The program allows for Iraq to export oil under the eyes of UN monitors in exchange for food, as well as to pay for weapons inspectors, UN bureaucracy, and reparations to Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. The program is grossly inadequate. Given Iraq's capacity to export oil, Al Gore's January proposal to lift the limit off Oil for Food was only another slap in the faces of Iraqi women and children. Iraq's infrastructure and economy is shattered. Bombing of sewage treatment plants, power plants, and industry combined with a blockade leaves the country short of electricity and clean water.
Raw sewage drains into waterways.
Chlorine used to clean water is blocked by sanctions because of possible weapons manufacturing. Therefore, waterborne diseases run rampant and medicine is lacking to treat the illnesses. This has been the principle cause of malnutrition, illness, and death in young children. The U.S. use of uranium-depleted weapons during the Gulf War is believed by many to be causing widespread radiation sickness. Either process can lead to environmental contamination that has the potential to cause adverse impacts on human health, primarily through the water pathway.