No nation in world history more strongly professes support for democratic values and the rule of law while more egregiously breaching its proclaimed principles than the US.
It’s been this way throughout the country’s history, fleeting moments alone when positive developments occurred — never long-lasting.
On major issues mattering most, there’s virtually no difference between both right wings of its one-party state.
They’re indistinguishable on matters of permanent war on humanity at home and abroad, corporate favoritism, intolerance of equity and justice, abhorrence of the rule of law, and police state toughness on nonbelievers.
Unlawful US wars on nations free from its control are all about wanting them transformed into vassal states.
Its wars by other means are all about making their economies scream, wanting maximum pain and suffering inflicted on their people — a high crime against humanity.
All of the above are what the scourge of imperialism is all about, enforced by rage for dominance and use of chemical, biological, radiological and other banned weapons in all US wars.
This is America’s true face, never beautiful, hugely destructive, intolerant of anything standing in the way of its rage for unchallenged global dominance — a prescription for endless wars by hot and other means against invented enemies.
The Trump regime is going all out to starve Syrians, North Koreans, Cubans, Iranians and Venezuelans into submission, a genocidal high crime gone unpunished because the world community fails to unite against its humanly destructive agenda.
Iran shipped five tankers of fuel to Venezuela, its legal right, pledging regular shipments to follow.
Trump regime hardliners want deliveries illegally blocked.
In response to his regime’s lawsuit without legal merit, US District Judge James Boasberg issued a warrant that unlawfully orders the seizure of over 1.1 million barrels of fuel onboard four Iranian tankers en route to Venezuela.
Reportedly more Iranian vessels carrying fuel are heading to the Bolivarian Republic.
If Iranian tankers engaged in lawful international trade are interdicted at sea, their cargo seized, the Trump regime and/or its agents, including Judge Boasberg, will be guilty of maritime piracy under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
It strictly forbids:
“(a) any illegal acts of violence or detention, or any act of depredation, committed for private ends by the crew or the passengers of a private ship or a private aircraft, and directed:
(i) on the high seas, against another ship or aircraft, or against persons or property on board such ship or aircraft;
(ii) against a ship, aircraft, persons or property in a place outside the jurisdiction of any State;
(b) any act of voluntary participation in the operation of a ship or of an aircraft with knowledge of facts making it a pirate ship or aircraft;
(c) any act of inciting or of intentionally facilitating an act described in subparagraph (a) or (b).”
UNCLOS mandates that all nations are obligated to act against pirate actions.
They have universal jurisdiction on the high seas to seize pirated vessels, arrest responsible parties, and detain them for prosecution.
The US is guilty time and again of virtually every form of predation and other high crimes imaginable.
Trump’s civil forfeiture lawsuit was based on the phony claim that Iranian fuel to Venezuela is what it calls “a source of influence” for the IRGC — Iran’s military involved solely in national defense of the state.
Yet Trump regime hardliners falsely designed it a terrorist organization — a flagrant perversion of its legitimate mission and operations.
A statement by US attorney for the District of Columbia Zia Faruqui falsely claimed that payments for Iranian fuel shipments to Venezuela “support the IRGC’s full range of nefarious activities (sic), including the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery (sic), support for terrorism (sic), and a variety of human rights abuses, at home and abroad (sic).”
Judge Boasberg shamefully accepted the above falsified claims — despite no credible evidence supporting them, making him complicit with Trump regime war on Iran and Venezuela by other means, a flagrant UN Charter breach.
According to the Wall Street Journal, “Iranian businessman Mahmoud Madanipour” is operating as a middleman in arranging for “ship-to-ship (high-seas) transfers” of Iranian fuel for Venezuela, as well as “deliveries to China and Malaysia.”
The Journal falsely referred to legitimate Iranian shipments to Venezuela and other nations as “illicit business dealings (sic),” quoting Trump regime prosecutors.
Unilaterally imposed US sanctions on Iran, Venezuela and other nations are flagrantly “illicit.”
What the Journal should have explained it ignored.
Under international law, Iran may engage in legitimate trade with any other nations — what fuel to Venezuela is all about.
No governments may legally intervene to stop it.
Taking this action is a UN Charter breach that forbids intervention by any nations in the internal affairs of others.
It’s what the US does repeatedly and gets away with it because the world community fails to hold it accountable for criminal offenses too grievous to ignore.
A Final Comment
Press TV reported that “the hashtag #GraciasIran (Thank You Iran) has become the number-one Twitter trend in Venezuela as Iranian tankers start delivering their cargos,” adding:
On arrival, “Venezuelans stormed Twitter to express gratitude towards Tehran for the shipments” — their Twitter-storm gratefulness ignored by Western establishment media.
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Award-winning author Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at [email protected]. He is a Research Associate of the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG)
His new book as editor and contributor is titled “Flashpoint in Ukraine: US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III.”
http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html
Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com.
Featured image: The photograph shows a meeting between Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on October 22nd, 2016.
