UN Security Council should prevent collapse of international law — expert

UNITED NATIONS:  The UN Security Council should prevent disintegration of international law after the US operation in Venezuela because mank...

UNITED NATIONS:  The UN Security Council should prevent disintegration of international law after the US operation in Venezuela because mankind may not survive in a new chaos in the nuclear epoch, American economist and public policy analyst Jeffrey Sachs said.

The UN was created after mankind survived in World Wars I and II with heavy losses, he noted. "Given that we are in the nuclear age, failure cannot be repeated. Humanity would perish. There would be no third chance to fulfill its responsibilities under the [UN] Charter," Sachs stressed.

The UN Charter prohibits the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, the expert noted. "The [Security] Council must decide whether that prohibition is to be upheld or abandoned. Abandoning it would carry consequences of the gravest kind," Sachs stressed.

"In the past year, the United States has carried out bombing operations in seven countries, none of which were authorized by the UN Security Council and none of which were undertaken in lawful self-defense under the Charter," the analyst continued. "The targeted countries include Iran, Iraq, Nigeria, Somalia, Syria, Yemen and now Venezuela. In the past month, President Trump has issued direct threats against six UN member states, including Colombia, Denmark, Iran, Mexico, Nigeria and, of course, Venezuela," he added.

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