Introduction
 
       This article originally appeared entitled 'The Politics of Starvation' on the Alternative Insight website.           
The powerful can't always use military might to suppress adversaries
       Their own citizens and world opinion may react unfavorably and undermine a military adventure. Logistics may not favor it. Beside, they have other means. One of these means is economic warfare; a method that can silently crush an adversary without firing a shot. Gone to its extreme, economic warfare has the force of a neutron bomb: It debilitates the population and disables the infrastructure.           
Economic warfare requires preparation before implementation
       First, the grieved country accuses its adversary of great crimes. The adversary is powerless to defend itself and becomes marked with the adjective, "rogue state." Since the "rogue state" cannot ameliorate the crimes of which it is accused, being that they may not exist, and since these states are usually proud and will not compromise with their national integrity (one reason for their fate) further action must be taken against them.

The next step is isolation. This has several stages. In stage #1, the grieved country forbids all its citizens, except the CIA, to travel to the "rogue state." Although forbidden by law in democratic countries and contradicting the criticism made by the democratic countries against the policy of the former Soviet Union which imposed travel restrictions on its citizens, the democratic country bans all travel to the "rogue state." It bypasses the constitutional laws by enforcement procedures. These include democratic actions such as heavy fines, harassment, embarrassing airport searches, letting the neighbors know, and calls from the internal revenue department. The reasons mentioned for this "undemocratic" action are: to protect travelers from being contaminated with "rogue" germs, shield them from vicious propaganda and prevent them from being kidnapped for ransom and from accusations of spying. These are valid reasons, The unmentioned reasons are: to assure the "rogue" country doesn't acquire tourist dollars that may enable it to survive, make certain that the travelers don't learn that all they have read and heard from their government may be propaganda, terrorize citizens against terrorists and prevent rogueidization in which a happy citizen suddenly sympathizes with the rogue and acquires rogue traits.

In the next stage, the "rogue state" is isolated from international agencies, relief efforts, finances and communications. After it is forced into an isolation it doesn't desire, it may receive the adjective, "hermit kingdom." That prepares it for the great strike, economic warfare. The economic warfare punch has many shapes. Sanctions that are are not normally used against favored countries that have succeeded in arousing the wrath of the world community, (reason given that they really don't work) are used with impunity against the disfavored countries. If the preferred sanctions cannot be implemented then an illegal embargo is enforced by warships that arrive close to ithe country's beaches and dwarf the rowboats of the rogue country. Sometimes explosive mines are dropped in the rogue's harbors to complete the embargo.

If the embargo proves insufficient for the cleansing task, then the grieved country may arm surrogate warriors inside or close to the rogue country and have them add human catastrophes to the natural catastrophes that inflict the rogue country. The laws of the grieved country usually prohibit this action. Nevertheless, these laws are conviently circumvented. If the grieved country keeps its hands clean and doesn't get its citizens punctured with bullet holes, the judicial system may not bother to enforce the laws. Rogues that have special qualifications earn the title of terrorists. This title sticks to their names like velcro. It appears in all articles, headlines, dispatches, reports and news, as if the word terrorist followed by the country name is one word. The rogue country earns this title by committing an evil deed that is usually in response to the tens of evil deeds committed against it. No matter!

Economic warfare leads to the final step in whipping a "rogue" country back into shape--starvation. If the food supply dwindles then certainly the poor unfortunate citizens of the "rogue" country will act as those who proclaimed "Liberte", "Egalitie" and "Fraternitie" in the French revolution. They will storm the gates of their oppressors, take away their cake and demand bread. The United States has implemented political policies that have caused starvation in several countries. Their leaders still eat cake while the populations have suffered greatly from economic deprivation and, in some cases, starvation. 		          
Since WWII, the United States implemented sanctions against approximately 30 countries
       The proof that sanctions have become a major part of foreign policy and that they affect the business climate, is shown by the number of companies, such as James Orr Associates, that provide information services on unilateral and economic trade sanctions. Intentional interferences and disruptions to a nation's economy and business operations occur often from many sources, and are part of the "white collar" crime that affects the world. Economic warfare, of which sanctions is one part, is more serious than "white collar" crime and people suffer greatly from the warfare. Intentional starvation of people due to interference by a foreign source is more serious than economic warfare. It is a major crime and a form of terrorism. It has been attempted by the United States in several situations.           
The most punishing U.S. policies have been against Cuba, Angola, Nicaragua, and Iraq
       Although Washington and its allies have often stated that civilians should not be made to deliberately suffer from a nation's transgressions or from war and strife, Washington's policies have guaranteed that civilians suffer by economic warfare. Economic warfare against the above mentioned countries demonstrates the damages to their populations.           


