the record allows. She concludes that the U.S. cannot be charged for genocide or crimes against humanity (but she holds it criminally responsible):
"In light of the specific intent requirement for genocide, it seems to me that U.S. officials did not have the mens rea to be found responsible for genocide. The U.S. policy may have been deliberate and knowing, and deeply indifferent to the human consequences, but it does not seem that it was "calculated to" destroy the Iraqi population or that it was motivated by a drive to exterminate Iraqis specifically because they were Iraqis" (224).
This verdict disappoints her, "we have good reason to be deeply disappointed in international law" (228). She also feels betrayed by international governance (229). The best she can do is to claim that the U.S. produced a "legalization of atrocity" (230).
Two elements struck me powerfully in her presentation: the huge gap between world opinion versus the self-understanding of the U.S. (citizens and policy makers alike) on what the U.S. was doing to Iraq. Her presentation here leaves little doubt that U.S.policy makers and citizens were as one. They were completely out of touch with world opinion. Second, she explores and develops the concept of "willful ignorance." It is not that the U.S. state, population, and policy makers hated the Iraqis. Rather, they cared neither about Iraq, nor what was being done to its people. This massive indifference to the fate of others suggests a parochial exclusivity in the U.S. that, I think, cannot be bridged. Unless war is means for the self-education of the U.S. In which case, we have a long way to go.
This book is an achievement.
A second and third reading of this book allow me to amend my claim in the prior sentence. I now think this book is a masterpiece. Gordon's refined details, her evenhanded and understated tone, and her subdued conclusions make this book one the most important I have ever read.
We might note that Gordon's discipline is philosophy where her direct confrontation with the nearly genocidal actions of the U.S. stand out as remarkable and perhaps unique when we place her work next to the solipsism of what passes for post-modern, post-structural, and post-colonial philosophy/social theory.
April 28, 2019
شاید بشه گفت تنها کتابیه که در دوران معاصر سیاست به صورت نسبتاً جامعی فرآیند تحریم ها رو به صورت چند لایه مورد بررسی قرار داده .. عراق در واقع یک مدل نوین از استفاده از ابزار تحریم توسط آمریکا بعد از پایان جنگ سرد بود که نشون میده به چه شکلی دولت آمریکا با هدایت شورای امنیت و با نادیده گرفتن ساز و کارهای حقوق بشر میتونه فضار حداکثری و ویران کننده ای به دولت متخاصم خودش وارد کنه . تحریم ها به مشابه ابزاری عمل میکنن که جنگ رو از سنگرهای نظامیان به سفرهای مردم عادی منتقل میکنن و مردمی که شاید کمترین تقصیری در ایجاد وضعیت اسف بار خودشون ندارن باید تاوان ایده الوژِی ها و رویاهای بلند پروازانه رهبرانشون پرداخت کنن . برای ما ایرنیها ، کتاب بسیار جذاب و در عین حال هشدار دهنده ای برای مردم و مسئولین ماست که درک عمیق تری از فرآیند سیاسی به اسم تحریم ها داشته باشن و درک این موضوع که تحریم ها در واقع یک جنگ تمام عیار محسوب میشه که برخلاف جبهه های جنگ نظامیان بیشتر قربانیانش مردم غیر نظامی هستند .
November 16, 2010
My interest in the Iraqi sanctions before the 2003 US invasion arose as a protest to the common neoliberal claim that the war in Iraq has brought a higher level of economic wealth and prosperity to the country (see David Brooks op/ed "Nation Building Works," New York Times, Aug 30, 2010). The claim is an attack against truth in a move to "wipe the slate clean," that tries to bury the US-led sanctions history under the years of "democracy building" in Iraq. In Joy Gordon's book she draws evidence from an extensive amount of sources (the notes and bibliography comprise an additional 100 pages) that delineate the pure acts of atrocity that directly and indirectly resulted from sanctions and intense bombing campaigns conducted by the US prior to the 2003 invasion. Before the first Gulf War, Iraq had a strong professional class, strong infrastructure providing social services, and a highly funded educational system. After Hussein invaded Kuwait, an act deserving of international interference, the US began a systematic destruction of the country, losing all international support in the process and eventually became responsible for over 1 million Iraqi deaths through bombing and attrition over the next 13 years. Due to the lack of an international judicial tribunal with jurisdiction over the US and a poor working definition of genocide and "crimes against humanity," (the US had to explicitly say they were targeting Iraqi civilians) the atrocities that were committed may be forgotten by its perpetrators. But they won't be forgotten any time soon in Iraq. Before anyone can say the lives of Iraqis improved after the 2003 invasion one has to look at why lives of Iraqis were so bad in the first place. Hussein was a bad guy, but the US outdid him in inflicting suffering by terrifying extents.
September 9, 2012
The 1990-2003 Sanctions against Iraq devastated a whole civilization, destroyed infrastructure beyond repair and leaving the country in near bankrupt. The sanctions review hearings were behind closed doors, not allowing others to bare witness of verbal exchanges - clearly such sanctions were illegal and against the Geneva Conventions. The Bush Sr, Clinton, & Bush Jr. Administrations implemented the weapons of mass destruction-The Sanctions.
January 13, 2014
Amerikan emperyalizminin Irak'ta ambargolar ve yaptırımlar yoluyla nasıl milyonlarca insanın canına kast ettigini anlatan kapsamlı ve başarılı bir araştırma. 90'ların başındaki ilk Körfez Savaşı'ndan başlayarak Irak'ın işgaline uzanan süreçte ABD'nin nasıl bir diplomasi yürüttüğünü anlamak için okunabilir.
