Waging war to raise capital

 "The official U.S. goal of sanctions —
stated publicly in May 1991,
but never authorized by the UN —
was to
overthrow the Iraqi government"
Poets against the War  

West’s attack on the Iran’s people

Editing by Carolyn Bennett

Making ordinary people suffer and struggle for jobs and for food so that one can protect one’s political capital is not the most evil thing in the world —but it’s pretty high up on the list. [John Glaser, January 25, 2012]

July 2, 2012—Reuters

“This week alone,” Reuters reported the Iranian Labour News Agency saying “tens of thousands of Iranian workers in household appliance factories were in danger of losing their jobs and contracts for workers in automotive units had been reduced from one year to three months.”

Having joined the United States in its claim “to force Tehran to curb nuclear activities that Western powers say pose a military threat” (Iran denies this assertion), the European Union’s tightened embargo on Iranian crude oil took full effect on Sunday.”

These acts of warfare are reportedly bringing “social and financial hardship to millions of Iranians.”

They are deepening the economic impact of the early 2012 phase of sanctions and measures imposed on Iran’s central bank (as in the Bush/Clinton/Albright sanction war on Iraqi children) on people already suffering rising prices and falling jobs.

“Outside the government cushion,” Reuters reported, “inflation hit 21.5 percent for the year to March; firms have found import and running costs soaring as has unemployment”; and the official statistics do not capture “the full impact of rising prices for Iranian businesses and households.” Businesses of all types have come under threat resulting in loss of tens of thousands of jobs.

1993-2001

1989-1993

Unconscionable governance

“There was a long list of sanctions already imposed on Iran before this latest round,” Glaser noted in January, and “what is notable,” he said, “is that the Obama administration knows that sanctions are hurting the population and are unlikely to effect the policies of Tehran (which, to recap, are to develop nuclear power, as is their right, and to signal to their antagonistic adversaries that they’re technologically capable of getting nuclear weapons without actually developing them).

2001-2009

2009-

“So why impose sanctions,” he asks.

Congressional supporters of sanctions seem to suggest that the sole reason is a sadistic urge to harm innocent Iranians; but, Glaser says, “The administration’s view, at least as reported, is more nuanced.… They are always doing it … to satisfy pressures from Israel, AIPAC (the lobby, American Israel Public Affairs Committee), the U.S. Congress; and to avoid being painted …. This is after all an election year.”

But forcing “ordinary people to suffer and struggle for jobs and food to protect political capital,” Glaser says, is an act that rates high on a list of “most evil things in the world.”

Sources and notes

“Obama is Making Ordinary Iranians Suffer So He Can Get Reelected” (John Glaser), January 25, 2012, http://antiwar.com/blog/2012/01/25/obama-is-making-ordinary-iranians-suffer-so-he-can-get-reelected/

John Glaser

Assistant editor at Antiwar.com John Glaser discusses a variety of international affairs issues including “how the United States’ Middle East policy is geared toward maintaining a regional foothold and containing Iran, not exporting democracy” http://antiwar.com/radio/2012/05/14/john-glaser-26/

“Iranians feel the pain as West tightens sanctions” (Marcus George and Yeganeh Torbati,

DUBAI ), July 2, 2012, http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/02/us-iran-sanctions-economy-idUSBRE8610Y020120702

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC, /ˈeɪpæk/ ay-pak) is a lobbying group that advocates pro-Israel policies to the United States Congress and Executive Branch. AIPAC’s current president, Michael Kassen of Fairfield, Connecticut, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Israel_Public_Affairs_Committee

Image: "The official U.S. goal of sanctions — stated publicly in May 1991, but never authorized by the UN — was to overthrow the Iraqi government," http://www.poetsagainstthewar.org/category/tag/sanctions



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