•Attacks North Korea, Iran, Venezuela, Syria
As Aun San Suu Kyi faces first major crisis since becoming Myanmar’s de factor leader
By Emma Emeozor
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The just concluded United Nations General Assembly summit had an ambitious theme: “Focusing on People: Striving for Peace and a Decent Life for All on a Sustainable Planet.” The theme shows that the organization’s Secretary General, Antonio Guterres and the president of the Assembly, Slavakia, Miroslav Lajcak are committed to addressing the deluge of socio-economic problems plaguing humanity. Though the body was founded to make Planet Earth a safe haven devoid of warfare, peace has continued to elude man 72 year after the organization was founded.
Lajcak had outlined six major priorities during his tenure. They are: making a difference in the lives of ordinary people, prevention and mediation for sustainable peace, migration, political momentum for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and climate change, human rights and equality, including equal opportunities for genders and quality of events organized by the Presidency.
In his maiden speech after he assumed office, Guterres pledged to work for world peace and called on all nations to rise up to the challenge of making the world a haven for all. “On this New Year’s Day, I ask all of you to join me in making one shared New Year’s resolution: Let us resolve to put peace first,” he said. “Peace must be our goal and our guide. I appeal to you all to join me in committing to peace, today and every day. Let us make 2017 a year for peace,” he added.
He appealed to all citizens, governments and leaders to strive to overcome their differences. He believes that the focus of the organization and indeed all nations, including the leaders and the led should be on “prevention” rather than “cure.”
UNGA summits are special fora where national leaders rub minds, evaluate the activities of the organization, and suggest new approaches to strengthening the organ as well as solutions to the problems facing the globe at large. It is one rare occasion member states are expected to respect the sanctity of the organization and sheath their sword.
Therefore it is worrisome that the chief host and president of the United States Donald Trump stormed the summit with song of war even as he called for reforms. Trump’s stick and carrot speech on the floor of the Assembly leaves much to be desired. He did not hesitate to use ‘vile’ language, threatening perceived enemy nations, from the Middle East to Asia and Latin America.
“If (the United States) is forced to defend itself or its allies, we will have no choice but to totally destroy North Korea,” he warned. Trump’s threat came even after the UN Security Council had voted to support more sanctions on the Asian country. It is appalling for an American president (and indeed any other president) to use the floor of UNGA as a platform for show of force.
Not long after the speech, he went on Twitter to release another bombardment, in response to the speech of North Korea at the summit. “Just heard Foreign Minister of North Korea speak at U.N. If he echoes thoughts of Little Rocket Man, they won’t be around much longer!” he said. North Korean President Kim Jong-un is the “Little Rocket Man.”
Certainly, Trump’s fury before the Heads of State present was the least the peace-loving people of America expected of their president who was making his first appearance on the floor of UNGA. The UN is beckoning on men of peace to help it fulfill its peace mission and Trump knows this, yet he threw to the winds the ethics the organisation’s founding fathers laid down and chose to harangue fellow presidents.
Thus, he turned Assembly into a ‘war theater’ as Iran, North Korea and Venezuela equally retaliated in their addresses. North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho was forceful in his language when he announced that targeting the US mainland with its rockets was inevitable after “Mr Evil President” Trump called Pyongyang’s leader “rocket man.”
In Pyongyang, North Korean president reportedly described Trump as a “mentally deranged U.S. dotard” whom he would tame with fire. Now, days after end of the summit, the war of words between the US and North Korea has escalated. Pyongyang has vowed to bomb US planes even when they are outside its air space, alleging that Trump has declared war on it.
Iran was the next target in Trump’s address. Trump had never seen anything good in the Iran nuclear agreement signed by his predecessor, former President Barack Obama. Since becoming president, he has repeatedly threatened to pull the US out of the agreement.
“The Iran deal was one of the worst and most one-sided transactions the United States has ever entered into. Frankly, that deal is an embarrassment to the United States and I don’t think you’ve heard the last of it, believe me,” he said.
Even as he said “I don’t think you’ve heard the last of it, believe me,” he was quick to add: “We cannot abide by an agreement if it provides cover for the eventual construction of a nuclear programme.”
An angry Iranian President Hassan Rouhani would dismiss Trump’s allegation of “construction of a nuclear programme,” assuring the Assembly that his country “desired to preserve its accord with six world powers under which Tehran agreed to restrict its nuclear programme for at least a decade in return for the loosening of economic sanctions.”
