MIF Stopped Flow of Prohibited Items

          To date, maritime interdiction has effectively controlled all except the smallest coastal craft movement into and out of Iraq and other ports serving as transshipping points to Iraq. Iraqi merchant ships have stopped operating in the Gulf.

          The operation has virtually ended all sea commerce of prohibited items into and out of Iraq. Interdiction forces found and diverted all types of contraband cargo including missiles, precursor chemicals, command and control vehicles and assorted Soviet military equipment. The interdiction effort has also prevented other goods with military applications such as fuel additives, tires, desalination chemicals and filters and electronic components from entering Iraq. These are products the Iraqi economy is unable to produce for itself. The blockade also reduced supplies of food, clothing and refined petroleum products.

          At the same time, the allied naval control of the Persian Gulf has allowed routine sea commerce to and from other nations in the Persian Gulf region to continue without interruption.

MIF Effect on Iraqi Warfighting Uncertain

          The effect of MW operations on the ability and willingness of Iraqi forces to fight is unclear because the military services have conducted little analysis. Because such an undertaking would be difficult and perhaps ultimately inconclusive, it apparently has not even been attempted.

          We do know that allied forces entering Kuwait after the war found that vehicles remaining in the country had been stripped of tires and that Iraqi soldiers were also desperately short of food and water.

          These indicators can be explained in at least two ways. One is that Iraqi doctrine and operating practices may dictate against large-scale resupply efforts, or that supplies were withheld from forces in the field. The second explanation is a limited ability to resupply due to the embargo.

          Given what we know of the deleterious effects of the quarantine on other sectors of the Iraqi economy, it seems reasonable to assume that the U.N. -sponsored embargo hampered Saddam's military apparatus appreciably.

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