The U.S. vetoed a UN Security Council resolution Friday calling for a ceasefire to the fighting in Gaza.
The U.S. and Israel have opposed calls for a ceasefire, saying it would strengthen Hamas.
The vote was delayed for several hours over worries the U.S. would veto it. Diplomats from several Arab nations met with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to try to convince the U.S. to abstain from voting.
As a permanent member of the council, the U.S. has veto power, and had signaled it planned to block the resolution. The U.K. abstained from the vote, while the 13 other members of the council voted for it.
It’s to prevent nuclear war. If everyone voted to invade or harshly punish a powerful country they could respond.
That is the explanation I was given, but these days I think that’s more of a rationalization than an explanation. Closer to the truth, I think, is that those are the countries that came out of WWII the victors, and so they wrote the rules.
Much like the US Constitution, the structure of the UN is built for a world that no longer exists.
oh so the only ones who ever used nukes now get to say what everyone should do with theirs?