I like to think I am reasonably well informed but this is the first I've heard of this agency. Of course there had to be some office where this sort of work was handled. Thank you for bringing it to the attention of those of us who had not been aware of it before. Another piece of the ghastly mosaic of violence and oppression that is the u.s. "government."
Few people realize the horrendous toll of economic sanctions, and even fewer appreciate that there are a couple hundred bureaucrats who make a nice living by emaciating children in far-off lands. It's great to hear you found it valuable.
"Critics [have] argued that these measures will hurt the Iranian people. Quite frankly, we need to do just that."
--Jewish Zionist Democrat Brad Sherman, House representative from California, who has invented more than 20 anti-Iran bills, including sanctions against international organizations simply for lending money to Iran.
But nazists, Eichmann, etc. Let's not mention which race actually does what today.
I have several research papers written about OFAC, its origin, structure and method. Very good writing on your part, you add hard data on the impact of this conventional weapon. In fact, the sanctions regime falls under the US device of special operations against countries because it has one side of overt and public operation and another side of covert actions.
It is not just the United States. The way the sanctions regime is structured; allies and client states can request Ofac to sanction individuals from their country (and their familes elsewhere). This sets the stage for corruption, punishment without trial and power without accountability.
It would be good if someone could research and publish how OFAC is being used by US allies (UK, Australia, UAE etc.,) to target individuals and their families for refusing to co-operate with government agencies.
It’s happening here! Ask any bank trying to get into the Cryptocurrency industry. I don’t think it’s these people but the SEC is sure taking cues from their playbook.
Thank you for pointing out the crimes against humanity that our sanctions policies perpetuate.
However, I am one who would rather blame the leadership that orders such policies, not the bureaucrats who carry these out. If we blame OFAC bureaucrats then let us also blame all State Department employees, all DOD employees, lets blame all employees of Raytheon, Lockheed Martin, because surely they all play role in the death and destruction that we see play out on our TV screens. Also, may as well blame us taxpayers and the voters who elected this leadership.
Blaming the low level employees merely lets the leaders off the hook. Go to the source. Hold the decision makers to account. Until that happens, nothing will change, regardless of how many low level bureaucrats resign in protest.
Respectfully, we don't have to pick one or the other to blame. Of course, some are more to blame than others, but just because someone's not the mastermind behind the crime doesn't mean they're free of guilt for only being the triggerman, fixer, or some sort of accessory.
Recognising their role doesn't mean letting the leader off the hook, unless maybe you're short on hooks, but that's sport fishing in any case—the real fisherman must rely on nets or traps if they want to have any hope of catching enough fish!
Part of what allows atrocities to go unchallenged is the diffusion of responsibility among those who commit them. It can be in many ways, such as 'upward' from (e.g) the low level bureaucrat onto their leader—who may or may not have the more significant role in the matter—or 'downward' from, say, a leader onto those beneath them whose support or passivity might be required to 'let' it happen. Or, it can be diffused onto an external group (i.e a scapegoat).
To blame only the leaders might be convenient for the Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, and other military-industrial complex employees, but that we as humans can find convenient ways to avoid and deny responsibility (as well as fact) is not only part of why we can't get rid of such sanctions, but according to a report by former UN Special Reporter on Torture Prof. Nils Melzer, it is why we have failed to eliminate torture and ill-treatment across the globe (and why states are failing globally in so many ways all at once) despite everyone agreeing it's wrong.
Well, yes, let's place the blame where it belongs.
If you vote to elect somebody and that person wins, you are responsible, at least to some degree, for what he or she does while in office. If you support foreign wars and salute every time the flag flaps in the breeze, then you are responsible, at least to some degree, for the destruction and mayhem which wars cause. If you insist that the government pay you for everything which you "deserve", even if you haven't earned it, then you are responsible, at least to some degree, for the horrific debt load which this country is carrying.
And on, and on, and on. Etc., etc. Ad infinitum.
We are not just individuals. We cannot simply point at anyone and make him or her the scapegoat. All of us, simply because we are part and parcel of American society, merit some degree of blame for the things which are happening around us. The major problem here, though, is that it is much easier to claim innocence and attempt to shift the blame to someone else, preferably someone you don't know.
I agree with you that the decision makers need to be held to account, however, if we are not accountable personally, then all our protestations are nothing more than hot air. You want to change the world? Begin with yourself.
I like to think I am reasonably well informed but this is the first I've heard of this agency. Of course there had to be some office where this sort of work was handled. Thank you for bringing it to the attention of those of us who had not been aware of it before. Another piece of the ghastly mosaic of violence and oppression that is the u.s. "government."
