81st UN General Assembly: The Global Warlord Spits on World Peace

The above statement represents a direct threat of using violence against a UN member, in direct contravention of Article 2(4) of the UN Charter. The US has violated this article more than any other nation after WWII, by engaging in the most wars, interventions, covert operations, and imposing unilateral sanctions resulting in deaths that rival those caused by WWII Japan or Nazi Germany (more on that later). Trump’s accusations against Iran, that it has caused death and destruction across the region were a projection as Iran has not started a war since the 1850s. By contrast, an internet search of how many military conflicts the US has initiated or engaged in since 1945 returns nearly a hundred entries. Over the last 80 years, the US has driven a militaristic system, exceeding WWII Japan or Nazi Germany in human casualties. The US has bombed tens of countries, killing millions of people even without declaring war for the last 81 years; Washington has devolved into a mindless killing zombie. The only other nation that comes close in terms of being in a permanent state of war is Washington’s military outpost of Israel.

A Killing Machine for the West’s Profit  – Since 1945

A careful review of the people whom the US has killed through wars and economic sanctions, largely without UN or congressional mandate, exceeds those killed by Nazi Germany (40 million), or Militaristic Japan (about 10 million), which invites questions about why international bodies have not investigated this behavior. Also, questions arise as to whether there is any international body that can guarantee justice for all. Sources investigating the number of people killed by the US military machine after WWII in countries such as Korea, Vietnam, Laos, Iraq, and Afghanistan, among others have found deaths to range between 20 and 30 million people. James A. Lucas estimated up to 30 million deaths, while David Swanson arrived at over 20 million. Other sources have documented enormous death tolls, with Vietnam and Iraq alone being about 1 and 3 million deaths, respectively, which adds weight to figures from Lucas and Swanson.In addition to those killed by military means, the US has launched numerous economic sanctions, and a 2025 study published in The Lancet Global Health indicated that the US’s unilateral sanctions caused about 564000 excess deaths every year. This annual figure, when extrapolated over the 5 decades during which the US has extensively used economic sanctions against countries, adds up to 28 million human deaths. Therefore, it can be argued that the US has killed, through reckless wars, military interventions, and economic sanctions, nearly 60 million people, more than died in Europe during WWII. The only reason why Western institutions are not perturbed by this loss is probably that the deaths occurred in resource-rich countries, which enriched their corporations.

Despite the West’s indifference to wars that fill their corporations’ pockets and keep their populations happy, a time has come when victims have found the injustice intolerable. The reality that Yemenis have been bombed into poverty and cholera that Iran has been sanctioned into economic stagnation for half a century, or that Russia was forced through sanctions to sell oil at discounted prices shows a system reaching its breaking point. No one should expect that these victims and others will just sit and watch. Trump’s threat to annihilate Iranians and send them to hell, despite being a balm to racists’ ears across the West, signifies one of the most dangerous points in recent decades. Here is why. Firstly, it reveals that there is no internal mechanism in the US to prevent a warlord-like administration from launching a nuclear weapon not only on Iran, but also on Yemen, Russia, or anywhere else where US colonialism is rejected. Secondly, it reveals that the UN and other international mechanisms cannot hold the US to account, first for the tens of millions it has killed yet, but for potential escalation, including nuclear attacks.

Every Man for Himself: International Security Mechanisms Are Long Dead

Unlike in the past when the West had carefully created a façade that international systems can protect nations, it is now clear that no nation is safe from American barbarity. In fact, no country will be referring Trump’s threats to destabilize global peace to the UN Security Council, where the US would also veto such a proceeding. The UN has been described as a tool of multilateral colonialism, including by Professor Peter Kagwanja, who, in an interview aired on Kenya’s Citizen TV, noted how the body failed to take action against the West’s murder in Africa, such as the assassination of Patrice Lumumba. It has also never taken action against the murder of Muammar Gaddafi, or Washington’s wars in the Middle East, and South and East Asia. The UN has allowed Western nations to act as they wish. Notably, leaders from Canada and Europe have not condemned Trump’s threat but have continued to sympathize with Israel, which has not been threatened but is conducting a genocide in Gaza using the West’s assistance.

If Iranians knew that they only had two options, one being capitulation and hence allowing devastation by the US war machine like Iraq before, or a fight to the end which may lead to the US using nuclear weapons, then there is no justification for why the country should not develop its nuclear weapons for self-defense. The same applies to all other resource-rich countries. If the US, Canada, and the EU want to argue that it’s okay to destroy a country because of potential danger it may pose to Israel in the future, while allowing Israel to bomb all the countries in the region, or the US to kill tens of millions, it is fair for all countries to develop their own nuclear weapons. There is no other conclusion that can be arrived at, except that the US is a global warlord state supported by the West to destroy and loot the rest of the world, while using the UN as a mechanism for offloading guilt.

Simon Chege Ndiritu is a political observer and research analyst from Africa