Trump Orders Substantial Increase in Sanctions Against Iran

President Trump tweeted this morning that he has ordered Treasury Secretary Mnuchin to increase sanctions on Iran, apparently as one step in retaliation against the country for allegedly attacking Saudi Arabian oil facilities:

Sanctions are a horrific weapon that does nothing but hurt the citizens of the country placed under sanctions, not the leaders.

And, as Murray Rothbard put it:

Sanctions, the step-by-step escalation of intervention, is a favorite policy of the warmongers. … … Sanctions are simply the coward’s and the babbler’s halfway house to war. 

The Iranian response will, of course, be more attacks on a grander scale.

Trump can't win this. He needs to pull troops out of the region and leave the Middle East to middle easterners.

UPDATE

Trump says details of additional sanctions on Iran will be announced over next 48 hours.

-RW