Iraq Under Siege: The Deadly Impact of Sanctions and War - Book Report/Review Example

The US Marine Corps, Navy Air Force, and Army are described as the “hidden fist” under whose cover the US prepares the markets for its trade, especially technologies from Silicon Valley, to flourish (Arnove 20). It does this by appropriately reminding the reader that for a decade before it was published, the US relentlessly forced other nations to free up their markets to multinational organizations of the first world. However, it is also clear that this move, typified by economic sanctions, simultaneously cut off and isolated Iraq from the rest of the world.

At face value, the situation appears illogical, mainly because sanctions and liberalized trade do not seem to go together. However, the book points out in clear language how both sanctions and liberalized trade are essentially the manipulations of other countries’ policies by the first world and, essentially, the US. The book does not hide the fact that the sanctions imposed on Iraq are a representation of the modern world’s most comprehensive trade and industry blockade targeting civilians and, in particular, the poor, elderly and children (Arnove 88).

Arnove, especially through his description of the human, social and environmental impacts of the US policy in chapter two, is clearly against the sanctions. Communication centers, power generation, sewage treatment, and water treatment plants were bombed (Arnove 53). By pointing out these facts, he easily appealed to humanitarian groups. The groups agreed that it was against ethical standards for the US to consider the fact that over 22 million civilians will not have access to clean water as an acceptable consequence.

Further, the reader is made aware of the US personifying Iraq into its then leader, Saddam Hussein (Arnove 69). Save for failing to tie Iraq to the September 11 attacks, the book presents credible facts based on reports filed from fact-finding initiatives and eyewitness accounts. It features contributions from a wide range of political, professional and ideological backgrounds presented by 18 renowned authors. That way, the book is able to bring to the fore an anti-sanctions awareness by persuading the reader that the US sanctions were ruthless and the price paid by Iraq’s civilian society was horrific.

The booked can be said to have succeeded in passing the writer’s message. This is because by the time it was being published, the sanctions had been in place for a decade with no indications of an end, but it was successful in informing readers why it was critical to ending them.