The Horrible Foolishness of Sanctions: Ron Paul Talks to Lew Rockwell

by | Feb 1, 2015

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photo: Sirkon Ash

The momentum in the United States government seems to be behind piling more and more sanctions on countries with abandon. In opposition to this trend, Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity Founder and Chairman Ron Paul and RPI Advisory Board Member Lew Rockwell present in Rockwell’s latest podcast an in-depth discussion of the dangers sanctions pose.

Here is a sample of the sanctions-happy US government in action during just the last two months:

President Barack Obama on December 18 signing into law additional, extensive Russia sanctions authority;

Obama imposing further sanctions on North Korea via a January 2 executive order purportedly in response to the dubious claim that North Korea hacked Sony Pictures Entertainment emails; and

A large, bipartisan majority in the US Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee approving on Thursday new Iran sanctions legislation.

Legislators and the president in Washington, DC pretend sanctions are harmless for the people in sanctioned countries and without danger for Americans. But, as the history of US sanctions on Iraq demonstrates, sanctions can bring troubles ranging from economic hardship to death in targeted countries, and sanctions can lead to war.

In addition to these dangers from sanctions, Paul and Rockwell discuss in their podcast conversation the repeated failure of sanctions to accomplish the goals the sanctions are supposedly designed to accomplish. Examining this empirical failure of sanctions, Paul suggests that “people by their very nature unify” in response to the imposing of sanctions on their country and that sanctions thus undermine dissidents in sanctioned countries.

Listen here to Paul and Rockwell’s discussion focused largely on sanctions. The discussion also addresses various other topics including the future of the European Union and the economic situation in America and the world.

Author

  • Adam Dick

    Adam worked from 2003 through 2013 as a legislative aide for Rep. Ron Paul. Previously, he was a member of the Wisconsin State Board of Elections, a co-manager of Ed Thompson's 2002 Wisconsin governor campaign, and a lawyer in New York and Connecticut.

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