"In the ten years since the end of the Gulf War, and despite much comment to the contrary, the policy of containing Saddam has been largely effective." He has been unable to seriously threaten or attack any of his neighbors, his armed forces have been weakened immensely, and his weapons of mass destruction program have been reduced. While as little as ten years ago Saddam was on the verge of developing nuclear weapons, the containment policy, achieved through the internal communications at the UN, has indefinitely postponed that. However, there still is much criticism about this containment. The world reacted very negatively towards the United States and British air strikes on the Iraqi's in the no fly zone. Saddam has greatly exploited the suffering of his people, as well as the breakdown of the peace process, to gain support to get rid of the sanctions. Inspections have since been put on hold.
English: Former President of Iraq, Saddam Hussein,...
April Glaspie shakes hands with Saddam Hussein
Carlos Cardoen meets with Iraqi Leader Saddam Huss...Also, sanctions breaches are increasing. Last year, numerous companies attended the Baghdad Trade Fair, while other countries involved in the sanctions permitted flights to Iraq. Oil smuggling from Iraq is estimated to be around one billion dollars per year. Many see this as a beginning to the collapse of containment. However, containment is the only real option, unless of course Saddam Hussein is removed from his position. To achieve the optimum level of containment the current methods must be changed, and only through using good communication skills among the top levels of management can these changes be implemented.
In considering changes there are three objectives that must be fulfilled.
One, depriving Saddam of the military capabilities needed to attack his neighbors. Two, Eliminating, or at-least controlling, his ability to produce long range ballistic missiles and weapons of mass destruction. Three, keeping regional support for these goals. The third...