Destruction of Iraqi infrastructure during the Gulf WarWe bring to your attention a report-investigation of the site Aldelis.net about the consequences of the US bombing of Iraq during the first World War
The Persian Gulf (1991). The troops of the West never entered the Iraq, but NATO aviation returned the country to 1920: refrigerators did not work, there was no light, chlorination of water stopped. And now these people are teaching us the "customs of war."
The relentless bombing of civilian targets in Iraq during the Gulf War intensified the impact of the sanctions imposed earlier and left behind enormous destruction, which Baghdad was not allowed to eliminate.
Apparently, US Secretary of State James Baker warned Iraq's Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz at a meeting in Geneva on January 9, 1991, that is, before the war began, that his country would return to a pre-industrial state if it did not withdraw its troops from Kuwait. This threat was largely fulfilled by the systematic bombing of Iraqi infrastructure and economic facilities.
In a report by the American government entitled "Cruise missiles. Reliable potential" identified five main categories of targets "included in the plan of attack on Iraq." These are control points, industrial enterprises, infrastructure and troops. There is also a point about strikes designed to break the "will of the population." The document goes on to say: "Attacks on facilities such as broadcasting stations of television channels and radio stations, as well as power plants and distribution networks will weaken the will of the civilian population (emphasis added).
Strikes against civilian infrastructure and the "will of the population" are prohibited by international humanitarian law and constitute a war crime. If "weakening the will of the civilian population" was one of the goals of bombing power plants and distribution networks, then the United States probably pursued the same goal as after the Gulf War, when it stubbornly refused to give Iraq the opportunity to repair these facilities.
1. Complete destruction of Iraq's civilian infrastructurePublicly, the leadership of the United States and its allies denied that it had intentions to harm the civilian population and civilian objects.
However, their armed forces have struck, disabled, destroyed and damaged major civilian infrastructure throughout Iraq. Among other things, most power plants and power transmission lines, dams for various purposes, oil refineries, food processing plants, food and seed warehouses, flour mills, one dairy, sugar factories, a syringe factory, communication systems, irrigation facilities, urban water supply and sewerage systems were destroyed. Even the plant for the production of vaccines for animals suffered. And, of course, the bombs did not spare civilian vehicles, roads and railways, airports, bridges, as well as numerous industrial, commercial, educational, religious and cultural facilities.
Estimates of damage from the 1991 bombing are very different. The minimum estimate was given in 1991 by the CIA, naming the amount of $ 30 billion. But a more realistic estimate is $200 billion.
2. Destruction of the electric power systemMore than 90 percent of the capacity of the Iraqi electric power industry was put out of operation in the first hours of the war.
This includes 11 large power plants and 119 substations. If in December 1990 the operating generating capacity was 9,000 megawatts, by March 1991 they were reduced to 340 megawatts. Obviously, the United States used special weapons designed to destroy electric power facilities, in this case, the Iraqi one. US Air Force officers admitted that the strikes on the Iraqi infrastructure (including the power supply system) were related to attempts to "accelerate the impact of sanctions", that is, to "weaken the will" of the civilian population and push it to overthrow Saddam Hussein. Deputy Commander of the US Air Force for Strategy, Doctrine and Planning, Colonel John A. Warden III (John A. Warden III) This is how he explained the meaning of the destruction of the Iraqi electric power industry to Barton Gellman from the Washington Post:
Saddam Hussein cannot restore his electricity supply under the blows. He needs someone to give him the opportunity to restore a normal life. So, if the UN-backed coalition has political goals, it can say: "Saddam, when you agree to do this and that, we will let your people fix the power grid." This gives us long-term leverage.Gellman contacted military analysts, and they calculated that it would take about a year to repair the destroyed transformers and substations with the help of the West, but it would take much longer – five years to repair the main engine rooms of power plants destroyed by American bomb attacks.
The Pentagon leadership, contacted by Gellman, refused to give written explanations about the specific military significance of 28 electric power facilities in 1991. One officer who got a call from Gellman said:
People say: "Didn't you know that bombing attacks would have an impact on water supply and sanitation?" Yes, we knew it. And why do you think we imposed sanctions then – to help out the Iraqi people? No. We have been hitting the infrastructure in order to strengthen the impact of sanctions and get the effect from them as soon as possible.Lieutenant General Charles A. Horner, who carried out the overall command of the aviation campaign, tried to hide the malicious goals of destroying the electric power infrastructure.
He explained to Gellman that "the psychological impact on ordinary Iraqis who lost light in their homes" was only a side effect [of the destruction of infrastructure].
