Sanctions in Iraq: A Human Rights Catastrophe

The U.S. and its allies supported Saddam Hussein during the 1980s. He fell quickly out of favor with his 1990 invasion of Kuwait. The result was the Gulf War and the imposition of sanctions. The human cost of these sanctions has been staggering. Millions of Iraqis are without food, clean water and medicine. At least 500,000 children have died from malnutrition and disease. Iraq’s health care system, once one of the best in the region, is in shambles.