International bodies as tools of imperialism

Zafar Bangash

Sha'ban 14, 1436 2015-06-01

Editorials

by Zafar Bangash (Editorials, Crescent International Vol. 44, No. 4, Sha'ban, 1436)

There is nothing “international” about bodies like the UN, World Bank, IMF, IAEA etc. These are all tools in the hands of imperialist powers.

There are a host of international bodies masquerading as champions for the promotion of peace, freedom and justice in the world. The United Nations (UN) — both the General Assembly and the Security Council — top this list but there are others as well whose real function is carefully camouflaged behind misleading rhetoric. These include the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) as well as the World Trade Organization (WTO). There are also Western “human rights” organizations like Amnesty International (AI) and Human Rights Watch (HRW). In the last two decades, the International Criminal Court (ICC) has been added to the list, almost supplanting the International Court of Justice.

All countries of the world are members of the UN. A number of non-governmental organizations are also granted affiliate status. In the cultural and social fields, various organs of the UN perform fairly useful functions but it is at the political level that its record is quite dismal. It has to do with the origins of the UN. Created at a time when the Second World War was nearing its end, the victors of that bloodletting 70 years ago (60 million people were slaughtered in a six-year period) made sure that their interests were fully protected, hence their veto at the Security Council. The World Bank and IMF emerged at about the same time to act as instruments of financial control of the rest of the world.

In the 15-member Security Council, there are five permanent members — the US, Britain, France, Russia and China — that wield veto power. They use this most unfair and undemocratic tool to protect their interests and those of their allies. The US has vetoed the largest number of Security Council resolutions, far exceeding those of the others. The vast majority of US vetoes have been cast to protect the racist Zionist regime from international opprobrium.

The UN was established ostensibly to prevent wars from breaking out and to help bring about peaceful resolution to conflicts. The UN has done anything but. Far from stopping wars, it has actually contributed to enabling the genocide of innocent people. Further, there are a host of problems dating back to the time of its creation that remain unresolved. The gross injustice perpetrated against the Palestinian people whose land was handed over to the Zionists from Europe in total violation of the UN charter stands out. Despite a number of Security Council resolutions, the people of Kashmir continue to suffer under the heavy boot of Hindu chauvinism and motivated ethnic cleansing. In recent weeks, the Saudi regime of the Najdi Bedouins and its allies have launched a vicious and illegal war against the innocent people of Yemen, yet far from condemning such naked aggression, the UN has actually imposed an arms and trade embargo against the victims — the Houthis.

The list of UN misdemeanors is long because it acts as a tool of US-Western imperialism. The UN charter that is so often invoked in speeches from the General Assembly podium by members is routinely violated without a whisper against such misconduct. Equally disturbing is the behavior of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that was established in 1957 as part of the “Atoms for Peace” project. The aim was to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes and prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons. The IAEA has demonstrably failed to live up to either of its stated objectives. It has become a tool in the hands of the predatory Western powers — the US and European countries — and has been used as a blunt instrument against opponents. For instance, despite agreement that the main powers would drastically reduce their stockpile of nuclear weapons leading to their elimination, they have produced even more lethal weapons under the cover of theoretically reducing the number of obsolete nuclear warheads. Also, they have violated provisions of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) by supplying the wherewithal to such rogue states as the Zionist regime in Occupied Palestine. Both the US and France are guilty of this crime.

On the other hand, the IAEA is used to undermine the legitimate work of the Islamic Republic of Iran in conducting peaceful nuclear activities. Scandalous allegations have been made against Tehran that have nothing to do with reality. Far from supporting the Islamic Republic in its peaceful nuclear program as required by the NPT (of which Iran is a longstanding signatory; the Zionist regime is not!), its work is being stymied. The IAEA’s director Yukiya Amano is quite hostile to Iran and has been sniffing around trying to secure information about its military activities. Demands have been made that the Islamic Republic must open its military sites to IAEA inspectors. These are meant to spy on Iran’s military capabilities and do not fall under the purview of the agency’s mandate. Why is it behaving in such a manner? IAEA reports are passed on to Western and Israeli intelligence agencies. In fact, many Israeli agents using Western countries’ passports become part of the IAEA inspection teams spying on countries they consider enemies.

The activities of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Amnesty International (AI) and Human Rights Watch are equally questionable. The US has not ratified the ICC protocol yet it uses the body to target opponents. It is also interesting to note that so far only those people opposed to US-Western policies have been hauled before the ICC. Such well-known war criminals as the rulers and military commanders of the Zionist regime are not affected. The so-called human rights bodies — AI and HRW — are again used for targeting countries whose governments oppose Western hegemony. Little is said about the egregious crimes of Western regimes or their allies. Even when these bodies issue reports against Western regimes, the corporate controlled media conveniently gloss them over.

There is another body called the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). One would think this body would actually work to secure the rights of all journalists. It may surprise many that the CPJ works to advance the Western agenda. Journalists targeted by anti-Western governments are immediately adopted; journalists suffering at the hands of pro-Western regimes are ignored. Two decades ago, copies of this magazine (Crescent International) were sent to the CPJ offices in Canada. After a few months, the CPJ office informed us not to send any more copies. Our investigation revealed that some journalists and others working for the organization had started asking questions about journalists jailed by the Mubarak regime and elsewhere whose plight Crescent International had highlighted. Far from taking up the cause of such journalists, the CPJ did not want its members to know about such cases!

So much for freedom of expression in the West; we are confident our readers are not taken in by slick propaganda or by the high-sounding Western-created and dominated bodies that are mere instruments of imperialism.