Obama turns the G20 summit into warmongering platform

G20 Summit in Russia. A view of the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Mother of God in Saint Petersburg, in the background, on the left. (EC Audiovisual Services, 5/9/2013).

G20 Summit in Russia. A view of the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Mother of God in Saint Petersburg, in the background, on the left. (EC Audiovisual Services, 5/9/2013).

In an unprecedented move the American President Barack Obama asked yesterday all and each one of the G20 leaders participating in the Saint Petersburg summit to back ‘his’ war against Syria by signing a paper (joint declaration) authorising the US to use military force. This is an attempt by the US to neutralise the United Nations’ denial to authorise a military intervention in the devastated by civil war country. Obama spoke of a ‘paralyzed’ UN just because the Security Council doesn’t follow Washington’s warmongering strategy in the Middle East and repels a direct foreign military intervention in Syria. The Americans even asked the Spanish leader Mariano Rajoy to sign this war authorisation, despite the fact that Spain is not a member of the G20. The White House wanted a round number of 10 countries to appear as supporting their war petition because a 9 doesn’t ‘sell’ well in a G20. On top of that the Americans in order to reach the number of 10 in their list of war supporters included in it the Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta who clarified later on that he has strong reservations about military action. The European Union as a block didn’t undersign the American demands because many member states disagree with the external aggression against Damascus. The 10 countries which ‘authorised’ the US to bombard Syria are Australia, Canada, France, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Turkey and the U.K.. As noted above Spain is not a member of the G20. On the other side of the fence another 10 members of the G2O didn’t undersign the US military action: Argentina, Brazil, China, the European Union, Germany, Indonesia, India, Mexico, Russia, and South Africa. A 10 to 10 score is not the best outcome that Washington wanted. Override the UN This is a clear effort by Washington to put aside the UN as the only source of legality in a case like this that is an international military operation against a regular member of the Organisation. It is exactly the same tactics used by the American administration under George W. Bush when the US invaded Iraq. Who can forget the ‘alliance of the willing’ of 2003, which completely destroyed this country on falsified proofs about the use of mass destruction weapons? The British Prime Minister Tony Blair then was even tried in a British court for using false evidence in order to drag Britain into that war. The negative vote of the British Parliament recently, on PM David Cameron’s proposal for the United Kingdom to take military action against Syria together with the Americans, is a direct outcome of the fact that there is not one person in Britain who is not convinced that Blair lied back in 2003. As in Iraq Again the Americans use exactly the same tactics to persuade as many countries as possible to support their cause in order to make the war against Damascus look like a global initiative and not their own affair, designed to serve some well hidden goals. Today the three once most influential and politically strong Arab countries of the Middle East, Egypt, Iraq and Syria, are all in a desperate state without any ability to influence the political and economic developments in their region, not even being able to enforce their own authority on their soil. It seems however that the strong and decisive backing that Russia offers to the regime of Bashar al-Assad and the fact that the Russian President Vladimir Putin managed in Saint Petersburg to gather active support against the US plans for Syria from at least seven G20 member states, are infallible signs that the Americans would not have an easy job in the Middle East. Putin went as far as to make crystal clear that Russia will support Assad in every possible way, with arms, humanitarian aid and economic help, and all that before and even after a plausible US bombardment. In this way Russia is actually telling the Americans that their attack cannot change the balance of power on the ground and Moscow will continue having the upper hand on the soil. Putin, by stressing Russia’s full military support to Syria, is like ‘inviting’ the US to compare their military technologies. All that on the corpse of a once prosperous country. As the Greek poet Konstantin Kavafis says ‘they all harm Syria as much”.

Discover more from The European Sting - Critical News & Insights on European Politics, Economy, Foreign Affairs, Business & Technology - europeansting.com

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

Interesting reads

This article is published in association with United Nations.

‘Connect the dots’ between street protests and global turmoil, urges Guterres

This article is published in association with United Nations. The international community must combat inequality and stop wars from expanding to ensure a safer world for all, the UN Secretary-General said on Thursday. Speaking to reporters in New York ahead of a visit to Egypt, António Guterres addressed growing public discontent in Europe and beyond, […]
© SOS Méditerranée/Anthony Jean Up to $500 million was paid in migrant smuggling fees on sea routes to Europe in 2025, according to new UN estimates.

