The U.S., EU and Double Standards

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For all their big talk about human rights and the uber-importance of democracy and how lives matter, etc., you can absolutely count on democracies to betray any ally of the West.

Biden’s truly historic “Don’t” was an important moment in the war between Israel and the Jihadists from Iran to Gaza, but with the time its impact has faded and has been replaced by the standard State Department attitude to Israel: put pressure on Israel, place all the responsibility for whatever happens in the Middle East on Israel, and address all demands to Israel. Do they really believe that Israel is “our greatest ally in the Middle East”? Have they ever believed in it?

All Israel hopes is that both candidates will understand the situation in the Middle East: Iran spreads havoc and terrorism in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen and Gaza through its proxies, taking advantage of the fact that all these are failed and dysfunctional states. Iran threatens the stability of Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the UAE and Bahrain, arms the Russians with drones and ballistic missiles with which the Russians destroy the Ukraine, hurts the economy of Egypt and Europe through the Houthi’s closure on the Bab al-Mandeb straits and prepares to annihilate the State of Israel chanting “Death to Israel, Death to America”. The civilized world sees, hears, understands but does practically nothing to deter Iran and to stop its actions against the West and its allies. What will happen to the civilized world if and when Iran succeeds to in developing a nuclear bomb?

This month, for example, a report surfaced that the U.S. had revealed to Iranian authorities the identities of 10 Mossad agents who allegedly were involved in the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh. As the Kuwaiti newspaper al Jarida stated. It was a “good faith gesture”, to show Iran that the strikes on Haniyeh and Fuad Shukr in Beirut, Lebanon, were carried out without American coordination. They sent 10 good people (and possibly their families) to torture and brutal death as a “good faith gesture” towards an authoritarian regime of religious fanatics that gave shelter to a mass murderer and was one of the masterminds of the biggest massacre of Jews in a single day since the Holocaust.

This is not something new. In May 2022, after the assassination of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander of the notorious Unit 840 Sayyed Khodei, American officials told The New York Times that Israel had killed him. Israel did not claim responsibility for the strike to avoid the prospect of retaliation and escalation. Khodei was responsible for planning attacks abroad against foreigners, including Israelis.

People in the US administration frequently leaked details regarding Israeli operations in Iran and Syria. For instance, they informed the New York Times that Israel was responsible for the Stuxnet cyberwarfare attack, which was intended to disrupt Iran’s primary centrifuge production site at Natanz.

In order to prevent the Israeli government from ordering a military assault on the Fordow installation in Iran, US agencies conducted aggressive espionage against Israel’s military bases and eavesdropped on secret communications by Israeli leaders in 2012, while keeping Israel in the dark about their nuclear talks with Tehran.

Such a policy, built on the attempts to pacify the enemies of the West and of the US by pressuring Israel, is based on double standards. Moreover, it inspires those in Europe who support Hamas and Iran, fanning the fires of hatred towards Jews and Israel, which today stands as the front line of defense against the Jihadists’ terrorist atrocities.

Interestingly enough, Israel is not the only state that is treated with double standards while being needed by the West. Azerbaijan, one of Israel’s closest allies, is a unique country with a Muslim Shia majority and independent multi-vector politics. Sandwiched between Russia in the north and Iran in the south, it is the alternative source of energy resources for the EU and a key transit point between the East and the West.

Despite its openness towards the EU and the US, it is being criticized on an almost daily basis and pressured with illogical demands and double standards. For example, there is a United Nations Climate Change Conference, or COP29, to take place in Azerbaijan in November. As a leading fossil fuel producer, the country is swiftly transitioning to renewable energy sources, aiming to significantly expand its wind and solar power capacity. Plans are underway to build an interconnector that will transport this clean energy across the Black Sea to eastern Europe, reaching Bulgaria, Hungary, and Romania.

However, it is now under fire because of the “rights violations” most of which are detentions of bloggers. In April, a group of Members of the European Parliament demanded the European Commission consider suspending the strategic partnership with Azerbaijan in the field of energy. These MEPs insisted on making any future partnership agreement with Azerbaijan conditional to the release of all “political prisoners”.

Nobody should miss the double-edged irony of the situation. On one side, many “political prisoners” in Azerbaijan are pro-Iranian instigators from IRCG created Husseiniyyun – a so-called Hezbollah of the Caucasus, Tehran’s proxy, made to destabilize Azerbaijan, the ally of the West. It is like in Gaza, where Hamas terrorists and propagandists are using the cover of ‘journalists’, creating visual content to promote their agenda in the endless Iran and Qatar-sponsored propaganda-jihad against Israel.

This year, the U.S. has included Azerbaijan on the list of countries that require monitoring for possible violations of religious freedom. The USCIRF (United States Commission on International Religious Freedom) report says that officials have also in recent years passed legislation to increase state control of Muslims. Someone should tell the Americans that Azerbaijan is a country with a Muslim majority and the reason to keep a close eye on certain religious leaders and groups is that Iran is its next-door neighbor whose agents are actively trying to execute terror attacks against minorities on Azerbaijani territory and to instigate anti-government protests in the country.

On the other hand, European MEPs and US officials should remember the saying “People who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones” as they blame Azerbaijan for arresting bloggers when literally hundreds of people are being jailed in Europe for Twitter posts of various content: those who called Covid-19 the “Chinese virus” and those who protest the wave of illegal immigration. BTW, too many actual criminals, who attack Jews, threaten and insult them on the streets and in social media are walking free.

Another more recent bashing point is the visit of Russian President Putin to Azerbaijan, which was translated into some kind of “turn to the dark side.” While totally supporting Ukraine and quietly diminishing Moscow’s control of the region, Azerbaijan is wisely not interested in a direct confrontation with Russia. Moreover, its multi-vector policy is based on keeping the door open to all parties. For Putin, the visit to Baku was important because he sees how the West is ill-treating Azerbaijan despite its paramount importance.

The double standard in this issue is also overwhelming because, despite the sanctions on Russia, Western countries are still buying huge amounts of Russian oil, gas, fertilizers, nickel, iron and steel. France, the sworn enemy of Azerbaijan (and a very dubious friend to Israel), imported almost twice as much of the Russian liquefied natural gas at the first half of this year compared to 2023. In June 2024, the EU was the largest importer of Russian LNG, purchasing 54% of Russia’s total exports. So, who has really “turned to the dark side”?

The West should take in account that the double standards applied to countries that constitute the major supporting pillars in the areas of security and energy of the Western world, will be the major reason for the West’s downfall in the face of Iranian and Iranian-supported Jihadists who are hand in glove with the Russians.