The US State Department has announced that they intend to soon impose additional sanctions against Russia, after demanding that Russia provide them with a statement offering very specific “assurances” on the use of chemical weapons.
This all goes back to the allegations of a March Novichok attack in Salisbury, England. The British government blamed Russia for the attack, while Russia has denied it. The US already sanctioned Russia over the matter, and expelled large numbers of Russian diplomats.
They followed this up by demanding Russia give the US “reasonable assurances” that they will never again use chemical weapons. Russia never did so, since these assurances were predicated on Russia accepting guilt for the attack they denied involvement in.
It is unclear when the new sanctions will take effect, but Russia is warning that using this as a pretext for new US sanctions and other restrictions would be illegal. In Congress, many are pushing the State Department to impose massive sanctions against Russia, though this is a general trend and not necessarily based on any belief Russia launched this specific attack.
Soon we’ll be enacting “Double Secret Sanctions.” That’ll show ’em.
As shown in this article, China has implemented an economic plan that will allow its trading partners to work around U.S. sanctions:
https://viableopposition.blogspot.com/2018/11/the-china-pakistan-economic-corridor.html
Once other nations see that trade can, in fact, successfully take place without the use of the U.S. dollar, the flight from the dollar as the world’s currency of choice will lead to a new global trade reality.
I wholeheartedly agree with you, Charles Homer. The US is cutting off its nose to spite its face; and in the link you posted, China’s implemented an economic plan that will allow its trading partners to work around US sanctions.
As you said, once other nations see that trade can successfully take place w/o using the US dollar, the flight from the dollar as the world’s currency of choice will lead to a new global trade reality.
How can the Trump regime be so stupid as to impose more sanctions on Russia? Oh, wait! It’s not Trump who’s said he’ll impose more sanctions, it’s the vain, arrogant “Secretary of State” Mike “Pompous” Pompeo who made this ridiculous statement. Trump needs to fire him, pronto; he’s a menace to humanity.
I thought Bonkers Bolton was crazy, but Pompous Pompeo just surpassed him in lunacy.
What is the real concession which our government wants from Russia? Hands off Iran?
vassalhood, ala Yeltsin.
Probably never happen again.
The US doen’t want concessions, it wants to be a street bully. The US is really pushing to lay the groundwork for war with Russia, which is the only justification for maintaining a half-million person ground force with tanks, self-propelled howitzers, etc. They are of no use against China, the US’s other “peer competitor.” But on the plains of Europe — that’s ideal.
Unfortunately Russia, with a military budget 1/10 of the Pentagon budget, has out-gunned the US in many capabilities, including hypersonic weapons and electronic warfare. Trump’s military buildup looks doomed after the election — that’s good.
Looking at the big picture, Russia and its new allies, China and perhaps India, plus Iran Turkey and maybe Japan, are gaining ascendancy whereas the US is sinking away from its “world leadership” position.
If Russia would have given “assurances” we would have imposed more sanctions because giving assurances would have meant they were admitting guilt. Talk about a lose/lose situation.
Already 60 lots of US sanctions since 2011! Chemical weapon use seems to be a popular excuse, despite (or because?) Russia has destroyed all its CWs and been confirmed free of them since last year, while the USA and the UK have not, and at this time the US is using white phosphorus ILLEGALLY, of course, in Deir Ez-Zor in Syria for the fourth time, according to the International Red Cross.
For anyone to pretend, as the “Democratic Party” seems to, that sanction-adding POTUSTRUMP is some sort of friend or poodle to Putin, this is strange behavior even for him.
Also the Trump administration is sanctioning Russia for Crimea. The Treasury Department on Thursday announced new sanctions on Russian
and Ukrainian entities and several individuals, all connected to
Russia’s continuing occupation of Crimea, which the United States
considers to be illegal.
The US provided Iraq with chemical weapons for use against Iran. The US supported Saddam Hussein’s Iraq in their use of chemical weapons in the Iran-Iraq war and the Iraqi–Kurdish conflict.
wiki: Iraq chemical attacks against Iran refers to chemical attacks used by the Iraqi armed forces against Iranian combatants and non-combatants. The Iraqi armed forces employed chemical weapons against combatants and non-combatants in border cities and villages and more than 30 attacks against Iranian civilians were reported. There were chemical attacks against some medical centers and hospitals by the Iraqi army.[1] According to a 2002 article in the Star-Ledger, 20,000 Iranian combatants and combat medics were killed on the spot by nerve gas. As of 2002, 5,000 of the 80,000 survivors continue to seek regular medical treatment, while 1,000 are hospital inpatients.[2][3] According to the Geneva Protocol, chemical attacks were banned, but in practice, to prevent an Iranian victory, the West supported the Iraqi army in their use of chemical weapons.[4][5]
Here is a list of 10 chemical weapons attacks carried out by the U.S. government or its allies against civilians.
1. The U.S. Military Dumped 20 Million Gallons of Chemicals on Vietnam from 1962 – 1971 — During the Vietnam War, the U.S. military sprayed 20 million gallons of chemicals, including the very toxic Agent Orange, on the forests and farmlands of Vietnam and neighboring countries, deliberately destroying food supplies, shattering the jungle ecology, and ravaging the lives of hundreds of thousands of innocent people.
2. Israel Attacked Palestinian Civilians with White Phosphorus in 2008 – 2009 — White phosphorus is a horrific incendiary chemical weapon that melts human flesh right down to the bone.
3. Washington Attacked Iraqi Civilians with White Phosphorus in 2004
In 2004, journalists embedded with the U.S. military in Iraq began reporting the use of white phosphorus in Fallujah against Iraqi insurgents.
4. The CIA Helped Saddam Hussein Massacre Iranians and Kurds with Chemical Weapons in 1988 — CIA records now prove that Washington knew Saddam Hussein was using chemical weapons (including sarin, nerve gas, and mustard gas) in the Iran-Iraq War, yet continued to pour intelligence into the hands of the Iraqi military, informing Hussein of Iranian troop movements while knowing that he would be using the information to launch chemical attacks.
….etc. here