To the editor:
When we can't afford another war, we use sanctions — anything to demonstrate our power to force other countries to do what we tell them to do!
For 50 years, we have been imposing sanctions on Cuba. They have impoverished the Cuban people and have entrenched the Castros in power.
Where else in the Western Hemisphere has a single family been in complete control for half a century? The Cuban market for American goods that might have been never happened. And they still have Communism!
We have done the same to North Korea. The results were similar. The people are impoverished and the Kim family is still in control. And they now have their nuclear weapons in spite of our sanctions.
We are using the same futile method that failed in North Korea to try to deny a nuclear capability to Iran. The people there are suffering as a result and the government uses the U.S. as a scapegoat to stay in power. People who know Iran say that there is a lot of opposition to the government, but that the U.S. sanctions stifle it. If we aren't careful, we'll stumble into yet another useless war.
Tens of thousands of American lives and trillions of dollars have been spent demonstrating our military power. What has it gained us?
Our leaders tell us that we are fighting to preserve our liberty. What nonsense! We are fighting because our leaders enjoy their power games, and find that creating enemies gets political support.
No wonder that the U.S. ranks No. 82 in the Global Peace Index!
MILT LAUENSTEIN
Gloucester and Exeter, N.H.
