If there is a single takeaway from the thirteen years of “crippling sanctions” against Iraq, it’s that the program didn’t work. Neocons and their allies – who pushed for a full invasion in the first Gulf War – were declaring as much in 1998, by which time they were already calling for blood. Eventually, they got their wish, and mired the U.S. – not to mention Iraq and the broader Middle East – in the ensuing disaster.  (more…)