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It Is A
Time Of Crisis And U.S. Foreign Policy Is Becoming
Unhinged
By Moon
Of Alabama
March 28,
2020 "Information
Clearing House"
- The Trump administration is reacting to
the pandemic stress by lashing out at perceived
internal and external enemies. Secretary of State
Mike Pompeo is leading the external onslaught.
UN
Secretary General Antonio Guterres has
called for an
"immediate global ceasefire" to focus on fighting
Covid-19. He has appealed for the "waiving of
sanctions that can undermine countries' capacity to
respond to the pandemic."
But
Washington is not listening.
Requests
from Venezuela and Iran for emergency IMF loans to
buy medical supplies were blocked by U.S.
interventions.
Just
a month ago Pompeo announced an
increase of sanctions
against Iran. The sanctions block money transfers.
They make it impossible for Iran to import the
medical equipment it urgently needs to counter the
epidemic.
While
the U.S. renewed the sanction waiver which allows
Iraq to import electricity and gas from Iran the
waiver
is now limited to only 30 days.
One third of Iraq's electricity depends on those
imports from Iran and, if the waiver is not renewed,
its hospitals will go dark just when the epidemic
will reach its zenith.
Parts
of the Trump administration are even
pressing for a wider war
against alleged Iranian proxy forces in Iraq:
The
Pentagon has ordered military commanders to plan
for an escalation of American combat in Iraq,
issuing a directive last week to prepare a
campaign to destroy an Iranian-backed militia
group that has threatened more attacks against
American troops.
But the
United States’ top commander in Iraq has warned
that such a campaign could be bloody and
counterproductive and risks war with Iran.
...
Some top officials, including Secretary of State
Mike Pompeo and Robert C. O’Brien, the national
security adviser, have been pushing for
aggressive new action against Iran and its proxy
forces — and see an opportunity to try to
destroy Iranian-backed militia groups in Iraq as
leaders in Iran are distracted by the pandemic
crisis in their country.
Military leaders, including Defense Secretary
Mark T. Esper and Gen. Mark A. Milley, the
chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, have been
wary of a sharp military escalation, warning it
could further destabilize the Middle East at a
time when President Trump has said he hopes to
reduce the number of American troops in the
region.
The plan is
lunatic. One can not "destroy" Kataib Hezbollah and
other Iraqi Shia groups which Iran helped to build
during the war against ISIS. These groups are part
of political parties with deep roots in the Iraqi
society. |
