Watching the reaction of the protesters in the United States has been interesting. The chant "No Blood for Oil" is pretty common. Of course the amazing thing is that under the current UN sanctions against Iraq, oil has been traded for blood. The current regime of sanctions were created after the Gulf war (Resolution 687) which put sanctions into place until Saddam disarms, stops production of all chemical, biological and nuclear programs, AND proves to the world that he has done so. The resolution has been amended several times to allow Iraq to sell oil for humanitarian purposes (ie food & medicine). It's been estimated by the UN that roughly 1/3 of the revenue for humanitarian purposes goes directly to Saddam and his inner circle. The money that should be buying food and medicine for Iraq children instead goes make sure Saddam can continue his reign and weapons program. While many protesters also feel the sanctions are wrong (The US is reponsible for the death of Iraqi babies), this clearly isn't the case. For every moment that Saddam remains in power, all Iraq children suffer. All that was required was that Saddam comply with the resolution. He chose not to and instead took the food directly from the mouths of children in order to perpetuate his regime. He then claimed the sanctions "killed millions." Saddam's theft of 1/3 the revenue for humanitarian purposes had a large part to do with the rise in infant mortality in Iraq after the Gulf war.
Certain researchers believe that Saddam's war with Iran marked the turning point and Iraqi health care has deteriorated since then. For example in the Northern no fly zone infant mortality rates have dropped below pre Gulf war levels. Where the Kurds are distributing the humanitarian aid - it actually seems to get to it's intended reciepients.
I personally think that the president does indeed have sense of moral outrage by the conduct of Saddam et al. "Blood for Oil" may be a cute slogan but it certainly falls short of the mark in describing the current administration's intentions.