    
Cuba
 
The United States imposed an embargo against Cuba almost immediately after its revolution
       Cuban expropriation of American property and land reform policies motivated the United States into decreasing Cuba's sugar subsidy and implementing an embargo that intended to starve Cuba of spare parts for the U.S. machinery that powered their economy. The Soviet Union aided Cuba in these unfortunate years by purchasing sugar at inflated market prices and forwarding strategic materials to the island. Cuba's alliance with the Soviet Union strengthened Uncle Sam's determination to cripple Cuba by embargo.

Although the reasons for the embargo faded with the years and became totally unnecessary after the fall of the Soviet Union, the United States, still wanting to overthrow the Castro government and catering to the Cuban exile community, tightened the embargo. In 1992, congress passed The Cuba Democracy Act, 1992. This act forbade United States subsidiaries to trade with Cuba, and deprived the island of $700 million in trade, 70% of which had been in food and medicine. The Act also prohibited U.S. citizens to spend money in Cuba. It allowed private groups to deliver food and medicine. Although the United Nations general assembly on November 2, 1995, voted 117 to 3 to recommend an end to the U.S. embargo against Cuba, President Clinton on March 12, 1996 signed into law The Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity Act, otherwise known as The Helms-Burton Act. This Act imposed penalties on foreign companies doing business in Cuba, permitted U.S. citizens to sue foreign investors who make use of American-owned property seized by the Cuban government, and denied entry into the U.S. of the investors in Cuba.

The tightened embargo reinforced Cuba's suffering after Russia withdrew subsidies. The pre-90's Cuba had been credited with eliminating hunger and malnutrition, wiping out infectious diseases and received applause from the World Health Organization for its public health system. Cuba of the mid-90's portrayed another image. The American Association for World Health and the American Public Health Association determined that the embargo caused significant deterioration in Cuba's food production and health care:
  • Cuba is banned from purchasing nearly 1/2 of new drugs on the market.
  • Physicians have access to only 890 medications, down from 1,300 in 1989.
  • Deterioration of water supply has increased water borne diseases.
  • Daily caloric intake dropped by 33% between 1989 and 1993.
New Jersey Congressman Torricelli predicted that his Cuban Democracy Act would bring Castro's downfall within one year. That has not happened. Humanitarians, such as Congressman Torricelli, have been eager to take advantage of the sufferings of the Cuban people and intensify them for political purposes rather than affording the people a means to recover from the tragedy. This procedure is equivalent to hitting a person you don't know as they are falling down. Cuba claims that forty years of trade embargo has cost the Caribbean island $60 billion. In 1998,they estimated their losses at $800 million. Due to the European nations refusal to abide by the embargo, and increased tourist revenues, the economic war against Cuba is slowly being lost. 		          


    
Angola
 
Angola is an example of destroying the economic fabric of a nation by creating turmoil
       Independence from Portugal brought civil war to a country that had the resources to become the wealthiest in Africa. The contending rivals had extreme leftist leanings and none could be considered friends of the United States. After the Soviet Union and Cuba gave financial and military support to protect the established MPLA government from the rebel group UNITA, the United States quickly supported the rebel groups. Due to military assistance from South Africa, Jona Savimbi's UNITA evolved from a small army of poorly armed followers in 1976 to a credible fighting force during the '80's. After 1985, the United States' aid to the avowed Maoist leader allowed UNITA to extend its destructive campaign throughout Angola. By the time the factions agreed to a mutual settlement in 1989, Angola had been ravaged. Library of Congress documents describe the human toll:
  • Estimates are that between 60,000 and 90,000 have died.
  • More than 20,000 persons have become amputees, the largest of any country.
  • Almost 700,000 people have become displaced.
  • About 400,000 Angolans became refugees in neighboring states.
  • About 600,00 Angolans required nutritional assistance.
Added to the human toll are the economic losses:
  • Agriculturally rich Angola became forced to import 80% of its food supplies.
  • Iron production virtually ceased. Diamond mining and lumber were curtailed.
  • UNITA damaged and destroyed hundreds of facilities and made development impossible.
  • Due to civil war, the defense budget doubled between 1980 and 1986. Economic development was halved.
  • The insurgency disrupted all areas of productivity. Inflation went as high as 1,650% in 1996.
The havoc committed upon Angola did not stop with the 1988 accords between the warring parties. Although the Angolan government permitted Jonas Savimba's UNITA to enter the government, and many have remained, Jonas Savimba returned to the battle. His troops have seized the diamond mining area and now function as a government within a government. Angola's infrastructure remains in shambles. The story has an ironic twist. The United Nations, with United States voting approval, imposed sanctions against UNITA, the organization that the US armed for several years and supported until the mid '90's. Under U.N. Security Council Resolution 1173, member states must freeze all UNITA assets and those of its leadership. The resolution prohibits the importation of illegal diamonds from Angola, and also prohibits the exportation to UNITA of any mining equipment, vehicles and spare parts. The Washington Post, July 25, 1999 (that's '99 and not '79), gave a clue to the US legacy of economic war against Angola:

Luanda, Angola--The staff of the main public hospital here grapples with one epidemic after another. It was cholera a year ago, followed by an outbreak of polio this year. The malaria season is beginning...With thousands of refugees fleeing the the fighting in their villages and settling in vast squatter camps, with uncollected garbage, open sewage and contaminated water, Angolan cities can be incubators for diseases such as polio and malaria. Angola has higher rates of leprosy than almost any other country. 		          


