The United States claims to be the lone super power of the world but regrettably it is not demonstrating the level of responsibility to match its stature and position. A cursory glance on regional and global conflicts would make it absolutely clear that the United States has become a stumbling block in the way of a peaceful and prosperous world. The main objectives of the United Nations are the maintenance of international peace and security, the promotion of well being of the people of the world and international cooperation to these ends. The behavior that the United States has adopted at the UN, especially its critical organ, the Security Council bears testimony to the fact that much of the blame for ineffectiveness of the UN system is shared by Washington.
Unfortunately, the United States either manipulated this platform to further its own regional and global agenda or used the discretionary and discriminatory power of veto to sabotage collective efforts of the world community to restore or strengthen peace and security in different regions.
The United States carried out a massive disinformation campaign to mislead its own people, the world community and the world at large to create justification for naked aggression against Iraq, which began in March 2003 and continued, in one way or the other, till 2011, leaving behind a trail of chaos and destruction in the country and the region. However, the United States miserably failed to substantiate its claims that became the official reason to attack Iraq – weapons of mass destruction programme of President Saddam Hussain and his country’s nuclear capability. As against the claims made by the US Government and its intelligence community, there was no evidence till date to prove these allegations except hollow words and statements. The United States destroyed a country and destabilized the region in an attempt to browbeat other countries of the Middle-East and mitigate the perceived security threats for its illegitimate child – Israel.
The United States, without sufficient evidence and proper investigations, blamed the Taliban Government of Afghanistan for 9/11 attacks and again used the platform of the UN to cobble together an alliance of about fifty NATO and partner countries to bomb Afghanistan to Stone Age. Historians widely believe that disproportionate bombing and destruction caused by the United States during its long occupation of the country was one of the main factors behind the constant threat of extremism and terrorism.
In the latest round of Israeli-Palestinians hostilities, over twenty thousand Palestinians, mostly women and children, have been killed by the Jewish state in retaliation to October 07 attack by Hamas against Israeli targets. The United States squarely bears responsibility for these killings, injuries, destruction and war crimes as it scuttled sincere efforts of the international community aimed at stopping this genocide of Palestinians. In addition to financial and military aid, the United States also provides large-scale political support to Israel, having used its United Nations Security Council veto power 43 times against resolutions condemning Israel, out of a total 84 times in which its veto has ever been used. This is despite the fact that there was nothing wrong with these resolutions as they provided a framework for peace in the decades-long Israel-Palestine conflict, including asking Israel to adhere to international laws, calling for self-determination for Palestinian statehood, or condemning Israel for the displacement of Palestinians or settlement building in occupied Palestinian territories. In the ongoing conflict the United States used its clout and veto power to block passage of resolutions that called for ceasefire and provision of humanitarian aid to the besieged territory of Gaza. It was because of the deplorable role of the United States that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas held Washington “responsible for the bloodshed” in Gaza, after it vetoed a United Nations Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire in the territory.
In fact, the United States and Britain were colluding with the Jewish state to implement a nefarious plan to push Palestinians out of Gaza. This was indirectly confirmed by Robert Wood, American envoy to the United Nations, who defended the use of the veto by his country and declared that halting military action would allow Hamas to continue to rule Gaza and “only plant the seeds for the next war.” The US policy makes it complicit in the crimes of genocide, ethnic cleansing and war crimes committed by the Israeli occupation forces against Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank and Jerusalem.
All this is happening in the backdrop of tall claims made repeatedly by the US leaders and media about championing the cause of human rights elsewhere in the world. They have the audacity to support a country guilty of state-sponsored terrorism, ethnic cleansing, bombing of hospitals, refugee camps and aid convoys. U.S. policy has perpetuated the crisis and atrocities of the Israeli occupation by unconditionally supporting Israel in three distinct ways: militarily, diplomatically, and politically. On the military front, since the creation of the Israeli state, the United States has provided $146 billion in foreign aid, nearly all of it military-related support to the Jewish state. It currently provides $3.8 billion per year in military aid to Israel. Available data shows in addition, the United States is the largest seller of weapons to Israel, whose military arsenal now includes 362 U.S.-built F-16 warplanes and 100 other U.S. military aircraft, including a growing fleet of the new F-35s; at least forty-five Apache attack helicopters; 600 M-109 howitzers; and sixty-four M270 rocket-launchers. At this very moment, Israel is using many of these U.S.-supplied weapons in its devastating bombardment of Gaza. According to the Wall Street Journal, the United States has given so-called ‘bunker buster’ bombs and an array of other munitions to Israel for its war on Gaza. The United States has also sent warships and thousands of troops for deployment around the zone of the conflict to send a message to other potential parties to the conflict not to express support for Gazans. Diplomatically, the United States is the principal backer of the Jewish state shielding it against international action and sanctions for its war crimes and grave human rights violations. The diplomatic shield provided by the United States encouraged Israel to continue with its inhuman policies against Palestinians as we are witnessing in Gaza. Encouraged by immoral support of the United States, Israel is not only strengthening its hold on the occupied Arab and Palestinian lands but laying hands on additional chunks of land in the West Bank and East Jerusalem and is currently planning to virtually occupy almost entire Gaza. Politically, a majority of the public opinion supports neutrality in the conflict but the US administrations have throughout sharpened the teeth of the Jewish state due to funding and lobbying factors.
The pattern of voting in the UN General Assembly on the issue of Gaza conflict is a sharp reminder that the US stands isolated diplomatically and this isolation would intensify if Washington fails to reverse its flawed policy that threatens its global stature and position as well.
