GENOCIDE IN IRAQ
The Case Against the UN Security
Council and Member States
by
Abdul-Haq al-Ani and Tarik al-Ani
preface by
Prof. Joshua Castellino
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ISBN: 978-0-9853353-0-4 || 2012|| 259 pages




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    SYNOPSIS


    Imposing sanctions on Iraq was one of the most heinous of crimes committed in
    the 20th century. Yet it has received little attention in the Anglo-American world.
    Despite the calamitous destruction resulting from the sanctions, no serious
    attempts by legal professionals, academics or philosophers have been undertaken
    to address the full scope of the immorality and illegality of such a criminal and
    unprecedented mass punishment.

    Genocide in Iraq offers a comprehensive coverage of Iraq’s politics, its building, its
    destruction through aggression and sanctions, and an analysis of the legality of
    these sanctions from the point of view of international laws and human rights laws.
    It presents a detailed policy analysis indicating how, under Ba’ath rule, Iraq had
    risen to become—be fore 12 years of total sanctions were globally enforced—the
    most progressive and developed Arab nation in the Middle East. It then contrasts
    that rising nation to the devastated remains left in the aftermath of sanctions, which
    nonetheless was yet to endure, in 2003, the full force of the American “shock and
    awe” invasion.

    The book explains why, in modern times, imperialist powers felt it was necessary to
    occupy Baghdad. It also puts forward the uniqueness of Iraq as at the heart of both
    Sunni and Shi’a theology, arguing it was this very centrality of Iraq, which far
    outweighs the significance of Arabia in socio-economic, religious and geostrategic
    dimensions, that at the same time makes Iraq a target.

    It details the building of Iraq by the Ba’ath regime, part of which was done with
    remarkable speed, putting to rest the argument that other countries in the area were
    developed at a similar pace. It also details the devastation of Iraq by 2003 after 12
    years of sanctions—a devastation so dreadful that already in 1996, by the UN’s
    own  accounting, some 500,000 children under the age of 5 had died as a result;; a
    devastation so pervasive and overwhelming that two of the UN’s own key
    administrators of the sanctions program, Denis J. Halliday and Hans von Sponeck,
    resigned in protest.

    No other book published in English has made such an in-depth research and
    comparison of the two eras. Although previous books may have touched on the
    breach of international law through sanctions, this book, while making similar
    arguments on the breach of international humanitarian law and human rights law,
    goes further and argues that the Security Council itself, member states and the
    individual relevant members of the governments of that period are guilty of these
    crimes. More significantly, the book argues for the first time that imposing total
    sanctions is the equivalent of committing genocide. It challenges the argument by
    some Anglo-Americans that there is any need to establish specific intent to
    establish the crime of Genocide. In its section dealing with the Sanction Committee,
    it demonstrates how one man at any time could hold the whole of Iraq to ransom by
    denying the export of items so vital to the basic survival needs of millions.

    The little that has been written has concentrated on a single aspect of the effects or
    consequences of the sanctions; mostly in articles in dedicated journals whose
    readership is limited. But as the crime of genocide is one on which there is no
    statute of limitations, it is hoped that this book will serve not only as an indictment of
    and barrier to future global imposition of sanctions, but also as a tool in bringing the
    actual perpetrators of this crime to a Nuremberg-style day of judgment.

    THE AUTHORS

    Abdul-Haq al-Ani is an Iraqi-born, British-trained barrister who served as a
    legal adviser on Saddam Hussein’s defense to his daughter, Raghad
    Saddam Hussein. Called to the Bar in 1996, he holds a PhD in Electronics
    Engineering and a PhD in International law. Founding editor of The Arab
    Review, he has written widely on culture, politics and religion. He joined the
    Ba’ath party while in his his teens, but left it in disappointment a few years
    later,prior to the Ba’ath Party assuming power in 1968. He is author of The
    Trial of  Saddam Hussein.
    Tarik Al-Ani is an architect by profession, a translator, and a researcher of
    Arab/Islamic issues, who has been a strong opponent of the genocidal
    sanctions and the wars against Iraq.He has publicly written and talked
    about these issues in Finland where he works and lives.
    Joshua Castellano is Professor of Law and Head of the Law Department,
    MiddlesexUniversity, UK.   

