No Result
View All Result
Monday, June 2, 2025
MM News
اردو
  • Home
  • Latest News
  • Showbiz
    Gen V Season 2

    Prime Video drops teaser trailer, confirms Gen V Season 2 premiere for September 17

    Arshad Warsi

    Arshad Warsi and wife face 5-year ban: Will he also disappear from films?

    Deepika Padukone

    In pictures: What are the shocking controversies in Deepika Padukone’s past?

    Hania Amir

    Yashma Gill proposes to Hania Aamir: Her hilarious reply goes viral

    Image: AP

    In Pictures: Thailand’s Opal Suchata Chuangsri crowned Miss World

    Gigi and Bella Hadid

    The Hadid sisters have a stepsister? Here’s what we know

  • Thought Box
  • Business
  • Opinions
  • Technology
  • The Other Side
MM News
  • Home
  • Latest News
  • Showbiz
    Gen V Season 2

    Prime Video drops teaser trailer, confirms Gen V Season 2 premiere for September 17

    Arshad Warsi

    Arshad Warsi and wife face 5-year ban: Will he also disappear from films?

    Deepika Padukone

    In pictures: What are the shocking controversies in Deepika Padukone’s past?

    Hania Amir

    Yashma Gill proposes to Hania Aamir: Her hilarious reply goes viral

    Image: AP

    In Pictures: Thailand’s Opal Suchata Chuangsri crowned Miss World

    Gigi and Bella Hadid

    The Hadid sisters have a stepsister? Here’s what we know

  • Thought Box
  • Business
  • Opinions
  • Technology
  • The Other Side
No Result
View All Result
No Result
View All Result
MM News
اردو
  • Latest
  • Showbiz
  • Thought Box
  • Business & Stock
  • Opinions
  • Technology
  • The Other Side-Pakistan
Home Opinion & Editorial Opinion

American Hypocrisy on Ukraine Crisis

Salman Rasheed by Salman Rasheed
February 23, 2022

First, I want to clarify that I don’t support any sovereign state invading another sovereign state, contrary to international law and norms.  But the hypocrisy of the West led by the United States of America is amazing about the Ukraine crisis and the potential invasion of it by Russia.  Further, I hope the two countries can settle this conflict through diplomatic means.

We all have short memories about world history and so I want to remind myself and others of the events that transpired almost twenty years ago.  We should remember there was an American President named George W. Bush who raised the war hysteria against Iraq, ruled by dictator Saddam Hussein.  George W. Bush included Iraq as a member of the ‘axis of evil’ that comprised Iran and North Korea.  The U.S. President asserted Iraq possessed “weapons of mass destruction” and Saddam Hussein had links to Al-Qaeda.

The U.S., United Kingdom, and its allies without United Nations Security Council (UNSC) approval invaded Iraq on March 20, 2003, with over 177 thousand troops.  After the invasion, we found out that weapons of mass destruction didn’t exist and that there was no Al-Qaeda presence in Iraq and so, the U.S. and its allies began an invasion based on lies and fabricated intelligence.  Given this reality, did the international community place sanctions on the U.S. and its allies for waging an illegal war?  We all know that the answer is sadly a big “No.”

Let’s see, the U.S. and its allies without UN approval launched an invasion of Iraq, a sovereign country, overthrew its government, and continues to occupy it till this day but never punished and/or sanctioned by the world community.  And now, the U.S. and the West are threatening Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russia with sanctions and armed force if they invade Ukraine?  This is the height of hypocrisy.  The 2003 Iraq invasion and the Ukraine conflict are similar, but we don’t see or hear anyone in the international mainstream media highlighting the U.S. hypocrisy.

Was anyone in the U.S. or its allies ever held accountable for the Iraq invasion based on lies?  Also, during these twenty years of occupation, war crimes were committed, but they will probably go unpunished.

The recent opinion polls of the American public show that the majority don’t favor sending U.S. troops to Ukraine, but U.S. President Biden and the national security establishment sure look like they want a war. Why?  Maybe it has something to do with Biden’s sinking popularity among Americans.  History shows that when a U.S. President’s popularity is plunging, waging war boosts American patriotism and support for the sitting President.  The biggest example of this tactic is George W. Bush in 2002-03, when he targeted Iraq for invasion.  His poll numbers surged just like his father George H. W. Bush in the aftermath of the first Iraq war in 1991.

Another reason for the U.S. wanting war with Russia might be the military-industrial complex.  We all know that the war industry is a major player in the U.S. economy and so they need a war somewhere to generate profits and economic activity.  The U.S. Congress has no problem in hiking defense spending at the cost of social spending and generating large fiscal deficits.

Let’s hearken back to the Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962 and see if it offers some lessons to de-escalate tensions over Ukraine.  During this crisis, the situation was unusually like that in today’s Eastern Europe, although there was a reversal in the roles of the U.S. and the USSR (predecessor of today’s Russia). 

In 1962, the Soviet Union had infringed on the U.S. government’s self-defined sphere of influence by installing medium-range nuclear missiles in Cuba, a nation only 90 miles from U.S. shores.  The Cuban government had requested the missiles as a deterrent to a U.S. invasion, an invasion that looked very probable given the long history of U.S. intervention in Cuban affairs, in addition to the 1961 U.S.-sponsored Bay of Pigs invasion.