    
Nicaragua
 
Economic warfare by the United States against Nicaragua consisted of all forms of disruption
       Revolutionary Nicaragua's friendly relations with Cuba and the Soviet Union aggravated Washington. After accusing the Sandinistas of human rights violations and aiding the El Salvador rebels, the United States, which had indirectly assisted the Sandinistas to achieve power by denying Somoza military assistance, started an economic war against the Nicaragua people. In 1981, Carter terminated aid to Nicaragua. In 1984, US Seals mined Nicaragua's harbors in a known "covert" action. In 1986, the World Court awarded damages to Nicaragua (that the US never paid) and confirmed this obvious violation of international law. Although the US House of Representative, in 1982, passed the Boland Amendment that prohibited the US from supplying the Contra rebels in their struggle against the Nicaraguan government, Reagan declared the Contras to be "freedom fighters," and "covertly" provided arms to them. With these "freedom fighters," the US had Nicaragua's borders isolated from land and sea. Since Nicaragua had previously been a "quasi" colony of its Northern neighbor, its trade occurred principally with the US, and its infrastructure depended on US materials.

Due to the loss of aid and the embargo, Nicaragua's imports dropped from $242.1 millions in 1980 to $122.6 million in 1984. During the same period, exports dropped from 160.2 million to $62.5 million. Meanwhile, the Contra "freedom fighters" sallied from protected bases in Honduras and raided Nicaraguan farms, burnt crops, killed livestock and created havoc. They never held territory or incited the Nicaraguan people to revolt. Finally, a desperate Nicaragua agreed in 1988 to seek an end to the havoc. The Central American countries, with Nicaragua's and Contra approval, adopted the Arias Plan, named after the Costa Rican president. The Arias Plan resulted in a permanent cease-fire, demobilization of the Contras and free elections in Nicaragua. Violetta Chamorro, a previous Sandinista supporter defeated the previous government's president, Daniel Ortega. The United States never approved the Arias Plan that settled the dispute to the U.S. desires. Evidently, the Nicaraguan people had not sufficiently suffered. 		          


    
Iraq
 
If Iraq were Pompeii, then the US would be Mt. Vesuvius
       The US, after destroying much of Iraq in a declared war, has continued to destroy it further in an undeclared war. This war contains every imaginable form of warfare: direct military, economic, incitement to revolt, aid to insurgency, blockade, spying, propaganda. Analyzing the reasons for these attacks, that continue today, is fruitless and only deflects us from the obvious fact that the Iraq population has greatly suffered.

This suffering has been outlined in a UN Report on the Current Humanitarian Situation in Iraq, submitted to the Security Council, March 1999. Due to the length of the report, only the significant features are mentioned. 		          
Before the Gulf War
      
  • Iraq's social and economic indicators were generally above the regional and developing country averages. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 1989 stood at 75.5 billion for a population of 18.3 million. By 1988 GDP per capita totaled 3.510 US dollars.
  • Up to 1990, domestic food production represented only one third of total consumption for essential food items. As highlighted by Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), at that time Iraq had one of the highest per capita food availability indicators in the region. Dietary energy supply averaged 3.120 kilo calories per capita/per day. Due to its relative prosperity Iraq had capacity to import large quantities of food.
  • According to the World Health Organization (WHO), prior to 1991, health care reached approximately 97% of the urban population and 78% of rural residents. The health care system was based on an extensive expanding network of health facilities linked up by reliable communications and a large fleet of service vehicles and ambulances. Health care emphasized curative aspects, but a set of active public health programmes complemented it through immunization and control of insect borne diseases. A major reduction of young child mortality took place from 1960 to 1990, with the infant mortality rate at 65 per 1.000 live births in 1989 (1991 Human Development Report average for developing countries was 76 per- 1.000 live births). UNICEF indicates that a national welfare system was in place to assist orphans and children with disabilities and support the poorest families.
  • Before 1991 the South and Center of Iraq had a well developed water and sanitation system comprising over two hundred water treatment plants ("wtp's") for urban areas and 1200 compact wtp's to serve rural areas, as well as an extensive distribution network. WHO estimates that 90% of the population had access to an abundant quantity of safe drinking water.
          
