© REUTERS / Abir Sultan
14:03 GMT 25.01.2020
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US Vice President Mike Pence
used his speech at the Holocaust memorial last week to bang a war drum at Iran.
It revealed a deplorable lack of dignity and understanding of the event,
despite Pence’s efforts to appear solemn.
But not only that. It showed
too how out of touch the United States – at least its political leadership – is
with the rest of the world and a growing collective concern among others to
ensure international peace.
Maybe that’s why Britain’s
Prince Charles appeared to snub Pence, declining to shake his hand while
attending the commemoration of the Holocaust and 75th anniversary of the
liberation of Auschwitz. Charles warmly greeted other dignitaries, including
Russian President Vladimir Putin and France’s Emmanuel Macron. It was curious
how he blanked Pence.
But there again, maybe not
that curious. Pence and the
Trump administration seem
to be hell bent on starting a war with Iran. A war that would engulf the entire
Middle East and possibly ignite a world conflagration.
Washington’s wanton threats
of violence against Iran and its recent assassination of one of Iran’s top
military leaders stands as a shocking repudiation of international law and the
UN Charter. It’s the kind of conduct more akin to an organized crime syndicate
rather than a supposedly democratic state.
The UN Charter was created
in 1945 in the aftermath of the Second World War precisely to prevent
repetition of the worst conflagration in history and all its barbaric crimes,
including the Nazi Holocaust. Over 5o million people died in that war, and
nearly half of them belonged to the Soviet Union.
The prevention of war is surely
the most onerous responsibility of the UN Security Council. Yet the United
States is the one power that routinely ignores international law and the UN
Charter to unilaterally launch wars or military interventions. Washington’s
threats against Iran are, unfortunately, nothing new. This is standard American
practice.
When world leaders addressed
the Holocaust memorial held in Israel last Wednesday it was obvious – albeit
implicitly – from their words that the US has become an isolated rogue state
owing to its inveterate belligerence.
Putin, Macron, Prince
Charles and German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier all invoked the need for
collective commitment to international law and peace. They implied that such a
commitment was the best way to honour those who were killed in the Holocaust
and the Second World War; the surest way to prevent the barbarity of fascist
ideology and persecution ever to be repeated.
Those speakers one after
another denounced the ideology of demonizing others which fuels hatred and
wars. How pertinent is that to the way Washington routinely demonizes other
nations and foreign leaders?
In sharp contrast, when the
American vice president made his address, his apparent solemnity was
contradicted by a blood-curdling
call to arms against Iran, which he accused of being the “leading state purveyor of
anti-semitism”. Pence urged the whole world “to stand strong against the
Islamic Republic of Iran”, spoken as if he was spitting out the words like
venom.
There is little doubt that
Pence was formulating a rationale for military confrontation with Iran. That
has been the consistent policy of the Trump administration over the past three
years.
It was no surprise that
Pence’s speech was in sync with the usual bellicose rhetoric from Israeli
leader Benjamin Netanyahu towards Iran. But what was arresting was just how out
of sync Pence and the Trump administration are with the rest the world.
It was an odious spectacle
to see Pence don a somber face as he talked about the victims of the
Holocaust, while his
own state wages war against any foreign nation whenever and wherever Washington
deems. At an event that was supposed to reflect on the horror and evil of war,
Pence showed he had no understanding or self-awareness.
That’s what is perplexing
about many American politicians. They seem ignorant of history (Pence gave no
acknowledgement to the Soviet soldiers who liberated Auschwitz and other death
camps); they are consumed by self-righteousness and arrogance like a puritan
preacher without an ounce of humanity.
Anyone who reflects on the
horror of war would surely be advocating the respect of and adherence to
international law, commitment to peace, and the earnest pursuit of dialogue and
partnership among nations.
Russia’s Putin has repeatedly
called for the members of the UN Security Council to urgently get together in
order to guarantee a multilateral commitment to peace. Putin has also
repeatedly appealed to the United States to get serious about negotiating
renewed arms control treaties. Washington has ignored those latter calls.
The American national myth,
evolved over recent decades since 1945, views itself as “exceptional” from all
other nations. That translates as the US presuming to be “superior” and “above
the law that others are bound by”.
Mike Pence’s menacing words
and attitude at the Holocaust memorial showed a disturbing and pernicious
disconnect with the need for preventing war and genocide. It was a disgraceful
dishonouring of victims.
Out of sync with the world,
the US has returned to the ashes and lawlessness of 1945.
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