Global Research, January 05,
2020
Region: Middle East & North Africa
Theme: Law and Justice, United Nations
UN special rapporteur on
extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions Agnes Callamard slammed
the Trump regime’s assassination of Iranian General Soleimani,
Iraqi Deputy PMU leader Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, and others with
them, tweeting the following:
“The targeted killings of
Qasem Soleiman and Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandis are most likely unlawful and violate
international human rights law.”
“Outside the context of
active hostilities, the use of drones or other means for targeted killing is
almost never likely to be legal.”
“Another major problem with
extra territorial targeted killings is the lack of oversight.”
“Executives decide who may
be killed outside due process, when it acts in self-defense, against whom and
how. Without approval of Parliaments.”
Pompeo commented on
Soleimani’s assassination with a litany of Big Lies, saying:
The Trump regime “deci(ded)
to eliminate Soleimani in response to imminent threats to American lives (sic).
“(O)ur commitment (is) to
deescalation (sic).”
Assassinating Soleimani was
a “defensive action (to counter) aggressive threats posed by the Iranian
Quds Force (sic).”
He “was actively plotting in
the region to take actions…that would have put dozens if not hundreds of
American lives at risk (sic).”
All of the above is pure
rubbish, believed by no one understanding how the US operates — by its own
rules extrajudicially in pursuit of its imperial aims.
Killing Soleimani, Muhandis,
and others with them was US cold-blooded murder, an unjustifiable high crime.
“At the direction of
(Trump), the US military has taken decisive defensive action to protect US
personnel abroad by (the) killing(s)” — a bald-faced Big Lie, followed by more
lies, falsely claiming:
Soleimani “orchestrated
attacks on coalition bases in Iraq over the last several months (sic).”
“This strike was aimed at
deterring future Iranian attack plans (sic).”
“The United States will
continue to take all necessary action to protect our people and our interests
wherever they are around the world (sic).”
Aggression by the Trump
regime and his most recent predecessors transformed hundreds of millions of
Muslims into US haters, along with countless others worldwide — making the US
the world’s most reviled country.
Throughout Islamic Republic
history since 1979, its ruling authorities and military leaders never ordered
an attack on another nation or their officials.
Pompeo presented no evidence
backing his preposterous accusations because none exists.
Whenever Guterres comments
on incidents like Soleimani’s assassination and other hostile US, NATO, and
Israeli actions, he always calls on all sides to show restraint — failing to
lay blame where it belongs.
After saying nothing for
hours after the Trump regime’s state-sponsored aggression against Soleimani and
others with him, his spokesman issued his pre-scripted remark, saying:
“The secretary general has
consistently advocated for de-escalation in the Gulf (sic). He is deeply
concerned with the recent escalation (sic).”
“This is a moment in which
leaders must exercise maximum restraint (sic). The world cannot afford another
war in the Gulf (sic).”
“The world” needs a world
body leader with cojones, not a weak-kneed pro-Western puppet — beholden to
higher powers in Washington, Brussels and Tel Aviv.
Hezbollah leader Sayyed
Hassan Nasrallah called for “(m)eting out just punishment (to Trump
regime) criminal assassins,” adding:
It’s “the responsibility and
task of all resistance fighters worldwide.”
“We who stayed by
(Soleimani’s) side will follow in his footsteps and strive day and night to
accomplish his goals.”
“We will carry a flag on all
battlefields and all fronts, and we will step up the victories of the ‘axis of
resistance’ with the blessing of his pure blood.”
Syria’s Foreign Ministry
condemned US aggression and assassinations, calling its actions “a serious
escalation…(a) cowardly (act) of aggression…strengthen(ing) determination to
follow in the path of the resistance’s martyred leaders.”
On Friday, hundreds of
thousands of Iranians took to the streets to condemn the Trump regime.
Over the long-term, US policies
are self-defeating, its extremism typical of a nation in decline.
The greater its hostile
actions globally, the more enemies it makes.
Commenting on Soleimani’s
assassination, Russian Foreign Ministry’s spokeswoman Maria Zakharova the
following:
The Pentagon’s “missile
strike (that killed Soleimani and others was) an act that is out of sync with
international law…the height of cynicism” by a rogue state.
Washington’s aim is all
about pursuing might over right, seeking to “chang(e) the balance of power in
the region.”
“That will not result in
anything but escalating tensions in the region, which will be sure to affect
millions of people.”
The Trump regime’s action
“will not bypass the United Nations,” the Security Council to address it —
US/UK/French veto power preventing official condemnation.
Killing Soleimani, deputy
head of Iraq’s PMU Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, and others with them more greatly
destabilized the region.
Their assassinations had
nothing to do with protecting US lives, everything to do with advancing its
imperium.
It was a foolhardy
self-defeating act that backfired, accomplishing nothing but greater popular
anger against the US.
It also pressures Iraqi MPs
to pass legislation that orders US forces out of the country, what may be
coming ahead.
*
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Award-winning author Stephen
Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net. He is a Research Associate of the Centre
for Research on Globalization (CRG)
His new book as editor and
contributor is titled “Flashpoint in Ukraine: US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW
III.”
Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com.
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