They are the most brutal form of war because they punish an entire population, targeting children, the future, most of all.
Sanctions are a weapon of mass destruction.
From 1990, when sanctions were imposed on Iraq until 1995, half a million children under the age of five died of malnutrition and preventable diseases. Sanctions impose artificial famine. A third of Iraq's surviving children today have stunted growth and nutritional deficiencies that will deform their shortened lives.