Gellman reports on other justifications for actions to destroy infrastructure. One of them is that the Iraqi civilian population bears its share of the blame for Saddam's invasion of Iraq. "The meaning of the words 'innocent people' is not completely clear," said one senior Air Force officer, who stressed that many Iraqis supported the invasion of Kuwait. "They live there, and eventually the people somehow influence what is happening in the country."
Another officer, who played a central role in the airstrike campaign, refused to give his name and explained to Gellman that strategic bombing strikes were carried out "on all those objects that enable the nation to stand."
"With the destruction of power plants, refineries, main oil storage facilities and water treatment facilities, all electric-powered facilities ceased to function," he said. In fact, the water supply and sewerage systems, as well as other vital services dependent on electricity, were paralyzed. The irrigation system running on electricity, which is necessary for food production in the country, was also seriously damaged. The food and medicine freezing system was immediately destroyed. This was confirmed by a group of ten American doctors who visited 11 major Iraqi cities and towns between April 27 and May 6, 1991, getting acquainted with the humanitarian situation. The group's report, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, confirms the findings contained in the Ahtisaari mission report:
"We have revealed suffering of tragic proportions. As often happens, the youngest and most vulnerable pay for the actions of others. Children are dying from preventable diseases and from starvation, which was a direct result of the crisis in the Persian Gulf… The main factor contributing to the epidemic of water-borne diseases has clearly been the destruction of the electricity supply infrastructure. The coalition bombing caused relatively little direct damage to the civilian population, but the destruction of infrastructure caused terrible and long-term consequences for human health.Gellman writes:
"According to analysts from the Pentagon, four months after the end of the Gulf War, the generating capacity of Iraq's electric power industry was reduced to a pre-industrial level, the country returned to 1920, when refrigerators, water treatment and sewerage had not yet found widespread use."
3. Destruction of water treatment and sewerage systemsJournalist Ed Vulliamy told how during the Gulf War, the Allies bombed water treatment plants in the city of Basra.
"Not only transformers of water treatment plants were destroyed, but also giant Japanese-made turbines, which became impossible to repair under the embargo." There are written testimonies of eyewitnesses to the destruction of other objects of the hydraulic system. A team from Harvard reported in September 1991 that they had visited two sewage treatment plants that serve Baghdad. Both stopped working in the first weeks of the war, having lost electricity. One facility was later destroyed by Allied bombs, and as of early May 1991 continued to dump untreated sewage into the Tigris River.
Clark reported that "four of the seven major water pumping stations in Iraq have been destroyed. Bombs and rockets hit 31 municipal water treatment and sewerage facilities. There were 20 such hits in Baghdad alone. Sewage flowed into the Tigris and spread through the streets of Baghdad, increasing the number of deaths from water-borne diseases."
Clark further reports: "Water treatment plants are out of order across the country. Those that have not been damaged cannot work without electricity. For many weeks, the population of Baghdad has been collecting drinking water in buckets in the Tigris. At the same time, there was no television, radio, or newspapers that could warn him about the danger."
Professor Thomas Nagy (Thomas J Nagy is a Hungarian surname, approx. InoSMI) bases its conclusions on a document prepared by the US Department of Defense Intelligence Agency and declassified in 1995. He claims that the United States specifically deprived Iraq of the ability to provide drinking water to the population. The report of the RUMO dated January 18, 1991, entitled "Vulnerabilities of Iraqi water treatment systems" and sent to the advanced commands of the Allied forces, provides a detailed technical report on Iraqi water treatment facilities and gives detailed explanations about the impact that can be had on Iraq and its population if such facilities are destroyed and not allowed to be restored. We will discuss the significance of the RUMO report in detail later.
4. Destruction of chlorine production plantsA declassified American report reports the destruction of chlorine production plants, presumably as a result of Allied bombing:
The restoration of potable water treatment facilities across the country has been slowed down due to 1) the destruction of chlorine production facilities and 2) the large financial costs of restoring destroyed petrochemical plants and the need to import chlorine products from abroad. Water treatment systems and portable generators provided as part of humanitarian assistance, at best, can become a temporary measure. The Iraqi Ministry of Health continues to publish instructions to the public on the need to boil water, bring food to full readiness, and store food and water in clean containers.In June 1991, the New York Times reported, citing Iraqi government sources, that six chlorine plants had been damaged during the war.
Repairs were started on one, and it was put into operation in a short time, but it could meet Iraq's needs for chlorine for water treatment by only 20 percent.
5. Destruction of the communication networkThe Iraqi telecommunications system was disabled in the early days of the Gulf War.