Migrants paid up to $500 million in smuggling fees on European sea routes

This article is published in association with United Nations. The price tag for smuggling on European sea routes reached up to half a billion dollars last year, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the UN migration office, IOM, reported on Wednesday. Key points Almost half of migrants trying to get smuggled into […]
The author of this article explored other courses in different fields, but it was in medicine that she found her place. From the beginning of her studies, Valéria discovered in medical practice more than just a career: she found her vocation when she realized that caring for others also gave meaning to her own life. Driven by a genuine desire to help, the student stood out as a Teaching Assistant in Public Health, strengthening her humanized perspective. Today, she is part of the coordinating board of IFMSA UNEX MED, working in the Human Rights and Peace (SCORP) area, where she transforms empathy into action and social commitment into real impact.

Global warming will breach 1.5°C – but deep, fast cuts can still bring it back

This article is published in association with United Nations. With global temperature rise set to exceed 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, countries “must pull out all the stops” and urgently cut emissions to minimize the overshoot and return to the internationally agreed threshold by the end of this century. The recommendation comes in the Emissions Gap […]
© Agricultural Development Association – PARC A farmer in the West Bank harvest olives in October 2025. (file)

‘Season of fear’: Escalating Israeli attacks on West Bank olive farmers, deadly strikes on Gaza

This article is published in association with United Nations. Israeli attacks on war-torn Gaza over the weekend killed at least six Palestinians, including children, despite a year-old ceasefire agreement. Meanwhile, in the occupied West Bank, settler violence continued through the ongoing olive harvest, with UN independent experts on Monday urging Israel to protect Palestinian farmers. […]
This article is published in association with United Nations.

COP17: The world has a plan to save nature. Is it working?

This article is published in association with United Nations. The UN Secretary-General has called for an end to the “war on nature”. On Monday, governments gathering in Yerevan, Armenia, will have to confront a more practical question: are they doing enough to win the peace and put the world’s biodiversity goals back on track? COP17, […]
© WHO A large-scale combined missile and drone strike hit Kyiv's Solomianskyi district on August 20, 2026.

Ukraine: Critical health supplies destroyed in ongoing Russian attacks

This article is published in association with United Nations. Ongoing and deadly Russian attacks across Ukraine are causing serious healthcare disruption, with more than $1.5 million-worth of medicines and supplies destroyed in four separate strikes on warehouses used by the UN there since July. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 21 warehouses have been […]
© UNICEF/Niccolò Corti A child sits alone, praying, at a reception centre for migrants in Lampedusa, Italy.

World News in Brief: West African migrant crossings, Argentina takes UK to maritime tribunal, farming in Gaza, mental health update

This article is published in association with United Nations. Fewer people from West Africa are reaching Europe by sea, but the journey has not become safer, the UN migration agency (IOM) said on Tuesday. Arrivals from Mali, Senegal, Guinea and The Gambia fell by 59 per cent in the first half of 2026 compared with […]
© UN Ukraine The aftermath of a drone attack in a residential area in Kyiv on 12 October.

Ukraine: Residents killed and dozens injured in attacks on Kharkiv and Kyiv

This article is published in association with United Nations. Russian attacks in recent days on on Ukraine’s two largest cities have again killed and injured civilians, damaged homes and civilian infrastructure, the UN aid coordination office (OCHA) said on Tuesday. Aid workers and rescuers were on the ground in Kyiv and Kharkiv following aerial strikes that […]
© IOM The war in Sudan has created extreme levels of displacement, both internally and across Sudan’s borders.

‘Efficiency has limits’: UNHCR chief warns refugee protection is buckling under cuts

This article is published in association with United Nations. The money is running out faster than needs are growing: with 117 million men, women and children now forced from their homes, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) has received just $3 billion of the $8.5 billion it needs this year – and its chief, Barham Salih, warns […]
© UNOCHA/Ramatoulaye Moussa Maz A woman walks through a camp for displaced people in Ituri Province in eastern DR Congo, where decades of violence have impacted millions, creating a humanitarian emergency.

Rise in poverty is ‘a wake-up call for the world’, UN development chief says

This article is published in association with United Nations. The number of people living in “multidimensional” poverty has risen for the first time in 15 years, reaching 1.2 billion, as families struggle to meet their basic needs.  The finding comes in the 2026 update of the global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) published by the United Nations […]
© UNDP Nidaa with the chickens and ducks she raises in Gaza.

