Photo taken on Feb. 27, 2022 shows a market destroyed in U.S. air strikes in Sangin district of Helmand Province, Afghanistan. (Photo by Arghand/Xinhua)
The United States should answer the following questions at the International Court of Justice: "Why does Washington wantonly invade other countries and kill innocent people in other countries? How can such a country pressure other countries on the pretext of human rights?" said Hamed Vafaei, director of the Asia Research Center at the University of Tehran.
by Xinhua writer Gao Wencheng
TEHRAN, March 22 (Xinhua) -- The United States has been "particularly belligerent" throughout its history due to its fixation on hegemony, an Iranian professor has said.
The country should answer the following questions at the International Court of Justice: "Why does Washington wantonly invade other countries and kill innocent people in other countries? How can such a country pressure other countries on the pretext of human rights?" said Hamed Vafaei, director of the Asia Research Center at the University of Tehran.
While blasting other countries' human rights and their international roles, the United States itself has waged numerous wars around the world that have undermined security and stability in those related areas, the latest example being the war in Afghanistan, Vafaei said.
Afghans protest against recent U.S. decision regarding the frozen Afghan assets in Mazar-i-Sharif, capital of Balkh province, Feb. 15, 2022. (Photo by Kawa Basharat/Xinhua)
"The United States has inflicted a highly negative influence on Afghanistan's past, present and future," and has to answer the following three major questions regarding its role in Afghanistan:
Firstly, the volume of opium production and trade in Afghanistan increased significantly, instead of decreasing, during U.S. military presence there, while related sectors such as local airports, borders management and even the army were mainly controlled by the U.S. forces.
So, the professor said, the first question the United States should answer is: Why did the drug trade in Afghanistan continue to climb rather than decline during its occupation?
Secondly, while stationed in Afghanistan, the U.S. military killed a large number of innocent civilians and even employed drones to mistakenly attack weddings and other gatherings. Yet, the White House has always kept underplaying the tragedies.
So, Vafaei said, the second question America needs to answer is: How can it get away with killing so many innocent people?
An Afghan boy sells water at a graveyard where a number of war victims have been buried in Kabul, Afghanistan, on April 16, 2021. (Photo by Rahmatullah Alizadah/Xinhua)
Furthermore, "the irresponsible and hasty withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan has led to the deterioration of regional security and Afghanistan's neighboring countries have been turned into victims," he said.
So, he argued, the third question Washington needs to answer is: How can it accuse other countries of threatening regional peace and international security?
Vafaei said that the belligerent United States, driven by its motive to maintain its hegemony, has become "one of the greatest threats to world peace."
People gather at the Kabul airport during evacuation in Kabul, Afghanistan, Aug. 16, 2021, after the Taliban's takeover of Kabul on Aug. 15. (Xinhua)
The slogan "America First" has fully demonstrated the perception of the U.S. government, he said, noting that once the interests of other countries conflict with those of the United States, the United States will not hesitate to protect its own interests at the cost of others', which has been proved by what the United States has done in Iraq, Afghanistan and other places around the world.
Vafaei said such a unilateralist approach, with which the United States is obsessed, has reminded more countries of the significance of multilateralism.
"Hopefully, real multilateralism will become a reality in the near future," he added. ■