May 8, 2023
Five stars because Joy Gordon lays out an irrefutable case against U.S. sanctions in Iraq. In 12 concise chapters, Gordon documents how the U.S., with the Cold War over and a "new world order" coming into focus, commandeered the U.N. security council in 1990-91 to institute the harshest sanctions in recorded history against a sovereign nation. For eight months Iraq was forbidden from importing any food. For the entirety of the sanctions regime, Iraq was prevented from importing almost anything that could help it repair the damage from the 1990-91 bombing and maintain functioning water/sewage treatment, transportation, health care, education, agriculture, etc. The Oil for Food Program helped improve living standards but only marginally.
The result was the ruin of a once-advanced middle class society and the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people from malnutrition and disease -- while the aim of the sanctions, to destroy Hussein's regime, went unaccomplished. Regime change is, of course, illegal per the U.N. charter. No nation has the right to dictate the government of another. No matter - Saddam was "Hitler."
Was this genocide? Were the sanctions a crime against humanity? By the letter of international law, Gordon concludes the sanctions do not meet this high bar. That is less a defense of the U.S. than an indictment of international law. Three U.S. administrations and dozens of U.S. officials deliberately, knowingly, and callously worked to deprive Iraq of the basics of human life in the face of mounting and indisputable criticism. However, as Gordon concludes, this was not out of racial or ethnic hatred of Iraqis for being Iraqis. Thus, the intent standard of genocide is not met.
The sanctions were legalized atrocity, which may have been the most perverse aspect of it all.
Reading this book angered me a great deal because my own nation was responsible for so much human suffering -- and because these atrocities, to borrow a word from the book's title, remain invisible to the great majority of Americans today.
The result was the ruin of a once-advanced middle class society and the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people from malnutrition and disease -- while the aim of the sanctions, to destroy Hussein's regime, went unaccomplished. Regime change is, of course, illegal per the U.N. charter. No nation has the right to dictate the government of another. No matter - Saddam was "Hitler."
Was this genocide? Were the sanctions a crime against humanity? By the letter of international law, Gordon concludes the sanctions do not meet this high bar. That is less a defense of the U.S. than an indictment of international law. Three U.S. administrations and dozens of U.S. officials deliberately, knowingly, and callously worked to deprive Iraq of the basics of human life in the face of mounting and indisputable criticism. However, as Gordon concludes, this was not out of racial or ethnic hatred of Iraqis for being Iraqis. Thus, the intent standard of genocide is not met.
The sanctions were legalized atrocity, which may have been the most perverse aspect of it all.
Reading this book angered me a great deal because my own nation was responsible for so much human suffering -- and because these atrocities, to borrow a word from the book's title, remain invisible to the great majority of Americans today.
November 26, 2024
هفته پیش که این کتاب رو تمام کرد تقریبا همزمان شد با وتوی یکجانبه آمریکا درباره آتشبس در غزه. و من در این کتاب فهمیده بودم که نهادهای بینالمللی،منشور سازمان ملل و ... خیلی سالها قبل کارکرد خودشون رو از دست دادهاند و شاید از ابتدا هم کارکرد درستی نداشتهاند.
نویسنده بر اساس اسناد خیلی خوب به شما نشان میدهد که درد و رنجی که مردم عراق متحمل شدند هیچ اهمیتی برای آمریکا نداشت. تنها سرنگونی صدام برای اونها مهم بود و توانستند برای هدف خودشون علیرغم خواست سایر اعضای شورای امنیت هرکاری بکنند.
تحریم و جنگ عراق رو تقریبا نابود کرد. و آمریکا میدانست با تحریم دارو و تجهیزات کشاورزی و تجهیزات تصفیه آب و...دارد آدم میکشد اما هیچ اهمیتی برایش نداشت و هیچ نهادی هم نتوانست جلویش را بگیرد وجالب اینکه برای همه اینها بهانه کاربرد نظامی می آورد.
ترجمه کتاب اما خیلی عالی نبود. همچنین نویسنده بارها وبارها مطالب یکسانی را با ادبیات مختلف بیان کرده بود طوری که ازحوصله خارج بود و واقعا یک سوم حجم کتاب هم کافی بود. مرا یاد پایان نامه نوشتن دانشجویان انداخت.
نویسنده بر اساس اسناد خیلی خوب به شما نشان میدهد که درد و رنجی که مردم عراق متحمل شدند هیچ اهمیتی برای آمریکا نداشت. تنها سرنگونی صدام برای اونها مهم بود و توانستند برای هدف خودشون علیرغم خواست سایر اعضای شورای امنیت هرکاری بکنند.
تحریم و جنگ عراق رو تقریبا نابود کرد. و آمریکا میدانست با تحریم دارو و تجهیزات کشاورزی و تجهیزات تصفیه آب و...دارد آدم میکشد اما هیچ اهمیتی برایش نداشت و هیچ نهادی هم نتوانست جلویش را بگیرد وجالب اینکه برای همه اینها بهانه کاربرد نظامی می آورد.
ترجمه کتاب اما خیلی عالی نبود. همچنین نویسنده بارها وبارها مطالب یکسانی را با ادبیات مختلف بیان کرده بود طوری که ازحوصله خارج بود و واقعا یک سوم حجم کتاب هم کافی بود. مرا یاد پایان نامه نوشتن دانشجویان انداخت.
August 12, 2025
جهد بحثي هائل، يمكن أن يشكّل مدخلاً شاملاً وعميقاً حول قضية العقوبات على العراق.
July 29, 2020
While this book can be a struggle at times, the argument that Gordon builds is impeccable and damning. She walks readers through the Iraq sanctions and demonstrates US culpability on Iraq's dismal state, ultimately leading to the inevitable conclusion that the US is guilty of significant crimes against humanity in Iraq. A must-read for any critic (or supporter, honestly) of US foreign policy.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews