I think the Trump Administration is missing a strategic opportunity. I do not know whether this reflects a lack of understanding of how power and legitimacy interact or the conviction that they should show strength.
It should bring a resolution to the United Nations Security Council protesting the mass execution of protesters in Iran and, possibly, propose UNSC action to protect Iranian civilians. That would accomplish several things:
- It would publicly and permanently establish the United States as defending universal human rights against a regime executing its own citizens.
- If vetoed by Russia, China, or both it would put the vetoing power on the record as publicly shielding mass executions.
- It establishes legitimacy and due process before any further action.
- It would not be impulsive or illegal.
That would not reflect weakness; it would reflect strength. Using the Security Council is not about winning the vote. It is about shaping legitimacy.
That’s the sort of strategic diplomatic thinking I find missing in U. S. policy.
Such a proposal would be regarded as extreme hypocrisy by the international community, and they would laugh at it. We have killed well over 1 million Muslim civilians over the last 40 years or so in our wars of imperial aggression in the Middle East, almost all of them innocent bystanders. The most dangerous thing you can do in the Middles East is to attend a birthday, wedding, or funereal.
We are also responsible for the deaths of at least 1 million Ukrainians and a bunch of Panamanians, Granadans, and Venezuelans. And the there is Ruby Ridge and Waco.