Letters from Our Readers

Jahan Choudhry BAR Comments Editor

01 Apr 2020

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This week readers discussed the coronavirus’s relationship to NATO, sanctions, and the duopoly. We share your letters for “Can Covid-19 Take Down NATO,” “Economists Demand Trump Immediately Lift Iran, Cuba, and Venezuela Sanctions That Are ‘Feeding the Coronavirus Epidemic’,” and “Time of Plague and Meltdown: Mass Murder by Corporate Duopoly.”

In “Can Covid-19 Take Down NATO” Ann Garrison interviews Bruce Gagnon, coordinator of the Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space, about the impact of the pandemic of NATO’s future plans.

J.N. Rao writes:

“The interview with Bruce Gagnon gives a clear picture of the warmongering of NATO and the US. It also shows that cracks are appearing in the NATO and US alliance with Germany in the forefront. Any attack on Russia will lead to a Third World War with the involvement of nuclear

weapons. This interview should be seen and read widely by the European and USA people.

Robert Blandford writes:

“The black misleadership class, who threw their support behind Joe Biden, also accepts the neo-liberal perspective on Russia, and were ardent purveyors of the ludicrous lie: Russiagate. They will see the day when there will be definite proof as to Russia's side in promoting world peace and solidarity. What does it mean when Italy is part of the US-led N.A.T.O. aggression pact in encircling Russia, but Russia is taking the lead in stemming the spread of the coronavirus virus in that very country (Italy)? What has the U.S. done for Italy -- jack shit! The U.S. government is only feebly and reluctantly helping its own! The new order will renounce the behavior of the neo-liberal oligarchy and the lackey black misleadership class, and the peoples' history will never absolve them.”

“Economists Demand Trump Immediately Lift Iran, Cuba, and Venezuela Sanctions That Are ‘Feeding the Coronavirus Epidemic’” by Jake Johnson discusses a recent call by leading economists to stop US economic warfare against pandemic affected nations.

Stuart Cipinko writes:

“Dreadfully, it seems that a) the Strumpet's admin has only increased the sanctions against Iran! As if there were anything left to sanction; and b) it would seem that the US DOJ has issued a warrant for Maduro's arrest for ‘narco-trafficking.’ Is there no end to the lies, the immorality, the unconscionable inhumanity of not only this admin but the US political-military-secret agency apparatus overall? Not to mention the hypocrisy: where, one might ask, is the arrest warrant for the heads of the CIA (and presumably DOJ and WH) when that despicable organ was (is?) drug-running? Despicable, utterly despicable.”

William Link writes:

“America is taking on a Nazi like profile by enforcing an embargo on a country that's facing a pandemic which many believe was perpetrated on the country by the embargoes like the Stuxnet virus that was cooked by the United states and Israel.”

In “Time of Plague and Meltdown: Mass Murder by Corporate Duopoly” Glen Ford argues that both parties are responsible for the destruction of public health care in service of capital and that the masses will become more difficult to pacify after this crisis.

Sadie Bailey writes:

“Killing our front-line health care workers, grocery cashiers, etc is beyond abominable. This is exactly what is happening. Can you guess what and who will come next? (hint -- it won't be the oligarchs and plutocrats who own the wealth and soon, most of the land and assets.) The time to rise up and take ‘isolation’ time as time for true education -- not the mass pablum or gladiator show meant to ‘entertain’ us -- is at hand.”

Paul Billings writes:

“Terrific piece. As you state, ‘The revolution will not be organized in the Master’s houses – Democrat or Republican.’ Indeed, the arrogance /criminality of the ruling elite were on vivid display this week with their massive taxpayer funded ‘rescue package.’ Prior to passage of the $2 trillion ‘stimulus’ bill, the British Guardian reported ‘Washington lobbyists [are] in frenzied battle to secure billion-dollar coronavirus bailouts,’ who were not disappointed. The ‘bipartisan’ bill is primarily a taxpayer supported exercise in financial gluttony for the economic elite. The bill is 50% of the entire federal budget, with the largest share -- $454 billion to finance guaranteed loans to big corporations -- designed to be leveraged by the FED into circa $4.5 trillion in loans and subsidies. The bill also provides $46 billion in targeted loans to the commercial airline industry, with $17 billion carved out for Boeing. Recall that over the last decade, Boeing management (some of whom were proteges of Jack Welsh at GE) fired 1000 engineers, spent $60 billion on share buybacks and dividend payments, but can no longer produce an airplane that can stay in the sky.

“As you are well aware, the ‘Stimulus’ package does not resolve the fundamental problems confronting US and global capitalism -- excess capacity and slack demand. All this is doing is slightly delaying the proverbial ‘day of reckoning.’ On a related note, the plight facing working people lucky enough to be spared a serious COVID-19 infection was spelled out in a recent piece in the NYT and no doubt, is only the beginning.”

Jahan Choudhry is Comments Editor for Black Agenda Report. He is an organizer with the Saturday Free School based in Philadelphia, PA.

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