© UnknownPaul Craig Roberts
The unilateral US sanctions announced by Obama on July 16 blocking Russian weapons and energy companies access to US bank loans demonstrate Washington's impotence.
The rest of the world, including America's two largest business organizations, turned their backs on Obama. The US Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers placed ads in the
New York Times,
Wall Street Journal, and
Washington Post protesting US sanctions.
NAM said that the manufacturer's association is "disappointed that the US is extending sanctions in increasingly unilateral ways that will undermine US commercial engagement."
Bloomberg reported that "meeting in Brussels, leaders of the European Union refused to match the US measures."
In attempting to isolate Russia,
the White House Fool has isolated Washington.
The sanctions will have no effect on the Russian companies. The Russian companies can get more bank loans than they need from China, or from France and Germany.
The three traits that define Washington - arrogance, hubris, and corruption - make Washington a slow learner.
Arrogant people wallowing in hubris are incapable of learning. When they encounter resistance they respond with bribes, threats, and coercion. Diplomacy requires learning ability, but Washington left diplomacy years ago and relies on force.
Consequently, with its sanctions, Washington is undermining its own power and influence. Sanctions are encouraging countries to withdraw from the dollar payments system that is the foundation of US power. Christian Noyer, Governor of the Bank of France and a member of the European Central Bank's Governing Council, said that
Comment: "Israel's right to defend itself" is typical Orwellian doublespeak.
The latest war of Israel against the Palestinians has so far resulted in 336 casualties on the Palestinian side. And how many Israelis have been killed by Hamas rockets? This year 1, last year zero! First you imprison all Palestinians in a ghetto very much like the Warsaw ghetto in WW2, then you slowly starve them to death, and every feeble attempt at resistance is then stamped on hard, claiming that it is merely self-defence.
That's the general modus operandi for psychopaths anyway.
Besides, the IDF uses predominantly American weapons, financed by the American tax payer. So if Obama is really "concerned", how about he just stops the flow of weapons and money?