US Returns to Ashes of 1945
By Finian Cunningham
January 30, 2020 "Information
Clearing House" -
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 hellbent 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.
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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.
Finian Cunningham
has written extensively on international
affairs, with articles published in several
languages. He is a Master’s graduate in
Agricultural Chemistry and worked as a
scientific editor for the Royal Society of
Chemistry, Cambridge, England, before
pursuing a career in newspaper journalism.
He is also a musician and songwriter. For
nearly 20 years, he worked as an editor and
writer in major news media organisations,
including The Mirror, Irish Times and
Independent.
This
article was published by "Sputnik"
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