There were no easy answers to that question today when the National Council of Churches Executive Board wrestled with the issue. That's how it should work. But we have a long way to go.
Sanctions are a flawed instrument, misapplied, poorly enforced and monitored.
Questions about the effectiveness and humanitarian cost of sanctions are being raised now in the international community after a period in which they were in vogue. Churches supported sanctions against the South African apartheid regime, and viewed sanctions against Iraq as an alternative to war in the Gulf Crisis. And if the United Nations walks away from Iraq, its authority to deal with future aggressors would suffer. General civilian trade sanctions should be lifted on humanitarian grounds alone. The arms embargo must be maintained, enforced and strengthened until Iraq complies.