After the Gulf War
      
  • The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) estimated the maternal mortality rate increased from 50/100,000 live births in 1989 to 117/100,000 in 1997. The under-five child mortality rate increased from 30.2/1000 live births to 97.2/1000 during the same period. The United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) calculates that the infant mortality rate rose from 64/1000 births in 1990 to 129/1000 in 1995 (the latest Human Development Report sets the average infant mortality rate for Least Developed Countries at 109/1000). Low birth weight babies (less than 2.5 kg) rose from 4% in 1990 to around a quarter of registered births in 1997, due mainly to maternal malnutrition.
  • The dietary energy supply had fallen from 3120 to 1093 calories per capita/per day by 1994-95. The prevalence of malnutrition in Iraqi children under five almost doubled from 1991 to 1996 (from 12% to 23%). Acute malnutrition in Center/South rose from 3% to 11% for the same age bracket.
  • The World Food Program (WFP) estimates that access to potable water is currently 50% of the 1990 level in urban areas and only 33% in rural areas.
  • Since 1991, hospitals and health centers have remained without repair and maintenance. The functional capacity of the health care system has been degraded by shortages of water and power supply, lack of transportation and the collapse of the telecommunications system. Communicable diseases, such as water borne diseases and malaria, which had been under control, came back as an epidemic in 1993 and have now become part of the endemic pattern of the precarious health situation, according to WHO.
  • School enrollment for all ages (6-23) has declined to 53%. According to a field survey conducted in 1993, as quoted by UNESCO, in Central and Southern governorates 83% of school buildings needed rehabilitation, with 8613 out of 10,334 schools having suffered serious damages. The same source indicated that some schools with a planned capacity of 700 pupils actually have 4500 enrolled in them. Substantive progress in reducing adult and female illiteracy has ceased and regressed to mid-1980 levels, according to UNICEF. The rising number of street children and children who work can be explained, in part, as a result of increasing rates of school drop-outs and repetition, as more families are forced to rely on children to secure household incomes. Figures provided by UNESCO indicate that drop-outs in elementary schools increased from 95,692 in 1990 to 131,658 in 1999.
          
Observations and recommendations
      
  • Data provided to the panel point to a continuing degradation of the Iraqi economy with an acute deterioration in the living conditions of the Iraqi population and severe strains on its social fabric. As summarized by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) field office, ""the country has experienced a shift from relative affluence to massive poverty". In marked contrast to the prevailing situation prior to the events of 1990-91, the infant mortality rates in Iraq today are among the highest in the world, low infant birth weight affects at least 23% of all births, chronic malnutrition affects every fourth child under five years of age, only 41% of the population have regular access to clean water, 83% of all schools need substantial repairs. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) states that the Iraqi health-care system is in a decrepit state.
  • ....it is the panel's view that, under current conditions the humanitarian outlook will remain bleak and become more serious with time. Even if not all suffering in Iraq can be imputed to external factors, especially sanctions, the Iraqi people would not be undergoing such deprivations in the absence of the prolonged measures imposed by the Security Council and the effects of war.
The International Study Team noted, "Most of the babies who lost their lives during the war period must have died from diseases related to poor nutrition, lack of clean water, and related deprivations." 		          


    
Conclusion
 
Sovereign countries that suffered from US economic warfare in undeclared wars had similar traits:
      
  • Independent foreign policies that didn't support the US policies.
  • The most advanced social polices of comparable countries in their area, such as the highest literacy rate, life expectancy, number of doctors/population, and the lowest infant mortality rate. This had been true of Cuba and Iraq. Angola and Nicaragua never had the opportunity to develop these characteristics.
  • Strong authoritarian leaders and lack of US concepts of democracy and freedom. This had been true of Cuba and Iraq. It was not entirely true of Angola and Nicaragua.
  • Principally dependent on the export of one essential crop or resource for survival.
          
The economic warfare policies had similar results:
      
  • Almost complete devastation to the country's infrastructure.
  • Enormous suffering to the population, bordering on starvation.
  • The country's military remaining relatively intact.
  • Except for Nicaragua, no modification to the country's leadership or political structure.
We visualize warfare in terms of dead soldiers, battlefield blood, eerie noises and bombed-out structures. We can't easily comprehend that warfare can be silent and still be deadly. Economic warfare has equivalents to military war. The country that takes the offense becomes the aggressor, as in any war, and the destruction to the defending state is equally brutal. In most cases, the economic war has worse results: In a one sided manner, the civilian population of the defending nation suffers greatly and the military force receives lesser pain. The aggressor country suffers few losses. The war rarely achieves the results that the offending party desired and no peace treaty is signed. The economic war remains an open issue.

A limited form of economic warfare may, at times, have a legitimate purpose. A complete economic war, that invades all aspects of a country's life and continues until it debiltates the population, cannot be accepted. In a military campaign, atrocities and human rights violations are often committed. Although no shots are fired and battefields are not identifiable, economic warfare cannot camouflage its atrocities and disguise its severe human rights violations.