Qatar and Saudi Arabia have shamed the West for paying more attention to the war in Ukraine than to events in the Middle East
The
US’ major non-NATO ally Qatar, along with Saudi Arabia, have shamed the
West for paying disproportionately more attention to Ukraine than to
conflicts in nations across the Middle East.
“The humanitarian
suffering that we have seen in Ukraine … has been the suffering of a lot
of countries in this region for years, and nothing happened,” Qatari
Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani said during
roundtable talks at the annual Doha Forum on Saturday.
He
reminded delegates of “the brutality against the Syrian people, or
against the Palestinians, or against the Libyans, or against the Iraqis,
or against the Afghans,” and said that, in his view, “we have never
seen a global response to address those sufferings.”
The US and
the EU have spearheaded the international campaign to back Ukraine
during its ongoing conflict with Russia, which has included delivering
weapons and other aid to the Kiev government and imposing draconian
economic sanctions on Moscow.
The events in Ukraine should become
“a wake-up call for everyone in the international community to look at
our region and to address the issues … with the same level of
commitment,” the FM insisted.
The Qatari stance was backed by
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan, who agreed that “the
engagement of the global community … it’s quite different.”
“The
trans-Atlantic unity right now, its commendable. But I think you have to
have a much better conversation with the rest of the global community,”
he added.
Qatar and Saudi Arabia are considered strategic allies
of the West, with the US having recently awarded the former the status
of “major non-NATO ally.” Still, the two wealthy Gulf nations have so
far maintained a neutral stance on the situation in Ukraine due to their
ties with Russia, unlike some US satellites which didn't hesitate to
jump on the Western wagon to impose unilateral sanctions on Russia.
- RT [You can share this story on social media]
PS. The pathetic part about this is that the Arab and Muslim world still believes that the Americans can be nice and fair to them after centuries of rape, plunder, massacres, looting and exploitation. When would the Arabs and Muslims open their eyes to see the devil?
Anonymous
As expected, the USA has issued a warning to India not to buy more oil from Russia. Perhaps USA wants India to buy USA oil as well, at multiple times the price charged by Russia, and of course to be paid in US$. India should know that the USA is but just a fair weather friend, and had been using India just to counter China.
ReplyDeleteThis move of warning India will eventually push India closer to Russia and China, the same way that Russia was pushed towards China. The visit of Wang Yi to India has not gone unnoticed by the USA and it is showing it's displeasure evidently. Countries do not care what the USA thinks nowadays. Some do not even bother lifting up the phone knowing it was Biden at the other end. Now, it looks like QUAD is going to be as fragmented as ASEAN.
Putin said, 'No ruble, no gold, no oil and gas.'
ReplyDeleteIndia would not become Europe, emptying its treasury to buy expensive American oil when it can get super discounted oil from Russia.
Europe going to go bankrupt without cheap Russian oil and gas.
Inflation in Europe is going to shoot to the sky. And they are still thinking of buying more weapons from the USA.
ReplyDeleteSince oil is to be paid in Ruble, Europe has to spend it's US$ holdings elsewhere. Spend it while is it still of value by buying weapons, the only thing that the USA produces.
ReplyDeleteConsider the following news headlines in the past few weeks; they are all symptomatic of the resentment and resistance from the developing world.
ReplyDeleteA clip featuring Arnab Goswami, the hard-hitting Indian political host on republicworld.com, went viral after he squared off with a hapless politics professor from the US.
“Most of the world is coming together against Russia. India should get off the fence,” the professor claimed.
That set Goswami off: “You have no moral standing to talk. You are in no position as you are in America. America is in no position to pretend to be the guardian of democracy and human rights. You are the worst perpetrator of atrocities. You and Barack Obama in 2011 intervened in a nascent Libyan civil war, using the Nato and Arab League partners and prolonging the war for one decade. You launched armed conflicts in at least six countries – Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Somalia, Niger … You’ve killed thousands with your drone strikes. You run Guantanamo Bay.”
Returning to India, he said: “You’re dealing with India. We’re a big country, we’re not your satellite state. So don’t lecture us on what we need to do. We are going to look out for ourselves. You talk about, you use the phrase geopolitical expediency in place of value. You lecture me as an American to an Indian on values and you say that we are acting in geopolitical expediency. Where were your values when in the first few months [of the US invasion of Iraq], 7,186 Iraqi civilians were direct casualties of the war? Was that expediency or an expression of your values?”
