A Different Kind of War: The Un Sanctions Regime in Iraq

"Crucial lessons for the immediate future"-Noam Chomsky

At a time when the international community is imposing sanctions and discussing no-fly zones, A Different Kind of War delivers a frightening parallel and a heart-rending accounting of suffering in Iraq among locals who bore the brunt of the 13-year sanctions from 1990 until 2003.

H. C. von Sponeck, the former "UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq," explores the UN's sanction policies against Iraq, their consequences, and the domestic conditions during this period. His extensive research is based on previously unpublished internal UN documents and discussions with UN decision makers (such as General Secretary Kofi Annan), Iraqi officials and politicians (including Saddam Hussein), and ordinary Iraqis. The author's findings question who really benefited from the program, what role the UN Security Council and its various member states played, and whether there were then and are today alternatives to the UN's Iraq policies.

• Chapter 1. The Oil for Food Programme: An Adequate Humanitarian Exemption?
• Chapter 2. The UN Compensation Commission: Benefit for Some, Deprivation for Others
• Chapter 3. The No-Fly Zones: Zones of Protection and Zones of Confrontation?
• Chapter 4. The United Nations Special Commission and the UN Office of the Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq: Two Units of the Same Organisation?
• Chapter 5. The Government of Iraq, its People and their Rights
• Chapter 6. The UN Sanctions Structure: Confrontation, Fragmentation, Conclusions

What customers are saying:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent expose
Reviewed in the United States
Verified Purchase
excellent expose from someone who knew all the details how the US government uses sanctions to wage war

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book
Reviewed in the United Kingdom
Verified Purchase
This is an excellent book, so well written and the amount of detailed research that has gone in is amazing to say the least - hard work to write I'm sure but so easy to read - it flows beautifly. I left Iraq as a child a few months after the first Gulf war - it has been emotionally challenging to read this at times at the same time it is written in such a logical way as to keep the reader engaged.

H. C. von Sponeck worked for the United Nations for more than thirty years and in 1998 was appointed UN Assistant Secretary General. During his service he worked for the UN Development program in Ghana, Turkey, Botswana, Pakistan and India. Since his resignation from the UN he has served as a member of the board of trustees of various non-governmental organizations in Switzerland, Italy and the US, as an adviser for multilateral issues, and as a consultant for personnel development in international organizations.