The United Nations sanctions regime against Iraq has been in effect for ten years, yet has not forced Iraq to meet the terms of the 1991 Gulf War armistice. The sanctions have failed because smuggling, particularly maritime smuggling of oil out of Iraq, undercuts their effectiveness. The United States, the principal enforcer of the maritime sanctions, typically uses four Navy ships and spends $8 million a month to maintain the sanctions, yet catches few smugglers because the smugglers use Iranian territorial waters as an escape route. Shifting the inspections to a shore facility within the Persian Gulf would save millions of dollars and would free all but one Navy ship for duties that are more important. Using minefields to shape the sea-lanes would ease tracking merchants and would prevent them from using Iranian territorial waters. Using lethal force would ensure a smuggler only smuggled once. A vigorous public relations campaign would render these changes palatable to the international community. Adopting these methods would render the sanctions against Iraq more effective and efficient and thus possibly force Iraq to adhere to the terms of the armistice.
More Effective and Efficient Sanctions
2002
27 pages
Report
No indication
English
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