The following is an archived copy of a message sent to a Discussion List run by the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq.
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This is a sudden major turnaround especially following the previous Anglo Dutch proposal which was based on extending the 'oil for food' deal. Being somewhat cynical I wonder why? Did the UK and US say that they would ease up on Iraq if Russia helped them on Kosovo - which was damaging the Governments in both the UK and the US? Having 'won' in Kosovo are they prepared to compromise in Iraq? Will the drought be really so devastating that they need to avoid blame? Do the US need a relaxing of sanctions in order to bring on stream more effective anti-SH groups? Are the US genuinely worried about the continuing absence of inspectors? Does Clinton need some more 'feel good' success in foreign policy? One reaction I've got is the desire to congratulate the Government on moving forwards. If only enough of the voters felt likewise so that the Government would be more inclined to finish with all non- military sanctions. In my dreams I would like to see the Government of Iraq respond positively to this initiative without necessarily retreating from their desire to see a complete end to sanctions. There tends to be too much macho posturing from both sides. Another issue: obviously with rampant malnutrition and disease, as well as medieval infrastructure, Iraq has got its hands full. It is interesting to see that they are really very concerned about the long term effects of DU and want to get external help with this. I've not seen any news on this on this list but I know that they had a conference in Iraq in May. > what are your thoughts on this latest british proposal to 'suspend > sanctions'? > > -rania Mark Parkinson -- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- This is a discussion list run by Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq. To be removed/added, email soc-casi-discuss-request@lists.cam.ac.uk, NOT the whole list. Archived at http://linux.clare.cam.ac.uk/~saw27/casi/discuss.html