Twenty-nine years ago today, on December 10, 1996 (October 30, 1996 lunar calendar), the United Nations implemented an "oil-for-food" agreement with Iraq. Iraqi oil was allowed to be exported. On December 10, 1996, just after 8 o'clock Baghdad time, the crude oil pipeline connecting Iraq and Turkey sounded like a gurgling sound after years of emptiness. This was the prelude to the implementation of the "oil-for-food" agreement between the United Nations and Iraq after several twists and turns. When Iraqi oil was finally re-exported, the capital Baghdad was almost a sea of revelry. Civilians took to the streets to sing and dance; all cars honked their horns in celebration, and Iraqis fired their submachine guns into the sky to express their ecstasy. The gunfire lasted for more than an hour, and the Iraqi security forces had to warn people on TV and radio not to take drastic action or face prosecution. Only in this situation did the gunfire gradually subside. "Our new life has begun," exulted a young man in Baghdad named Saad. In the days when there was no oil for dollars, the shops lining Baghdad's streets displayed chandeliers, Japanese household appliances, refrigerators, electric stoves and air conditioners, and grocery stores stocked with foreign imports such as French cheese, Turkish delicacies and Australian pure honey. But these were only luxuries for the wealthy few. "In Iraq, years of sanctions have divided Iraq into two societies, the rich few and the poor most, without a third," said a UN relief official. "In Baghdad's oldest and poorest Beta-speaking district, seven poor families are crammed into a house that looks like it could collapse at any moment, because their homes have been destroyed in the war. The deterioration of the economy has left Iraqi civilians living in extreme poverty, and it is common to find a second job. Engineers and doctors go to their repair shops and clinics after get off work, and university teachers go to secondary schools to substitute classes. On the streets, except for apricot taxis with TAXI signs, any vehicle is likely to stop and ask pedestrians if they want a ride. Today, the vast majority of people in Iraq are" businesspeople ". You walk into a grocery store and the owner will quietly ask you:" Do you want to import perfume? " When you walk into an appliance repair shop, someone will ask you: "Do you want to import a refrigerator?" "Do you have a TV set to sell?" "Do you want to sell cars, buy cars?" You ask someone to fix the air conditioner, and he will persuade you to "sell it to me." The historic Baghdad flea market is now more and more used goods, but the stalls are getting smaller and smaller. Most of the people who are struggling in life exchange a few things for money or urgent supplies, from antiques and large and small appliances to old clothes and old furniture. Many people stand with a table lamp, a tapestry or a juicer, or even a few knives, forks and dishes. The original market has long been unable to accommodate it, and the stalls have expanded to a hundred meters beyond the sidewalk next to the market. A retired teacher named Sadie is selling a wall clock and a heating stove. His and his wife's monthly pension of 8,000 dinars was worth only $3.20 at the end of 1995, and now it is worth as much as $2.80. His son has not found a job after graduating from technical secondary school, and his daughter is attending a normal school. To make a living, he sometimes drives a taxi, but his car is so old that he stares when it breaks down because he can't afford to fix it. He comes to sell one or two things every month. His carpet, television and some furniture have been sold. "I don't know what to do when things are sold out," he said. Middle-class families are selling their homes and possessions, while lower-class people have no assets to sell, so they go to work as coolies, blood, and some even sell their own kidneys. Al Hayali Hospital in Baghdad is famous for treating kidney transplant patients from the Gulf and Arab countries. Here, a kidney transplant costs $200 to $400. In Iraq, money can get judges to change sentences; $200 can buy a clean bill. People who are restricted from leaving the country by the Soviet government can also get out of customs. Money can also buy graduation certificates and various certificates. On the contrary, many things that should be done through normal procedures cannot be done. For example, if a soldier does not spend money, the officer will not allow him to take vacation. If you go to the hospital to see a doctor and don't pay the doctor, you won't get the low-cost and scarce medicines in the hospital. At the same time, a large number of medicines are stolen and sold to private pharmacies or clinics at prices several times higher than the original price, and the real bad luck is the poor who need the medicine urgently. What's more, some soldiers steal weapons for sale, a pistol can be sold for $300, and a machine gun can be sold for $600. Dozens of thefts and robberies occur every day in various parts of Iraq and even in the capital Baghdad. "Oil for food" twists and turns. Living conditions in Iraq have deteriorated sharply. Due to the sharp deterioration of sanctions, the Iraqi government has been asking the United Nations to lift sanctions on it for quite some time. But under the firm opposition of some countries such as the United States, Iraq's request for lifting sanctions has not been passed. Several rounds of negotiations with the United Nations began in early February, culminating in a memorandum of understanding, known as the "oil-for-food" agreement, on May 20. The main elements of this agreement are: Iraq sells $2 billion of oil and petroleum products over a period of six months, and the proceeds are used partly for its own use and partly at the disposal of the United Nations to reimburse the cost of the aftermath of the war; the Iraqi government guarantees that food, medicine and other humanitarian supplies purchased through the sale of Iraqi oil and petroleum products will be distributed equitably and equitably throughout the country; after consultations with the Iraqi side, the Secretary-General of the United Nations will select an important international bank to establish a transaction account related to the agreement. Oil and petroleum products will be exported through the Kirkuk-Yumurtalik oil pipeline passing through Turkey and then through the Iraqi oil export port of Bakr in the Gulf. Under the agreement, Iraq would export about 700,000 barrels of oil a day, from which it would pay $870 million to import about 2.30 million tons of food from abroad, $450 million to import medicine, and the remaining $680 million to pay the United Nations. After the "oil-for-food" agreement was reached, it was opposed by the United States in June on the grounds that Iraq had problems with the distribution of food and medicine to three Kurdish provinces in northern Iraq. To this end, Iraq revised its list. UN Secretary-General Ghali announced on July 18 that he accepted Iraq's revised list. On August 7, the United States also announced that it would no longer oppose the revised list and distribution plan. But at a critical juncture when the United Nations would implement the "oil-for-food" agreement, the situation in the Kurdish-populated areas of northern Iraq suddenly took a turn for the worse in early September. The United States then went to the Gulf of Chen Bing, and even carried out missile attacks on the "no-fly zone" in southern Iraq. As the situation in the Gulf gradually eased, UN Secretary-General Ghali decided to resume the "oil-for-food" agreement. But at this time, the United States was in trouble again and proposed a limited price limit for the implementation of the "oil-for-food" agreement. At this time, the parties to the conflict in northern Iraq had reached a ceasefire agreement in early November and expressed their full acceptance of the UN's conditions on November 25. Under such circumstances, UN Secretary-General Ghali announced on December 9 that he formally agreed to implement the "oil-for-food" agreement, and Iraq finally resumed limited oil exports on the 10th under the supervision of the international community. The implementation of the "oil-for-food" agreement means the start of the largest humanitarian operation in the history of the United Nations to date. It means that more than 20 million Iraqi civilians will gradually be relieved of hunger, pain and other suffering. It means that medical operations will be able to use anesthesia. It means that 1/10 of Iraqi newborns will no longer die before their first birthday...