Priests of the Sacred Heart/US Province

Thy Kingdom Come
  • Home
  • Blog
  • JPR Commission
  • Issues
  • Use Your Voice!
  • Fr. Dehon
  • Catholic Social Teaching
    • Basic Principles of Catholic Social Teaching
    • Old Testament Foundations
    • New Testament Foundations
    • CST Quiz
  • Social Ministry Resources
  • Links to Other Sites
  • A Day Without Immigrants
  • Dakota Access Pipeline/Standing Rock Protest
  • What is "Sanctuary?"
  • Migration Education Resources for Parishes
  • Bible Today Article on Migration
  • Immigration Archives
  • CCMR Blog
  • CCMR Public Statement
  • JPR Public Letter
  • Bob Bossie SCJ Blogpage
  • 2020 Klingler Award : Fr. Michael O'Brien and Sacred Heart Parish, Canton, MS
  • 2020 Klinger Award: Frank Wittouck, SCJ

SANCTIONS = BIOLOGICAL WARFARE

5/22/2020

0 Comments

 
Bob Bossie, SCJ

Biological Warfare. That's what it is and that's what it should be called. By continuing sanctions against Venezuela, Iran, Hezbollah, Nicaragua, North Korea and others -- especially during the COVID-19 pandemic -- the U.S. is engaging in biological warfare, a crime against humanity. Despite the fact that no one will use that term, that's what it is. 

Sanctions had already been linked to 40,000 deaths in Venezuela before COVID-19. While information about the number of deaths in Iran before the coronavirus is not readily available, the disease has hammered few countries as hard as it has hit Iran. As of May 21, Iran reported 129,341 cases and 7,249 deaths. In fact, one can only guess the number of coronavirus deaths in Iran, Venezuela and elsewhere that are attributable to sanctions when there is little if any way to test for the virus and even the most sophisticated western nations are counting deaths in the tens of thousands. 

At a time when all of humanity is facing a common, invisible, enemy, world leaders, including Pope Francis, have called for a suspension of economic sanctions, that have increasingly become the pursuit of war by other means. These leaders have also called for a worldwide ceasefire. The Trump administration continues to ignore these appeals and has intensified  punitive measures on the two nations it has identified as America’s greatest enemies: Iran and Venezuela.

On top of this, the US has used its veto power in the IMF to reject emergency loans to both Iran and Venezuela.

In Iraq’s St. Raphael hospital in the 1990s, I personally witnessed the suffering and death of some of the tens of thousands of Iraqi children who died from US-UN sanctions against Iraq.  One doctor at St. Raphael's hospital told our group, "I hope President [HW} Bush goes to heaven." Because I was stunned by his comment, I asked, "Why would you say that?" The doctor responded, "So he can see all the children he killed." Clearly, no one with a heart can stand by and watch this war crime being repeated.

SANCTIONS ARE BIOLOGICAL WARFARE -- A WAR CRIME -- A CRIME AGAINST HUMANITY!!!


0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    Bob Bossie, SCJ, is a member of the international congregation the Priests of the Sacred Heart. He worked at Chicago's 8th Day Center for Justice for 30 years, focusing on nuclear war and  economic and environmental issues, and co-founded Voices in the Wilderness which brought medicines to Iraq in violation of US/UN sanctions. He is currently living in retirement in Chicago.

    Archives

    November 2020
    October 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly