The left thought that President Donald Trump was going to be easy on Russia. The right thought President Donald Trump was going to have a cordial relationship with Russia. They were both duped.
President Trump signed new legislation that slaps sanctions on Russia. He signed the bill – which he can’t remove in the future – but he wasn’t happy about it.
“While I favor tough measures to punish and deter aggressive and destabilizing behavior by Iran, North Korea, and Russia, this legislation is significantly flawed,” a White House statement said.
Sanctions only lead to more war, conflict, tensions and aggression. The better approach is to talk, trade and travel, not impose crippling sanctions, which are acts of war.
And why is Moscow on the receiving end of sanctions? Ostensibly, it is because Russia hacked the 2016 election. Does that mean Brazil, Honduras, Russia, Canada, Ukraine, Israel and the dozens of other countries should also apply sanctions on the U.S. for interfering in their elections and overthrowing democratically-elected governments?
Robert Wenzel of Economic Policy Journal had a better response:
A libertarian President would have vetoed the bill and put the onus on Congress to override the veto–with perhaps a speech to the nation on why sanctions are evil.
It’s a shame that both Democrats and Republicans are cheering them on. This is further proof that there is just one party in the U.S.: The War Party.
The same bill also applies sanctions on Iran and North Korea. Ron Paul warned about this last month:
Why is Congress poised to add yet more sanctions on North Korea? Do they want the North Korean people to suffer more than they are already suffering? North Korea’s GDP is half that of Vermont – the US state with the lowest GDP! Does anyone believe they are about to invade us? There is much talk about North Korea’s ballistic missile program, but little talk about 30,000 US troops and weapons on North Korea’s border. For Washington, it’s never a threat if we do it to the other guy.
Here’s an alternative to doing the same thing over and over: Let’s take US troops out of North Korea after 70 years. The new South Korean president has proposed military talks with North Korea to try and reduce tensions. We should get out of the way and let them solve their own problems. If Iran and Russia want to fight ISIS and al-Qaeda at the invitation of their ally, Syria, why stand in the way? We can’t run the world. We are out of money.
President Trump was elected to pursue a new kind of foreign policy. If he means what he said on the campaign trail, he will veto this foolish sanctions bill and begin dismantling neocon control of his Administration.
When will things change in Congress? Answer: never.
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