Few people realize the horrendous toll of economic sanctions, and even fewer appreciate that there are a couple hundred bureaucrats who make a nice living by emaciating children in far-off lands. It's great to hear you found it valuable.
Thank you for this article. You have done a great service by writing it.
You're welcome. Thank you for your encouragement.
"Critics [have] argued that these measures will hurt the Iranian people. Quite frankly, we need to do just that."
--Jewish Zionist Democrat Brad Sherman, House representative from California, who has invented more than 20 anti-Iran bills, including sanctions against international organizations simply for lending money to Iran.
But nazists, Eichmann, etc. Let's not mention which race actually does what today.
I have several research papers written about OFAC, its origin, structure and method. Very good writing on your part, you add hard data on the impact of this conventional weapon. In fact, the sanctions regime falls under the US device of special operations against countries because it has one side of overt and public operation and another side of covert actions.
Interesting, thank you, Betzabeth. Given your heavy research into the topic, your high marks are extra-appreciated.
Too much yapping about Arendt and not enough specifics about what the problem is.
It is not just the United States. The way the sanctions regime is structured; allies and client states can request Ofac to sanction individuals from their country (and their familes elsewhere). This sets the stage for corruption, punishment without trial and power without accountability.
It would be good if someone could research and publish how OFAC is being used by US allies (UK, Australia, UAE etc.,) to target individuals and their families for refusing to co-operate with government agencies.
It’s happening here! Ask any bank trying to get into the Cryptocurrency industry. I don’t think it’s these people but the SEC is sure taking cues from their playbook.
Thank you. OFAC deserves everything you have written and more. Obama took the power and has turned it inward. Using US banks to torment Americans.
Thank you for pointing out the crimes against humanity that our sanctions policies perpetuate.
However, I am one who would rather blame the leadership that orders such policies, not the bureaucrats who carry these out. If we blame OFAC bureaucrats then let us also blame all State Department employees, all DOD employees, lets blame all employees of Raytheon, Lockheed Martin, because surely they all play role in the death and destruction that we see play out on our TV screens. Also, may as well blame us taxpayers and the voters who elected this leadership.
Blaming the low level employees merely lets the leaders off the hook. Go to the source. Hold the decision makers to account. Until that happens, nothing will change, regardless of how many low level bureaucrats resign in protest.
Respectfully, we don't have to pick one or the other to blame. Of course, some are more to blame than others, but just because someone's not the mastermind behind the crime doesn't mean they're free of guilt for only being the triggerman, fixer, or some sort of accessory.
Recognising their role doesn't mean letting the leader off the hook, unless maybe you're short on hooks, but that's sport fishing in any case—the real fisherman must rely on nets or traps if they want to have any hope of catching enough fish!
Part of what allows atrocities to go unchallenged is the diffusion of responsibility among those who commit them. It can be in many ways, such as 'upward' from (e.g) the low level bureaucrat onto their leader—who may or may not have the more significant role in the matter—or 'downward' from, say, a leader onto those beneath them whose support or passivity might be required to 'let' it happen. Or, it can be diffused onto an external group (i.e a scapegoat).
To blame only the leaders might be convenient for the Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, and other military-industrial complex employees, but that we as humans can find convenient ways to avoid and deny responsibility (as well as fact) is not only part of why we can't get rid of such sanctions, but according to a report by former UN Special Reporter on Torture Prof. Nils Melzer, it is why we have failed to eliminate torture and ill-treatment across the globe (and why states are failing globally in so many ways all at once) despite everyone agreeing it's wrong.
For the curious—further reading into the above: https://www.ohchr.org/en/documents/reports/report-biopsychosocial-dynamics-conducive-torture-and-ill-treatment
Well said, Emma.
Well, yes, let's place the blame where it belongs.
If you vote to elect somebody and that person wins, you are responsible, at least to some degree, for what he or she does while in office. If you support foreign wars and salute every time the flag flaps in the breeze, then you are responsible, at least to some degree, for the destruction and mayhem which wars cause. If you insist that the government pay you for everything which you "deserve", even if you haven't earned it, then you are responsible, at least to some degree, for the horrific debt load which this country is carrying.
And on, and on, and on. Etc., etc. Ad infinitum.
We are not just individuals. We cannot simply point at anyone and make him or her the scapegoat. All of us, simply because we are part and parcel of American society, merit some degree of blame for the things which are happening around us. The major problem here, though, is that it is much easier to claim innocence and attempt to shift the blame to someone else, preferably someone you don't know.
I agree with you that the decision makers need to be held to account, however, if we are not accountable personally, then all our protestations are nothing more than hot air. You want to change the world? Begin with yourself.
It's intentional. Always has been.
Thanks for the education - grim though it is.