Travesty and Tragedy at the Security Council
by Stephen Lendman (stephenlendman.org – Home – Stephen Lendman)
The Security Council is supposed to be a deliberative body – responsible for maintaining international peace and security.
Instead it’s used by Washington, Britain, France and its rogue partners as a platform hostile to this mandate, wrecking what the SC was established to do – doing more to facilitate wars than preventing or stopping them.
On Wednesday, the SC chamber was used to conduct a US/UK propaganda assault on Russia, unjustifiably accusing the Kremlin of poisoning former spy/double agent Sergey Skripal with an alleged novichok nerve agent.
Not a shred of evidence suggests Russian involvement. Yet Britain shamefully accused Russia of attempted murder. Its deputy UN envoy Jonathan Allen said the March 4 poisoning incident was “indiscriminate and reckless.”
Nikki Haley provided echo chamber support, saying “Russia is responsible for the attack on two people in the United Kingdom using a military-grade nerve agent,” calling the incident “an atrocious crime.”
Indeed! But committed by whom? Clearly not Russia! No motive suggests its culpability. Nations involved in bashing the Kremlin clearly had motive.
Separately on Wednesday, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders disgraced herself saying:
“The latest action by Russia fits into a pattern of behavior in which Russia disregards the international rules-based order, undermines the sovereignty and security of countries worldwide, and attempts to subvert and discredit Western democratic institutions and processes,” adding:
“The United States is working together with our allies and partners to ensure that this kind of abhorrent attack does not happen again.”
Fact: “The United States…with (its) allies and partners” are responsible for more Nuremberg-level high crimes over a longer duration than any other nations in world history.
Fact: The Russian Federation never attacked another country – something Washington and its imperial partners in high crimes do repeatedly, never held responsible for what demands accountability.
Responding to baseless US and UK accusations, Russian UN envoy Vasily Nebenzya strongly said:
“The Russian Federation thinks it is completely unacceptable to launch unjustified accusations as contained in the letter from Theresa May dated 13 March to the secretary-general of the United Nations.”
“We demand that material proof be provided of the allegedly found Russian trace in this high-resonance event. Without this, stating that there is incontrovertible truth is not something that we can take into account.”
The alleged novichok nerve agent could have been manufactured in Britain, America or anywhere else with technical knowhow. Developed in the 1970s, it’s been around for decades.
Russia had “nothing to do with (the poisoning) incident,” Nebenzya stressed, adding:
“The British ultimatum isn’t worthy of our attention and is null and void.”
“We trust they will provide samples of the substances for examination for a joint investigation.”
“This is not optional. This is a mandatory requirement. We have nothing to fear and nothing to hide.”
What’s going on should terrify everyone – UK hysteria, supported by Washington and France, barely stopping short of declaring war on Russia.
It reflects a world gone mad if things proceed in this direction, a doomsday scenario, threatening the world’s dominant super-power – able to destroy America and Britain overnight if attacked.
Diplomacy with these nations accomplishes nothing. Their escalating hostility toward Russia is unacceptable.
Moscow needs to be more assertive in defending its rights, national sovereignty and security. Statements like the following aren’t good enough, falling on deaf ears, saying:
“The March 14 statement made by British Prime Minister Theresa May in Parliament on measures to ‘punish’ Russia, under the false pretext of its alleged involvement in the poisoning of Sergey Skripal and his daughter, constitutes an unprecedented, flagrant provocation that undermines the foundations of normal dialogue between our countries.”
“We believe it is absolutely unacceptable and unworthy of the British Government to seek to further seriously aggravate relations in pursuit of its unseemly political ends, having announced a whole series of hostile measures, including the expulsion of 23 Russian diplomats from the country.”
The only language Washington and Britain understand is force. It’s time for Russia to hand them a clearly understood dose of reality – with a message of more to come if their rhetorical aggression heading toward something much more serious doesn’t cease.
A final comment
Russian upper house Federation Council Senator Sergey Kalashnikov accused the (US-led) West of “launch(ing) a massive operation in order to kick Russia out of the UN Security Council,” adding:
“Russia is now a very inconvenient player for the Western nations and this explains all the recent attacks on our country.”
Permanent SC members Russia and China alone stand in the way of Washington using the body as an instrument to further its imperial objectives.
Their veto power prevents US administrations from using the SC to unjustifiably justify its wars on humanity.
Efforts to banish Russia from the body by rewriting UN rules won’t succeed.
Russia’s veto power prevents it – an important tool able to prevent Washington from getting legitimacy for its imperial wars.
“The Security Council will lose its relevance” without it, Moscow’s late UN envoy Vitaly Churkin once explained, adding:
It would “simply…rubber-stamp decisions…made in Washington, Paris, London, (and) Brussels…(It would prevent SC members from) do(ing) the important work of bringing about consensus decisions.”
SC veto power is essential to preserve. Unlike Washington and its rogue partners, Russia uses it responsibly for good, not ill.
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