Rep. DeFazio ends his response to my letter (9/19) by saying, “I support smart, targeted sanctions that limit adverse effects on civilian populations.”

Actually, DeFazio voted for the genocidal sanctions on Iraq where multiple UN officials resigned in protest at the “suffering of the civilian population” since sanctions “punished the Iraqi people the but not the government.” One official even called the sanctions “a deliberate policy to destroy the people of Iraq.” A former U.S. Attorney General called the sanctions crimes against humanity.

DeFazio said my letter contained “several factual errors” yet he only challenged one, saying his vote for sanctions on Iran did not undermine the Iran Nuclear Deal.

John Kerry, who led U.S. negotiations on the deal, warned Congress that this bill would undermine the deal, saying, “Our bellicosity is pushing them into a corner, that’s dangerous and that could bring a very different result.”

Explaining why he voted against the bill, Sen. Bernie Sanders said that “these new sanctions could endanger the very important nuclear agreement.” Iran’s deputy foreign minister responded to the bill passing as predicted, saying the “deal has been violated and we will show an appropriate and proportional reaction.” He added that the “main goal” of the bill was to “destroy the nuclear deal.”

DeFazio shows us, again, that his words and his record have little in common.

Colin Moran

Eugene