    TABLE OF CONTENTS

    Preface by Joshua Castellano
    Chapter 1
    Introduction
    What is happening in the Arab World?
    Why this Book?

    Chapter 2
    Iraq’s Millennia of Rich History
    The Unique Historical Role of Iraq
    Inviolability of the Colonialists’ Drawn Borders Post WWI
    How the Shi’a vs. Sunni Divide in Islam Impacted Early Iraq
    Building Baghdad, Capital of an Empire

    Chapter 3
    History 1916 to 2003: Monarchy to Occupation
    Overview of Iraq’s 20th Century Political History
    Nuri As-Saeed’s Rule
    General Qasim’s Rule
    The Arifs’ Rule
    The Significance of the Ba’ath Movement in the Arab Middle East
    Learning the Lessons of the 1963 Failure of the Ba’ath.
    The Ba’ath Succeeds in Freezing the Kurdish Problem
    The Iraqi Night of the Long Knives
    The Ill-conceived Invasion of Iran Leads to Ba’ath Decline
    The First Consequence of the Iraqi Invasion of Iran
    Where the Ba’ath Failed: Some Conjectures

    Chapter 4
    The Ba’ath Pursues the Economic Development of Iraq
    Planning: The Cornerstone of the Ba’ath Strategy for Iraq’s Development
    The National Development Plan (NDP): The Most Ambitious Plan in the
    History of Iraq
    The 1975 Development Plan: A Transitional Development Plan
    The Second Development Plan 1976-1980
    The Development Plan and the Oil Sector
    Oil and the Rise and Decline of the Iraqi Economy
    The Nationalization of Oil and its Consequences
    Industrial Development under the Ba’ath
    Infrastructure Development under the Ba’ath
    Developing the Generation and Supply of Electricity
    Developing the Transportation System in Iraq
    Significant Development of Telecommunications in Iraq under the Ba’ath
    The Ba’ath Plans for the Development of the Agriculture and Irrigation
    Sector
    Agrarian Reform Law 1958 Enhanced and Enforced by the Ba’ath
    General Increase in agricultural products
    Understanding the Surface Water Resources
    The Ba’ath Achievements in the Construction of dams, irrigation projects
    and land reclamation
    The Impact of the Iran-Iraq war on Development
    Military Expansion and its Effects on the Economy
    Understanding the Economic Costs of the Iran-Iraq War

    Chapter 5
    The Ba’ath’s Progressive Social and Political Policies
    The Progressive National Front (PNF)
    New Labor Laws: A Major Contribution to Social and Economic Justice
    A Distinctive Contribution to the Liberation of Women in the Arab World
    A Unique Attitude to Religious Freedom in the Arab World
    Ba’ath Ideology in the Education Sector: Free Education for All at All
    Levels
    Primary and Secondary Schools
    Vocational Education
    The Ba’ath Plan to Provide Free Health Service to All
    Success in Providing Potable Water
    Building and Provision of Hospitals
    Setting up Health Centers
    Setting up Peoples’ Clinics as Secondary Health Service

