Get Off Your High Horses, Americans

This is not new. The patronizing, moralizing spiel by some Americans, representing a cross-section of political divide, where they shed fake tears on their countrys apparent downplaying of human rights in dealing with foreign nations. The narrative, often peddled by the elite, is contrarian in nature, largely because it overlooks the domestic conditions as well as the atrocities committed by the United States. President Donald Trump s latest speech to the Muslim World highlighted this unsettling trend. There were cries of treason from those who think of themselves as true guardians of humanity. They scoffed at the lack of mention of human rights in Trumps speech. They are right. There should have been a mention. But for that, they have to get off their moral high horses.

Many Americans want to spearhead the human rights campaign to rid the world of its evils. A significant number of them, and more importantly their representative government, lack the moral high ground that is necessary to undertake such a massive challenge. There is a conflict between the founding of the States and the rise of American exceptionalism. The City Upon a Hill is not as majestic at the end of the day. Critics have always pointed out the trail of blood and tears that led to the foundation of the Republic. Others cant overlook the nuking of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the episodes of Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Latin America and Vietnam.

Ironically, the destroyer America is also the rebuilder. The nuclear Armageddon of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was followed by decades of development in Japan, re-establishing itself as a major economic power. Millions of Vietnamese found refuge in America. Even the campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq post 9/11 were followed by the funneling of billions of dollars in reconstruction aid. Compare this to Russia the darling of the Left which is a complete annihilator. The Russians have left a trail of misery wherever they have set foot provided if they ever leave the place they conquer. Except for Afghanistan, perhaps. The rugged terrain proved to be a graveyard for the Socialist Republic. Modern Russia continues following this policy of invasion and annexation. Remember Crimea? Ukraine and Syria are the next in line.

Thus when Donald Trump takes center stage in a country widely perceived as evil in America, confusions are bound to arise. While ordinary Americans are justified in voicing their concerns, those in the media and public service often have their own agendas to push . The $110 billion arms deal with the Saudis, for example, was greenlit by the Obama administration , with Trump only taking false credit. It also reflects the preference for hardcore realism among the establishment, whether Democratic or Republican.

There marathon transmissions on American TV channels during Trumps visit featured bipartisan panelists with little knowledge of Islam or the region. Despite the speech being on Islam, Muslims had a skeleton representation. Theres no doubt Saudi Arabia lags behind in women rights and freedom of speech. But that is part of being a monarchy that is gradually transforming itself as a modern state. The deputy crown prince, for example, is widely believed to be working towards modernizing the kingdom . A distinction has to be made between a monarchy and a dictatorship in the first place. Saudi Arabia could follow the path of European constitutional monarchies but the process should be indigenous and evolutionary.

Dictatorships, on the other hand, deserve greater scrutiny. It is often dictatorships that turn to extreme brutality. Trumps cozying up to General Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of Egypt is a bad omen. He was earlier eager to work with the Assad regime, which has set new records of brutalities. Iran is a dictatorship as well, where mullahs and the revolutionary guards call the shots. The repression in Iran is perverse and overarching. And the regime is directly responsible for the deaths of thousands of Americans, starting from the revolution and the 1983 Beirut bombings. Not to mention the carnage that continues in Syria and Iraq.

America has squandered the opportunities to address human rights violations. Syria is a perfect example. The genocide was thus not a bad outcome for Obama as long as it was not hurting US interests. This was before the rise of Daesh. Obama quickly ordered an escalation in Syria and abetted the Iranians and Russians in doubling down on their killing spree. Trump, despite all the criticism, is largely following the same policy. The Left was alarmed only when a lackluster strike was ordered on a deserted Syrian airbase. It was otherwise happy in stonewalling the massacres and poisonings, twisting and turning facts to suit the narrative of Russians and the regime.

Empty rhetoric and selective paranoia over human rights thus flies in the face of those who tend to overlook basic facts. Theres no harm in being rational. Problem arises when people, or states, fail to match their words with actions. If US is really serious about protecting human lives, it should start with Syria. The loss of 500,000 lives should have been a blemish on anyones conscience. More so as it happened right under the nose of the sole superpower of the world with an alleged humanitarian avatar. If that absolute travesty could be swept under the rug, perhaps everything else is just window-dressing.