Sustaining livelihoods amid crisis in Gaza

This article is published in association with United Nations. Nidaa, Hanaa and Hanin have different stories, but share a common thread: the determination to build something of their own and keep it going despite extraordinary challenges facing them in war-ravaged Gaza. Following the devastation of the past three years, productive capacity in Gaza has been severely […]
© UNICEF/Oleksii Filippov A firefighter works on the balcony of a wrecked building in Kyiv, Ukraine.

World News in Brief: Russian attacks continue in Ukraine, Gazans shelter in flood-prone areas, keeping sight of eye health

This article is published in association with United Nations. UN human rights chief Volker Türk said on Thursday he was appalled by a wave of attacks that have killed civilians across Ukraine over the past four days.  They include a strike on two public buses in Kramatorsk on Thursday, that left at least 30 civilians dead, […]
This article is published in association with United Nations.

Ukraine: UN condemns latest attacks and calls for civilian protection

This article is published in association with United Nations. The UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Ukraine on Wednesday called for an end to attacks against civilians following further overnight strikes by Russian forces that reportedly killed at least 19 in the Chernihiv Region. Among the dead in Pryluky were five children, three of them babies, according to the […]
© UNICEF-SoP/Crickx People walk down a dusty road in the West Bank carrying belongings.

Israeli demolition in East Jerusalem displaces 69 Palestinians

This article is published in association with United Nations. Sixty-nine Palestinians – more than half of them children – were displaced on Tuesday after Israeli authorities green lit the demolition of their residential building in the At Tur area of East Jerusalem, the UN aid coordination office (OCHA) has reported. This is the highest number of […]
This article is published in association with United Nations.

‘The clock on AI regulation is ticking’, warns UN rights chief

This article is published in association with United Nations. The world is running out of time to put guardrails on artificial intelligence, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk warned Monday, as a “ruthless race” between companies and countries raises concerns about human safety and even humanity’s survival. Speaking in the UK at an AI […]
© UNOCHA/Alina Basiuk A school in Ukraine lies in ruins after being hit by a missile.

Ukraine war ‘a human rights catastrophe’ that must end, says Türk

This article is published in association with United Nations. Human Rights The war in Ukraine is a human rights catastrophe that is “growing and intensifying by the week” and threatening an even greater disaster across the region, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said on Friday. Addressing the Human Rights Council in Geneva, Mr. […]
UN News Massive tent settlement of displaced residents extends along the damaged Gaza coastline.

Palestinians yearn for ‘a return to normal life’, says top Middle East peace envoy

This article is published in association with United Nations. The UN is continuing efforts to support Palestinians in Gaza amid major challenges to humanitarian access, reconstruction and the restoration of essential services, according to Ramiz Alakbarov, Acting UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process. Speaking to UN News on the margins of the UN […]
©UNIFIL/Tilak Pokharel UNIFIL personnel distribute food kits to displaced families in Saida, Lebanon (file).

Lebanon: One in five children goes to bed hungry, says UNICEF

This article is published in association with United Nations. Four in five households in Lebanon struggle to afford basic necessities today, with children increasingly going without food, missing school and being pushed into work as conflict compounds years of economic crisis. “I wanted to buy clothes for my children, but I could not. I also wanted […]

World News in Brief: Deadly Myanmar strikes as Malaysia begins deportations, new emergency funding released, Gaza and West Bank update

The UN chief on Tuesday strongly condemned an airstrike that reportedly killed at least 50 people at a market in Myanmar’s Rakhine state and called for those responsible to be held to account. Forces from the military junta reportedly hit Kyauktaw township around midday on Monday, when the market’s more than 200 shops were busy […]

Why don't you drop your comment here?

Go back up

Discover more from The European Sting - Critical News & Insights on European Politics, Economy, Foreign Affairs, Business & Technology - europeansting.com

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading

Discover more from The European Sting - Critical News & Insights on European Politics, Economy, Foreign Affairs, Business & Technology - europeansting.com

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading

The European Sting – Critical News & Insights on European Politics, Economy, Foreign Affairs, Business & Technology – europeansting.com