Weisbrot: Rethink sanctions. They’re killing as many people as war does.

Broad economic sanctions, most of which are imposed by the U.S. government, kill hundreds of thousands of innocent people each year — disproportionately children. This week the Lancet Global Health journal published an article that estimated that number at about 564,000 annually over a decade. This is comparable to the annual deaths around the world from armed conflict.

Sanctions are becoming the preferred weapon of the United States and some allies — not because they are less destructive than military action...