U.S. blamed for being cause of chaos as Mideast tensions heat up

Analysts pointed out that Washington is still "adding fuel to the fire" at a time when escalating tensions are pushing the Middle East closer to a full-blown regional war.

As the world witnesses a sharp deterioration of the Middle East’s security landscape, U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson said he would try to advance wartime aid for Israel.

Johnson’s announcement came shortly after Iran launched drone and missile attacks against Israel on Saturday night in retaliation for an airstrike that demolished Iran’s consulate in Syria.

People grieve over victims killed in an Israeli airstrike in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah, on April 16, 2024. (Photo by Khaled Omar/Xinhua)

Analysts pointed out that Washington is still “adding fuel to the fire” at a time when escalating tensions are pushing the Middle East closer to a full-blown regional war, a catastrophic scenario in which everyone will lose. They said the United States is responsible for the ongoing conflicts and chaos in the region.

HYPOCRISY & DOUBLE STANDARDS

After Iran’s drone and missile attack on Israeli territory, U.S. President Joe Biden said the United States will not take part in a counter-offensive against Iran. The U.S. media also reflexively reported that the Biden administration is doing what it can to avoid an escalation in the Middle East.

However, analysts said Washington’s de-escalating rhetoric and gestures don’t constitute true de-escalation at all. They point to the fact that it has consistently provided military support to Israel since the current round of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict began last October while opting to turn a blind eye to the plight of the Gazan people and blocking repeated efforts by the UN Security Council to pass resolutions calling for a ceasefire.

“If you give Biden (deservingly) credit for having helped prevent the region from falling off the cliff … you must also give him credit for helping bring the region to the edge of the cliff in the first place by refusing to restrain Israel and blocking a ceasefire,” Trita Parsi, co-founder and executive vice president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, a U.S.-based think tank, commented on X, formerly Twitter.

Biden’s approach allows Israel maximum maneuverability to conduct attacks, escalate at will and slaughter civilians in Gaza while only urging restraint from the other actors in the region, Parsi added.

The international community is no stranger to the double-standard mindset of the United States, as well as its hypocrisy on the Palestine-Israel issue. “The support of the U.S., in practice, for a genocide, has ignited the world,” Colombian President Gustavo Petro said on Saturday.

While offering verbal appeals for de-escalation, the U.S. government is now urging Congress to quickly approve a 95-billion-dollar national security package that includes more aid for Israel after the weekend attack. Analysts pointed out that Washington’s double standards on Israel and Palestine are the underlying cause of the worsening chaos in the region.

Ali Maqsoud, a Syrian political and military analyst, noted that Iran had previously proposed the UN Security Council condemn the attack on the country’s embassy in Syria but received no response from the United States and other Western countries.

In contrast, the United States called on the UN Security Council to condemn Iran soon after the weekend attack, warning that Iran “will be held responsible” if it attempted further military action against Israel.

“The United States bears a large part of the responsibility for what is happening because it did not put deterrents on Israel,” said Samir Ragheb, head of the Arab Foundation for Development and Strategic Studies in Egypt.

According to the Ministry of Health in Gaza, the Israeli attack in the Strip has so far left more than 33,000 dead and about 76,000 wounded. Despite its constant claim to defend human rights, the United States “did not move a finger when about 34,000 civilians, most of whom were women and children, were killed in Gaza,” Ragheb said.

“Everyone recognizes that those people were killed with U.S. weapons, deadly ammunition, and U.S. protection,” he added.

Washington has long regarded Israel as its most crucial ally out of its need to consolidate its hegemony in the Middle East, offering the country a large amount of aid and arms. U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham, for example, once referred to Israel as the “eyes and ears of America” in the region.

The first time the United States used its veto to support Israel was in 1972 when it vetoed a resolution that called on Israel to cease its strike against Lebanon. By the end of 2023, the United States had vetoed 89 Security Council resolutions in total, of which 45 were related to Israel. Of the vetoed resolutions, 33 pertained to the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories or the country’s treatment of the Palestinian people.

The United States stood against all resolutions in the Security Council and used its veto to prevent a ceasefire, continue the killings and stop aid from entering Gaza, Ragheb said. “The United States will pay a heavy political cost, as its image has been severely shaken.”

Echoing Ragheb’s opinion, Iraqi political analyst Mustafa Khalil said the root cause of these latest Middle East tensions is Washington’s long-standing hegemonic policy and bias on the Palestine-Israel issue, which is pushing the entire Middle East region to the brink of war. He urged the United States to change its hegemonic approach in the region and promote peace talks and a ceasefire.

- Xinhua