As US bombs Iran, a silent Europe is rapidly losing credibility
The non-reaction and even endorsement of the Iran War from European governments this weekend shows Europe has still not learned the lessons of the Iraq War.
Today, at a press conference ahead of the NATO summit in The Hague, Secretary General Mark Rutte was asked a tough question by a journalist from Al Jazeera. “NATO’s position for more than three years has criticised Russia for breaching the rules-based international order by invading Ukraine,” he noted. “Doesn’t all of that seem very hypocritical given the US’s recent actions which are clearly dubious under international law?”
“I don’t agree with that assessment at all, not one syllable of what you just said - you have this completely wrong,” Rutte snapped back. His dismissal of the assessment directly contradicts at least two NATO leaders - Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre and French President Emmanuel Macron who said today that the US bombings are in breach of international law. But these days, Rutte seems to represent only one NATO leader - the only one who counts. Not only did Rutte refuse to offer even the slightest criticism of the Trump regime’s unilateral launch of a war against Iran (for which it did not consult European allies), he went further and gave an implicit endorsement of the bombing campaign. Confronted afterwards with the Norwegian prime minister’s assessment and asked what he fears most about possible escalation, Rutte chose to respond: “My biggest fear is Iran having a nuclear weapon…that is why NATO has said Iran should not have a nuclear weapon.” He went on to insist that the US is not breaking international law with its strikes - directly contradicting multiple European NATO leaders in order to protect one American NATO leader.