Iraq- Primus Inter Pariahs

This book begins by considering the 'pariah politics' practised by the United States in its efforts to denounce certain countries as 'pariahs' on the global scene. A brief profile is given of the American domestic and international human-rights record. Is the United States ethically equipped to act as a moral arbiter in such matters? The much-quoted Juvenal tag ('Who will guard the guardians?') is adapted: who will judge the judges? After presenting relevant background to the Iraq Question (the changing role of Saddam, the genocidal sanctions regime, etc.), the book then describes as a detailed chronology the 1997-98 crisis between Iraq and the United States over the issue of the UN weapons inspections. The disputes - about the composition of the inspection teams and about the inspections of 'sensitive' Iraqi sites, especially the presidential palaces - are set in the context of the horrendous impact of the sanctions on the Iraqi civilian population. Finally the negotiated settlement between UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and the Iraqi government is outlined, with attention given also to the unsympathetic US response and the continuing tensions.