    Chapter 6
    The Destruction of Iraq
    When Did the Destruction Really Begin?
    Planned Incremental Destruction: Dividing the Sanctions Regime into
    Distinctive Phases
    Phase One: Sanctions Preceding the 1991 Attack
    Was there a Real Chance for Peace Prior to the 1991 “Allied” Attack?
    Sanctions Indicate Pre-planning for an Attack on Iraq
    Operation Desert Storm: Extensive Unnecessary Damages Indicate Intent
    to Destroy Iraq
    After the 1991 Attack: Evaluating the Damage
    Phase Two: New Sanctions, New Pretexts
    The Invisible Weapon of Mass Destruction: Sanctions and the Massive
    Civilian Death Toll
    Impact of Sanctions on the Destruction of the 80-year-old Infrastructure
    Impact of Sanctions on the Health System Devolved by the Ba’ath
    Impact of Sanctions on Education/Literacy after Iraq Managed to
    Eradicate Illiteracy
    Impact of Sanctions on Water and Sewage Treatment Facilities
    Impact of Sanctions on the Oil Industry: Running Down Iraq’s Economic
    Lifeline
    Impact of Sanctions on the Agrarian Sector: Forced Reliance on Imports
    for All Iraqi Food Needs

    Chapter 7
    Sanctions and International Law
    UN Resolutions on Iraq vs. Resolutions on Israel: But One Example of
    Ongoing Double
    Standards in UN Application of Punitive Measures
    Invoking Chapter VII: The Abuse of International Law
    The Questionable Legality of Total Sanctions under the UN Charter
    The Illegality of Total Sanctions under International Humanitarian Law
    Human Rights Law and Sanctions

    Chapter 8
    The Sanctions Committee
    First Phase of the Committee’s Operation 1990-1996
    Second Phase of the Committee’s Operation 1996-2003
    Annual Reporting After Oil-for-Food Programme
    The Report of One Security Council Meeting Tells the Whole Story
    Executive Director of the Iraq Programme Addresses the Security Council
    on the Evils of Sanctions
    A Significant Challenge to the Legality of Security Council Resolutions:
    The Ruling of the European Court of Justice (ECJ)

    Chapter 9
    Sanctions as Genocide
    Background to the Genocide Convention and Its Adoption
    Reaction to the Convention during the Deliberations
    Problems with Application of the Convention
    Relevant Articles of the Genocide Convention to Sanctions
    Intent in Genocide: Its Meaning and Use to Obviate Criminal Liability
    The ‘Specific Intent’ View and its Argument
    The ‘Basic Intent’ View and its Argument
    Was Genocide Committed in Iraq?
    Our Alternative for the Meaning of Intent in Genocide
    Who is Complicit in Committing Genocide?

    Conclusion
    Index
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    REVIEW

    "Abdul-Haq Al-Ani & Tarik Al-Ani’s Genocide in Iraq, published by the small and
    independent Atlanta-based Clarity Press, presents a severe but cogently
    argued and well-documented indictment of the United Nations Security Council,
    the principal vehicle through which the United States, the rogue-in-chief of all
    nation-states, effected the wholesale destruction of Iraq…

    Some scholars take the view that the sanctions policy of the United States
    cannot be impugned, since it is conducted under the rubric of the Security
    Council; if this is the case, then it becomes incumbent to conduct a close
    examination of the human rights implications of the sanctions policy of the
    Security Council.  This is the other signal contribution of Abdul-Haq Al-Ani and
    Tarik Al-Ani’s book:  its subtitle, “The Case Against the UN Security Council and
    Member States”, hints at the boldness of the argument, since the authors are
    quite certain that the Security Council, which ought to act strenuously to
    prevent genocide, became the agent for the genocidal destruction of a people
    and their nation."
                                                               VINAY LAL, Professor of History, UCLA / blog