A fact-finding mission from the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), working in Iraq in June-July 1991, reported: "400,000 of the 900,000 Iraqi telephone lines have been destroyed. 14 central telephone exchanges were destroyed beyond repair, and another 13 were put out of operation indefinitely." In order to prevent the dissemination of information, news and warnings to the public, six wireless broadcasting stations, 12 television stations and five radio stations were destroyed. Without electricity, even intact radio transmitters and receivers were useless.
6. Destruction of the transport systemIn the country, which was built mainly along the banks of two large rivers, 139 road and railway bridges were damaged and destroyed, including 26 in Basra province alone.
The main highways and other roads were bombed, and they were not allowed to be restored. In addition, road repair and maintenance facilities were bombed.
7. Destruction of agricultural infrastructureAmong the facilities destroyed during the war was the only veterinary vaccination center in the country, which made pets unprotected from diseases.
The mission of the former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari inspected this center. She said that during the bombing of the center, which is a regional project of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, vaccine stocks were destroyed. "Such important agricultural facilities as eight multipurpose dams have been repeatedly bombed and seriously damaged." Strikes were also inflicted on "all irrigation systems serving irrigated lands," including dams of reservoirs, dams and dams, pumping stations and drainage systems. Farmers lost the opportunity to water and drain their lands, as a result of which food production was reduced by half, and large-scale soil salinization began in Basra province.
8. Destruction of important industrial enterprises in humanitarian termsIn addition to the destruction of food enterprises and processing plants, other facilities related to food production were destroyed during the bombing, including phosphorous fertilizer plants, a pesticide warehouse and a tractor assembly plant.
During the bombing attacks, a large fertilizer plant was destroyed, where 16 people were killed.
9. Destruction of medical enterprisesClark reports that a large injection syringe manufacturing plant was destroyed by laser-guided missiles in Hill.
10. Destruction of food warehouses and food enterprisesDuring the air strikes, the Allies damaged, destroyed and destroyed food warehouses:
At least three in Baghdad province, seven in Basra province, all warehouses of the Iraqi General Company of Food Warehouses in Al-Qadisiya province, the country's largest frozen meat storage and distribution center, as well as granaries throughout the country.
In addition, the Allies damaged, destroyed and destroyed food production enterprises: three factories of the Iraqi Date Company, a baby food factory in Abu Ghraib, which was a unique enterprise for the region, a vegetable oil plant and sugar factories.
A division of Human Rights Watch called Middle East Watch provided additional evidence of airstrikes on a sugar factory and a fuel gas production plant in northern Iraq, as well as a sugar factory in the south of the country, a poultry farm in Al-Anbar province, creameries in Baghdad province, food warehouses, granaries, flour mills and a dairy in Basra. During the Allied bombing raids, seed depots were also destroyed, which were inspected by the Ahtisaari group. According to her, Iraq has become seriously dependent on foreign seed suppliers.
11. Destruction of medical institutionsClark reported the destruction of 28 civilian hospitals and 52 medical centers, presumably during Allied bombing.
"The Zubair Hospital in Basra province was completely destroyed in a bombing attack. At the Al-Rashad Psychiatric Hospital southwest of Baghdad, ceilings collapsed on patients' beds. In the hospital of Ulvia, shell fragments and broken glass injured newborns and their mothers. The student clinic and the medical faculty in Hill were bombed. Five Iraqi military medical institutions were also damaged."
12. Destruction of educational institutionsAllied forces destroyed 676 schools. 38 of them were completely destroyed.
Eight university faculties were also affected.
13. Destruction of the oil industryClark reports: "American aircraft struck 11 oil refineries, five oil pipelines and production facilities, numerous oil tankers... Bomb attacks were carried out on large oil storage facilities, on gas-oil separators through which crude oil enters refineries, on distillation columns, on catalytic converters, without which modern oil refineries cannot do, and also along the important section of the K2 pipeline tie-in near Baiji, which connects the northern fields, the export oil pipeline going to Turkey and the reverse Iraqi north-south pipeline.
According to the laws of warfare, the belligerents are allowed to strike at refineries and oil storage facilities if they significantly help the enemy to conduct hostilities. As for Iraq, oil was mainly an export commodity for it, which allowed it to import food, medicines, various raw materials and industrial products. Only a small part of the oil produced was not for local needs, both civilian and military.
Consequently, the destruction of the Iraqi oil industry pursued a dual goal. Firstly, to limit Iraq's military potential, and secondly, and most importantly, to deprive the country of the opportunity to export oil, receive foreign currency from exports and thereby ensure the welfare of the population.
Author: Elias Davidson (Elias Davidsson)
