Sanctions can be more
deadly than bullets
By Philip Giraldi
January 21,
2020 "Information
Clearing House" -
Supporters of Donald Trump often make the
point that he has not started any new wars.
One might observe that it has not been for
lack of trying, as his cruise missile
attacks on Syria based on fabricated
evidence and his recent assassination of
Iranian general Qassem Soleimani have been
indisputably acts of war. Trump also has
enhanced troop levels both in the Middle
East and in Afghanistan while also
increasing the frequency and lethality of
armed drone attacks worldwide.
Congress has been
somewhat unseriously toying around with a
tightening of the war powers act of 1973 to
make it more difficult for a president to
carry out acts of war without any
deliberation by or authorization from the
legislature. But perhaps the definition of
war itself should be expanded. The one area
where Trump and his team of narcissistic
sociopaths have been most active has been in
the imposition of sanctions with lethal
intent. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has
been explicit in his explanations that the
assertion of “extreme pressure” on countries
like Iran and Venezuela is intended to make
the people suffer to such an extent that
they rise up against their governments and
bring about “regime change.” In Pompeo’s
twisted reckoning that is how places that
Washington disapproves of will again become
“normal countries.”
The sanctions can
kill. Those imposed by the United States are
backed up by the U.S. Treasury which is able
to block cash transfers going through the
dollar denominated international banking
system. Banks that do not comply with
America’s imposed rules can themselves be
sanctioned, meaning that U.S. sanctions are
de facto globally applicable, even
if foreign banks and governments do not
agree with the policies that drive them. It
is well documented how sanctions that have
an impact on the importation of medicines
have killed thousands of Iranians. In
Venezuela, the effect of sanctions has been
starvation as food imports have been
blocked, forcing a large part of the
population to flee the country just to
survive.
