To give you a better idea of the mentality of the primary airtight sanctions / crippling sanctions advocates on Iran, I direct you to todays news about a recently published wikileaks cable on Israel’s treatment of Gaza:
“Israel wanted to keep Gaza’s economy “on the brink of collapse”, according to a 2008 cable published by Aftenposten, the Norwegian newspaper that got a leak of the leaks.
A blockade was imposed on Gaza after Hamas came to power in the territory in July 2007. Israel officials told the US embasssy in Tel Aviv their intention was to keep the Gazan economy functioning at a low level.
[“Israeli officials have confirmed to Embassy officials on multiple occasions that they intend to keep the Gazan economy functioning at the lowest level possible consistent with avoiding a humanitarian crisis …
…
As part of their overall embargo plan against Gaza, Israeli officials have confirmed to econoffs [US embassy economic officials] on multiple occasions that they intend to keep the Gazan economy on the brink of collapse without quite pushing it over the edge”]
Under the 1949 Geneva Conventions article 33, collective punishments are a war crime. Additional Protocol II of 1977 explicitly forbids collective punishment.
Is it really suprising that the officials and their cheerleaders here and abroad are the very same people who are advocating more or less the same sort of tactics, namely airtight sanctions / total blockade of Iran? Their total disregard for the suffering of ordinary people is visible for all to see.
