Month: December 2010

Iraq Sanctions End

by dcortright, posted in Iraq and Iran, Sanctions and Security

After 20 years, UN sanctions on Iraq finally have come to an official end. Let’s consider their tragic legacy.

First, the good news:

The sanctions were successful in restraining Iraq’s attempts to develop nuclear weapons and other means of mass destruction. They cut off the supply of vital nuclear-related materials. An official report of the British Foreign Office in September 2002 noted that sanctions “were hindering the impact of crucial potential nuclear-weapons applications” and “that Iraq would not be able to produce a nuclear weapon” as long as sanctions were in place.

Sanctions also prevented Saddam Hussein from rebuilding his war machine after the 1991 war. According to State Department figures, Iraqi military spending dropped from more than $22 billion in 1990, to an average of little more $1 billion annually through the 1990s. Iraq’s previously huge volume of military imports slowed to a trickle.

Sanctions pressured the Hussein regime to accept UN weapons inspections, which achieved unacknowledged success in eliminating Iraq’s nuclear and other weapons programs. UN diplomats credited the sanctions with helping to overcome Baghdad’s frequent attempts to obstruct the inspections.

The sanctions did not make Saddam Hussein less truculent or more cooperative, but they hampered his ability to threaten his neighbors and develop nuclear weapons.

Now, the bad news:

Continue reading “Iraq Sanctions End” →

Farewell, Howard

by dcortright, posted in Uncategorized
From left: David Cortright, Father Theodore Hesburgh, Howard Brembeck, Dan Holefca

Howard Brembeck died this week at his home in Goshen, Indiana. He was 100 years old. He was a highly successful businessman and philanthropist and was the founder and chair of the Fourth Freedom Forum. He was my boss for 16 years when I served as president of that organization.

Howard was like a father figure to me, although in some respects we were an unlikely duo: he the conservative Republican businessman, I the activist peace campaigner. When we first met I know that he had some doubts about my activist leanings. He called a mutual colleague for a reference and wondered if perhaps I was too radical. “You’re pretty radical yourself,” the colleague replied, “with your ideas about ending war and eliminating nuclear weapons.” That captured it perfectly. We were both unconventional in our commitment to creating a more peaceful and secure world. Over time we steadily gained confidence in one another (he respecting my judgment about issue advocacy, I appreciating the wisdom of his business principles), and the relationship blossomed into a bond of genuine friendship and partnership.

Howard truly was a radical. He wasn’t content with arms control, he wanted to abolish nuclear weapons altogether. He thought the UN was inadequate and wanted to replace it with a system of binding international law. He believed in the right of self defense but felt that wars such as the invasion of Iraq are ruinous folly.

Howard founded the Fourth Freedom Forum to promote international cooperation through the power of trade. The name derives from Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s vision of the four freedoms. The fourth is freedom from fear, freedom from the threat of war and weapons of mass destruction. Howard said of creating the foundation, “My basic thought was that economic power, not military power, is the power that rules the world.” He believed that economic interdependence and the use of sanctions and incentives could be used to help create a future without nuclear weapons, where nations work together to uphold international law.

Howard left an indelible mark on my life. I will miss him, but I know he lived a long and productive life and contributed greatly to making this a better world. His ideas and influence endure in the work of the Fourth Freedom Forum, and in the insights and values he imparted to those of us who were fortunate enough to know him.