Goswami's angry resentment at being lectured to by someone he clearly took to be a representative of Westerners who habitually pass judgments on others from a self-declared moral high ground is perfectly understandable for many people around the world.
Meanwhile, in a fiery speech, Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare denounced Australia and New Zealand’s criticism of his government’s draft plan for a security pact with China.
“We find it very insulting,” he said, “to be branded as unfit to manage our sovereign affairs or have other motives in pursuing our national interests,” adding that it was “utter nonsense” to say China posed a security threat in the Pacific.
He was responding to his New Zealand counterpart Jacinda Ardern, who warned: “We see such acts as the potential militarisation of the region.”
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has reportedly pressured Papua New Guinea and Fiji – both of which have shown signs of tilting towards China recently – to help scrap the Solomon Islands deal.
And Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador was deeply offended after US ambassador to Mexico Ken Salazar warned against the country’s neutrality over the Ukraine crisis.
“We need to send them telegrams informing them that Mexico is not a colony of any foreign country,” he said. “Mexico is a free, independent, sovereign country … We are not going to participate either for or against [this war in Ukraine], it is a position of neutrality of ours, which has to do with Mexico’s foreign policy.”
The West, correctly, sees Russia’s war not only as an act of aggression against a relatively minor country in central Europe, but a direct challenge to Western hegemony led by the US. That’s why it is, rightly, their war too. But for the rest of the world, they simply don’t have the proverbial skin in the game. They may be sympathetic to the plight of the Ukrainians – but what about the Palestinians or the Yemenis? – and are happy to play lip service against aggression – hence their condemnation votes at the United Nations, which many naive people took to be solidarity with the West. But they are not about to stick their necks out. And for Western leaders who criticise them, it is taken, not unreasonably, as typically self-serving hypocrisy.
"they are not about to stick their necks out" . . . except tiny Singapore. Very exasperating indeed!
ReplyDeleteUS Plot to Oust Pakistan PM Imran Khan Revealed
ReplyDeleteAllegations of America’s involvement in the no-confidence motion against the Imran Khan-led government
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday named the United States as the country behind a ‘threat letter’ that showed evidence of a foreign conspiracy to oust his government.
On Wednesday, Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf-led government confirmed that its allegation about a foreign conspiracy was based on a diplomatic cable received from one of the country’s missions abroad.
“The letter stated that the no-confidence motion was being tabled even before it was filed, which means the Opposition was in contact with them,” Khan alleged in his address to the nation.
At a massive public meeting held on Sunday in Islamabad, Khan had pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket and waved it at the crowd, claiming it was evidence of an “international conspiracy” being hatched to topple his government.
Khan, 69, said the memo was against him, not against the government. “…it stated that if the no-confidence motion passes, Pakistan will be forgiven, if not, there will be consequences.” He stated that it was an “official letter” that was communicated to Pakistan’s ambassador, who was taking notes during the meeting.
The premier said the envoy was told that if Imran Khan remains in power, Pakistan would face “difficulties”.
“I am telling my nation today that this is our status. We are a nation of 220 million and another country — and they are not giving any reason — [is issuing threats]. They said that Imran Khan decided to go to Russia on his own even though the Foreign Office and the military leadership was consulted.
“Our ambassador told them that the decision [to visit Russia was made after consultations] but they are denying it and saying that ‘it was only because of Imran Khan and that our ties cannot be good if he stays.’ What they are actually saying is that they have no issue with the people who will replace Imran Khan.
Khan met President Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin on February 24, the day the Russian leader ordered a “special military operation” against Ukraine. Khan also became the first Pakistani premier to visit Russia in 23 years after former premier Nawaz Sharif travelled to Moscow in 1999.
Earlier this month, Pakistan had abstained from voting in United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) resolution calling on Russia to stop the war, and urged that the conflict be resolved through dialogue and diplomacy.
Pakistan’s ties with Russia have moved past the bitter Cold War hostilities in recent years and the chill in the relations between Pakistan and the US has further pushed the country towards Russia and China.
At the same time, Pakistan’s relations with the US have been lukewarm and President Joe Biden is yet to make a customary call to Prime Minister Khan since his appointment in January 2021.