He was however quick to remind Trump that there are countries that have violated nuclear agreements. He said: “I declare before you that the Islamic Republic of Iran will not be the first country to violate the agreement.” Rouhani was unequivocal when he said “Iran would not be pushed around by a relatively newcomer to the world stage.”
US presidency is the first political office Trump would be holding in his life time. So, be it at the US level or at the UN level, Trump could best be described as a greenhorn. The Iranian president would not end his address without a warning. Iran would respond “decisively and resolutely” to a violation by any party, he said.
Then, he became abusive, hitting back at Trump. Trump had called Iran a “rogue” state. Rouhani retaliated when he said: “It will be a great pity if this agreement were to be destroyed by ‘rogue’ newcomers to the world of politics: the world will have lost a great opportunity.”
The Iran nuclear deal was reached after rigorous negotiations and was endorsed by China, France, Germany, Russia, United Kingdom and United States. How could Trump be the only president to kick against the agreement even with the check and balance clauses in it and so far, Iran has not been accused of any violation? Bombarding the UNGA summit with his distaste of the agreement was a show of antagonism that should not have happened.
Following the criticisms that trailed Trump’s address, US Ambassador to the UN, Nikky Haley reportedly said that the president’s speech signaled his unhappiness but not a decision to abandon the Iran nuclear deal. “It’s not a clear signal that he plans to withdraw. What it is is a clear signal that he’s not happy with the deal,” she reportedly told CBS News in an interview. Subjecting the international community to guessing what line of action the Trump administration would eventually take over the deal shows that the Trump administration is confused.
From North Korea and Iran, the American president zoomed to Venezuela. He gave insight on how he hopes to deal with the South American country if President Nicolas Maduro “persists on a path to impose authoritarian rule.”
“The Venezuelan people are starving and their country is collapsing. Their democratic institutions are being destroyed. This situation is completely unacceptable and we cannot stand by and watch,” Trump warned. “I ask every country represented here today to be prepared to do more to address this very real crisis.”
First to react was Venezuela’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Rafael Ramirez. He spoke with Sputnik on the sidelines of the summit. He said: “The speech of Mr. Trump was very unfortunate. He visited the house of international love just to speak for the total destruction of North Korea, just to ask for review or cancel of the nuclear agreement with Iran and to announce more interference in Venezuela.”
He also noted that the Venezuelan government was particularly concerned with threats of “military option.” “As you know, they announced many possibilities, including the military option. For us it’s too bad, it’s sad, it’s not true, we reject this kind of declaration in very stringent forms,” he said.
Venezuelan President Maduro who did not attend the summit stood up to Trump. He lashed at Trump from Caracas, the Venezuelan capital. According to The Washington Post, Maduro called Trump’s speech an “aggression from the new Hitler of international politics, Mr. Donald Trump, against the people of Venezuela.” He warned that “Nobody threatens Venezuela and nobody owns Venezuela.” “Nobody threatens Venezuela and nobody owns Venezuela,” Maduro said.
Maduro added that as he understood the speech, “Donald Trump today threatened the president of the Bolivarian Republican of Venezuela with death.” Venezuela would later be the key topic at a dinner that Trump attended with the leaders of Colombia, Brazil, Panama and Argentina.
Of course, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was not left out in Trump’s attack.
He said: “We seek the de-escalation of the Syrian conflict, and a political solution that honors the will of the Syrian people. The actions of the criminal regime of Bashar al-Assad, including the use of chemical weapons against his own citizens, even innocent children shock the conscience of every decent person. No society can be safe if banned chemical weapons are allowed to spread. That is why the United States carried out a missile strike on the airbase that launched the attack.” Perhaps, Trump thought the 72nd UNGA was a reality-TV show where heroes of star wars are paraded.
It was a surprise seeing Trump make a U-Turn when he praised the world body and said US would partner with it to make it a more effective force for peace across the globe. Trump had criticized the organization throughout his campaign for the presidency.
He has called for reforms and charged the body to focus “more on people and less on bureaucracy.” The US reportedly asked member states to sign a declaration on reforms. Media reports said those who had signed the declaration were asked to wear a pin provided by the US to the session. As at September 18, 128 nations had signed the declaration.
Certainly, Trump’s action shows that the US would dictate the tone of the reforms he canvassed. Now, the big question: Would the Trump administration support reforms at the level of the UN Security Council where some member states are clamouring for a review of its composition and decision-making process?