    "Genocide in Iraq . The case against the UN Security Council and member
    states by Abdul-Haq Al-Ani and  Tarik Al-Ani (Foreword by Professor Joshua
    Castellino; Clarity Press, Atlanta) is an extremely important book that sets out
    the case for prosecution of people involved in the Zionist-backed, US-
    spearheaded genocide in Iraq during the period of Sanctions (1990-2003).  Of
    course, as recognized by the authors, the carnage continued after the illegal
    US-led invasion and occupation. However the authors have chosen here to limit
    consideration to the horrendous effects of Sanctions because they were UN
    sanctioned,  and in being  associated with an estimated 1.7 million Iraqi
    avoidable deaths from deprivation  (1990-2003; substantially children; an Iraqi
    Holocaust and an Iraqi Genocide)  violated the intent and letter of international
    law and international humanitarian conventions devised to protect non-
    combatants and children. This book should be in every state, city, local, school
    and university library so that everyone throughout the world (and especially
    children)  can see for themselves the horrendous consequences of mass
    collective punishment of civilian populations to achieve political and strategic
    ends i.e. of state terrorism  or more precisely, collective state terrorism."
                                                                                    GIDEON POLYA, Countercurrents

    " A powerful case against the  Security Council and many member states."
    NEXUS

    "...a very readable legal tour de force...Haq al-Ani and Tarik al-Ani begin with
    self-incriminating quotations by American officials and by providing the
    historical backdrop of Iraq, the treachery of Sykes-Picot, how Iraq was
    geographically blocked from ready access to the Persian Gulf, how Kuwait was
    created by British colonial fiat, how a monarchial client regime was installed in
    Iraq, and how Iraq’s oil wealth was plundered for British capitalist profit.

    The history continues with the overthrow of the Iraqi monarchy, the internecine
    battles for power in Iraq that consolidated under the Ba’ath party and the rule of
    Saddam Hussein. The comparatively rapid economic and social development of
    Iraq under the Ba’ath is detailed.

    The context is important because Iraq is a country that would not recognize
    Israel as a legitimate state (and neither do many other Muslim states, and why
    should a state formed by European Jews dispossessing the indigenous
    Palestinians and maintained by perpetual occupation, oppression, and warfare
    against neighbor states and an Israeli society wherein 20% are discriminated
    against by the majority?), it had nationalized its oil for the profit of its own
    people (not for Big Oil), and it had developed its economy along socialist lines....

    Genocide in Iraq is a must read for those who believe in justice and the equal
    application of law for all. It is also a must read for those who seek to
    understand the attack on Iraq from the Iraqi perspective — not just western
    media demonization. "

                                     KIM PETERSEN, DISSIDENT VOICE
    REVIEWS
    The Trial of Saddam Hussein

    "For those who like to know both sides of any story, Abdul Haq al-Ani's book
    is a worthwhile if heavy-going read....The author shows, in great detail, and
    with convincing supporting evidence, that while the Tribunal was intended to
    promote the image of a triumphant Iraq democracy, the Americans were
    actually in control of all stages of Saddam's trial...For Bush, Blair and those
    who let loose war, Abdul Haq al-Ani's book is uncomfortable reading."
    Reviewed by Tam Dalyell, former Senior Member of Parliament, Labour
    Party, United Kingdom in The Oldie, January, 2009.

    "fascinating reading. One need not agree with, or even follow, each and every
    one of his assertions to find his book a penetrating analysis of Iraq’s place
    in the world and of the Saddam Hussein trial in particular."
    Reviewed by John Quigley, Professor of international law and human
    rights law, Ohio State University in Synthesis/Regeneration: A Magazine
    of Green Social Thought, Winter 2009.

    "[F]or the real story of the ‘criminal behavior of the United States, its foreign
    lobbyists and its partisans in this historic trial’, knowledgeable readers will
    always turn to Al-Ani’s immensely sobering exposé."
    Reviewed by David MacGregor, Professor of Sociology, King’s University
    College, University of Western Ontario, in Lobster 56.

    "even though the book profoundly, cogently, and ­ on its face ­ irrefutably
    exposes the injustice of the trial of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and his
    co-defendants, it exposes much, much more... The Trial of Saddam Hussein
    is densely packed with legal arguments (though eminently readable and
    comprehensible) and fastidious conclusions, and a simple book review
    cannot do justice... "
    Kim Petersen, Dissident Voice, December 17, 2008.