The Soviet government was open to the request because it wanted to assure its new Cuban ally of its protection.  It also believed that missile deployment would level the nuclear balance, for the U.S. government had already deployed nuclear missiles in Turkey, on Russia’s border.  However, the U.S. government couldn’t fathom a sovereign nation like Cuba requesting the USSR to place nuclear weapons on its soil as being no different from the U.S. placing nuclear weapons in Turkey. 

Since the Monroe Doctrine in 1823, the U.S. believed the Western Hemisphere to be its sphere of influence or backyard and warned European powers not to interfere.  Likewise, Russia believes that Eastern Europe, particularly the former Warsaw Pact nations and breakaway republics of the former USSR, is their sphere of influence and doesn’t want NATO expansion reaching its borders.

Fortunately, the world avoided nuclear annihilation because of secret diplomacy between the U.S. and USSR that resulted in the de-escalation of the conflict.  Maybe, secret diplomacy between the U.S. and Russia on the Ukraine crisis is the requirement of the day.  Also, confidence-building measures from both sides, along with third-party intervention, could help defuse the tension and lead to a peaceful solution.

ShareTweetSendShare
Previous Post

Pakistan and Ukraine crisis

Next Post

Former Interior Minister Rehman Malik passes away

Related Stories

Opinion

AIF 2025 – A Rallying Cry for Unity in a Fractured World

May 31, 2025
Opinion

Eurasian Economic Union at 10: Looking Beyond the Decade

May 29, 2025
Opinion

Crimea at the Crossroads: Development, Identity, and Geopolitics

May 29, 2025
Opinion

A Bond Steeped in Friendship and Tea

May 22, 2025
Opinion

Kazakhstan’s Rising Arc

May 21, 2025
Opinion

Russia’s Great Victory Day – A Triumph of Courage and Sacrifice

May 21, 2025
Opinion

Israel stands firmly behind India in hostilities against Pakistan

May 9, 2025
Opinion

Britain’s Interference in China and Domestic Challenges

April 29, 2025
Opinion

Revamping Pakistan’s Outdated Education System

April 10, 2025
Opinion

PSL celebration or the bodies of children in Gaza?

April 9, 2025
Next Post
Rehman Malik was considered one of the political leaders close to Benazir Bhutto. (Photo: Business Recorder)

Former Interior Minister Rehman Malik passes away

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Trending Stories

Technology

Fed up with long emails? Gmail app now automatically summarize them

by MM News Staff
June 1, 2025
JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman. PHOTO: INP/File
Top News

Maulana Fazl rejects child marriage law, announces nationwide protests

by MM News Staff
June 1, 2025
Switch 2 (Image: Nintendo)
Technology

Switch 2: Nintendo set to launch new gaming console

by MM News Staff
June 1, 2025
(File Photo)
World

Bangladesh removes Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s image off currency notes

by MM News Staff
June 1, 2025
Top News

3.6 magnitude earthquake jolts Karachi

by MM News Staff
June 1, 2025

Opinion

munir ahmed oped
AIF 2025 – A Rallying Cry for Unity in a Fractured World
May 31, 2025
- Munir Ahmed
munir-ahmed-oped-2-1140x1140
Eurasian Economic Union at 10: Looking Beyond the Decade
May 29, 2025
- Munir Ahmed
munir-ahmed-oped-2-1140x1140
Crimea at the Crossroads: Development, Identity, and Geopolitics
May 29, 2025
- Munir Ahmed
No posts found
See all

Weather Updates

Weather

Karachi sizzles at 39 degree Celsius

by MM News Staff
June 1, 2025

Temperatures in Karachi reached 39 degrees Celsius on Sunday as the southern port city...

Glaciers in Pakistan

Pakistan develops policy framework to protect glaciers, combat climate change

June 1, 2025
file photo

Weather updates for Islamabad, other parts of Pakistan

June 1, 2025
Heatwave

Karachi braces for more heat as temperature remains high

May 31, 2025
See all

Prices

representative image
Business & Stock

Gold prices in Pakistan today- Sunday, June 1, 2025

by MM News Staff
June 1, 2025

The following are the current gold prices in Pakistan on Sunday, June 1, 2025....

File photo

Petrol price hiked by Re1 per litre in Pakistan

May 31, 2025
LGP prices have been slashed ahead of Ramadan. File photo

LPG prices announced for June 2025

May 31, 2025
representative image

Gold prices further drop in Pakistan

May 31, 2025
See all

Transport News

Paul Marais-Hayer/AirTeamImages
Transport

15% discount announced on PIA’s Lahore–Paris flights

by MM News Staff
June 1, 2025

Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has introduced a 15% discount on flights operating between Lahore...

file photo

Govt doubles public transport fares in Islamabad

June 1, 2025
representative image

Everything you need to know about Lahore’s Yellow Line E-Train Project

June 1, 2025
Pakistan Express

Train derailment: Pakistan Express heading to Rawalpindi suffers major accident

June 1, 2025
See all

MM Digital (Pvt.) Ltd.

MM News is a subsidiary of the MM Group of Companies. It was established in 2019 with the aim of providing people of Pakistan access to unbiased information. Contact Details: 03200201537

Quick Links

  • Home
  • Advertise
  • MM News Urdu
  • The Other Side-Pakistan
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy

Top Pages

  • Latest News
  • Showbiz
  • OP-ED
  • Technology
No Result
View All Result
  • Latest News
  • Showbiz
  • Thought Box
  • Business
  • Opinions
  • Technology

© Copyright 2024 MMNews - All Rights Reserved.